Some Writerly Things of Interest
I’ve been getting a lot of emails about various writing projects and I thought it would be a good idea to let you all know about a few of them. So here goes: Imperfecta An interactive fiction project by N. A. Vreugdenhil in which you, the readers, select who dies in each upcoming episode. It’s an idea that has been tried before in different forms, but I think the added bonus of having direct influence over who dies could be fun. It’s almost like a reality T.V. show, only you can actually kill the people you don’t like. Check it out if you’re interesting. Top 50+ Novels for Tech Geeks This site has an interesting list of books for tech geeks. I assume a tech geek is someone who goes gaga over devices (like iPhones or computers), and the list itself does seem to reflect that sort of lifestyle, although there are a lot of books that are biology-based on the list. Still, it’s interesting. Five Must Read Science Fiction Books That Aren’t Classics (Yet) This is actually a guest post of mine. I forgot to mention it to you all on this blog, but you should check it out. I’ve talked about many of the books on the list before, but they’re good books and you should check them out. Ecolibris Green Books Campaign I heard about this some time ago. The idea is that on Nov. 10th, 2010, over 100 bloggers are going to post their reviews of books printed on recycled materials. That’s pretty cool, don’t you think? If you’re into the whole green thing, you should check the project out. 20 Essential Works of Cyberpunk Literature This is definitely one of the best lists of essential cyberpunk books/stories I have seen in the blogosphere. It’s somewhat multicultural and includes a number of texts that nobody ever includes, even though they are practically inseparable from the development of cyberpunk as a subgenre (like Bethke’s “Cyberpunk”). A good list from a very strange source… And there you go. I have no doubt that there are plenty of other things going on, but I can’t keep up with all of it!
Meme: Book Title Communication
WrittenWyrdd has apparently started up a new book meme. Since I haven’t done a meme in a while, I thought I’d do this one (it looked silly and fun). If you’d like to join in, feel free to leave a comment with a link to your version. The challenge: Complete the following sentences with book titles that you have read this year. Put the author of the book in parenthesis. Simple enough, right? I am: The Palm-wine Drinkard (Amos Tutuola) I will never be: Harbinger (Jack Skillingstead) I fear: The Left Hand of God (Paul Hoffman) My best friend is: Ray in Reverse (Daniel Wallace) What’s the weather like? This World We Live In… (Susan Beth Pfeffer) Best Advice: Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe) I’ve never been to: The City of Saints and Madmen (Jeff VanderMeer) Favorite form of transport: Flight (Kazu Kibuishi) I’ll never fit in at: In the Castle in My Skin (George Lamming) How I’d like to die: An Idle King (J. W. Benford) You and your friends are: The Reapers Are the Angels (Alden Bell) Thought for the day: Why Darwin Matters (Michael Shermer) Your soul’s present condition: Irreligion (John Allen Paulos) A few of those don’t fit so well, but I did my best. Any thoughts? Update (the following are folks who have added their own versions to their blogs) The Mad Hatter’s Bookshelf and Review
The Michio Kaku Meme: Thoughts on the World of Science Fiction
Over and Big Think, Michio Kaku has posted a bunch of questions he wants fans to answer for a project he’s working on. I don’t know what the project is, but if Michio Kaku is involved, then it’s bound to be awesome. So, considering that his questions are blog worthy, I thought I’d start a little meme. If you’d like to participate, all you have to do is steal the questions for yourself and answer them. Make sure to link here, and, if you want, post the link over at Big Think so Mr. Kaku can see what you wrote. Simple enough, right? Here we go:Which ideas from Science Fiction would you most like to see become reality and why? This question is kind of enormous. There are a lot of ideas that I want to see become a reality, but putting it all here would take up far too much space. So, I’m going to narrow it to three: Faster-than-light TravelI want to see the stars and other planets in my lifetime. I can’t do that when it takes longer than a single human lifetime to get to the nearest star. Just imagine seeing other planets and maybe finding a habitable one. It’d be nothing short of amazing. The Uber Cure or TreatmentIn science fiction, you sometimes see futures where we’ve cured most of the major human ailments, or, at the very least, have come up with extremely effective ways to fight off cancer and so on. For me, this is a must have, since I’m a cancer survivor and have an unreasonable amount of compassion for people who are suffering diseases and ailments that we should have cures or reasonably effective treatments for. Sadly, we seem more interested in spending money to build things to blow one another up than to find cures or improve food production to combat starvation, etc. Intelligent and Self-aware RobotsMaybe I’m stupid for wanting this. We’ve seen so many movies in which robots rise up and try to take over or exterminate us. Yet, I can’t help wanting truly self-aware, human-like robots in this world. Having robot friends and companions, playing robot games, and all of that sounds like great fun to me. Maybe if we’re smart and design them just the right way, and treat them appropriately, we won’t have to worry about all of that death and destruction stuff. Maybe… What is your favorite Science Fiction movie and why? Star Wars (the original trilogy). It’s the science fiction series I grew up with. How can I not include it as my favorite? I’ve seen Star Wars more times than I can count, and I will continue to re-watch it in any format I can get it in so long as I live. The series is beautiful, action-packed, fun, thrilling, and altogether wonderful. It’s like childhood in movie form. It’s pure imagination. What’s not to love? What is your favorite scene from a Science Fiction movie?The entire sequence in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi from the moment the rebel fleet appears above Endor to the destruction of the second Death Star. I remember watching that scene with awe when I was younger. It’s visually gorgeous and it’s just freaking cool. Say what you will about Ewoks, you all know the fight was entertaining. And how about that space battle? That’s the one big difference between the originals and the prequels for me. In the new films, the space battles just aren’t as impressive. They’re CGed and seem too fake to me; I think they’re a mark of how George Lucas has fallen into the CG trap with directors like Michael Bay. But the originals were just amazing. Yes, the visuals are flawed, and obviously so, but they are still so much more “real” than anything else. The miniatures used are beautiful. Besides, the ending of Return of the Jedi is quite powerful, if you ask me.Who is your favorite Science Fiction character and why?That’s an impossible question to answer. It doesn’t matter who I pick, I’m leaving someone out that deserves to be mentioned. So, hopefully people will forgive me if I play the exclusionary type and pick Captain Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly. He’s witty, gruff, and almost everything a good spaceship captain should be. Plus, he’s poetic. See for yourself: What is your favorite Science Fiction device, machine or weapon?For very personal reasons, the hypospray needle-less vaccine gizmo from Star Trek. I hate needles something awful. I can deal with being stabbed by them, but there’s no reason for us to still have needles for administering vaccines and medicines. Where are my hypospray things? Hmm? Where? And there you have it! So, what are your responses to these questions?
10 Gut-wrenching Songs From Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies/Shows
Anyone who knows me well enough to call me their best friend also knows that music destroys me emotionally. Not all music, just some music. Certain songs have something that hits me at some strange emotional core, shaking my innards in just the right way, like striking that perfect note on a cello or violin. These are the kinds of songs that I listen to over and over, but also take breaks from, because they really do get my emotional side reeling (which helps a great deal when it comes to writing). Now that you all know this, you can call me your best friend. Before I get into the list, I need to make one thing clear: some of the movies listed below are not science fiction or fantasy in a traditional sense, but are still part of one or both of those genres in some way. With all that in mind, I present to you my list of the ten most gut-wrenching songs from science fiction and fantasy movies or television (in no particular order): “Gentle Execution” from Battlestar Galactica, Season Three, by Bear McCreary “Gentle Execution” is one of those songs that uses just the right combination of instruments and the right tempo to create an incredibly depressing feeling. It’s also a perfect tune for hammering out sad scenes in your writing. It also helps to know that this song from BSG appears in an awful scene in which Saul Tigh has to kill his wife for collaborating with the Cylons. “Time” from Inception, by Hans Zimmer I’ve already written about “Time” in another context, but here I’d like to point out that the way the song builds up its layers produces tension and, for me, hits an emotional chord of sorts. I’m not sure how to describe it any better than that. “The Surface of the Sun” from Sunshine, by John Murphy For the same reason that I love “Time” and “Gentle Execution,” so too do I love “The Surface of the Sun.” The most depressing thing is that we had to wait for the longest time before they released the soundtrack; legal mumbojumbo and all that. If you’d like to hear an alternate version containing a fan’s addition of vocals, see here (yes, the alternate is quite good, too). “Trinity Definitely” from Matrix Revolutions, by Don Davis I’m going on the assumption that the primary instrument in this melody is an oboe, because it sounds like one to me. The oboe is one of those instruments that can only be played in two ways: so well that it sounds absolutely beautiful, and so awful that you want to kill yourself. In the case of this song, the oboe melody is so gorgeous and melancholy that one gets the impression that the best part of Matrix Revolutions wasn’t the film itself, but the music (an opinion I actually hold). “A Small Measure of Peace” from The Last Samurai, by Hans Zimmer Say what you will about the movie (it’s awesome, by the way), but the soundtrack is quite beautiful. “A Small Measure of Peace” is no exception. Zimmer knows his string instruments. See for yourself: “A Way of Life” from The Last Samurai, by Hans Zimmer There’s a reason why two songs from the same soundtrack are on this list. I love “A Way of Life” for the same reason that I love “A Small Measure of Peace.” Some of the same themes appear in this particular song, but the finale is intense (it’s from an equally intense scene from the movie, which might be the only movie that I think Tom Cruise really belonged in outside of Top Gun). “Into the West” from Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, by Fran Walsh, Howard Shore, and Annie Lennox There are few songs with lyrics that grip me in the same way as the non-lyric-based songs on this list do. “Into the West” (and one other song on this list) is an exception. The lyrics make sense when set against the movie and Annie Lennox sings it beautifully. Oh, and have I mentioned that I absolutely love the French horn? Yeah. “Anakin’s Betrayal” from Star Wars, Episode Three: Revenge of the Sith, by John Williams John Williams is probably the best thing about the prequel Star Wars movies, and I wouldn’t be the first to say so. “Anakin’s Betrayal” hits me deep mostly because of the scene it comes from, which consists of Anakin killing children and Palpatine ordering the destruction of the Jedi. The music fits this moment perfectly. All you have to do is listen. “Come What May” (Original Film Version) from Moulin Rouge, by David Baerwald and sung by Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman Have you seen the movie? Then the song should make sense without me having to explain why it hits me deep. Just listen and remember the ending of the movie… “Dumbledore’s Farewell” from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by Nicholas Hooper I didn’t care for the movie, but Nicholas Hooper really hit the nail on the head with his music for the final scenes after Dumbledore’s death. Brooding, increasingly melancholy, and just all around sad. If you haven’t heard it, then here’s your chance. And that’s it, folks. So, what are your favorite gut-wrenching songs from science fiction and fantasy films or TV shows? Let me know in the comments!
5 Things the Government Can Learn from Bio-Disaster Films
I’ve been watching a lot of bio-disaster films lately, particularly ones involving a virus or mutated bacteria that infects and kills people instead of turning them into zombies or vampires or whatever. These films are actually quite interesting, because they’re usually low budget, but also strangely much more fascinating than a lot of zombie films in terms of character development and the examination of the human condition. In watching all of these films, however, I’ve discovered that there are quite a few repeated themes that indicate the incompetency of authority in a time of crisis. This acknowledgment led me to create a list of the five things that governments today can learn from bio-disaster films to survive a serious infection. Here are those five things: Don’t treat people like filth, especially when they’re infected. Almost every bio-disaster film I have seen has made this point painfully clear: if you want to maintain control and keep the infection from spreading at an astronomic rate, you have to treat every single person with care and respect. Why? Because the second you give people a reason to run away from authority figures, you’ve lost. Take the film Right at Your Door as a prime example of this. When the government realizes that the attack in downtown LA contains some sort of biological agent, the first thing they do is start rounding up people at gunpoint. Nobody knows what is going to happen to the people being shoved into black vans–maybe they’re getting medical care?–but it doesn’t really matter. The damage is done. The fact of the matter is that the government does not have enough manpower to control a serious infection with force. They need the people to be willing to cooperate with officials so that the infection can be controlled. If you can’t control the infection, then you can’t survive. Plain and simple. Don’t lie or keep valuable information from the public. Most people are not stupid. They can usually tell if you’re lying or keeping something from them. Worse yet, they already know that something is going on, and that it’s not good news. The best thing the government can do is provide some truth and useful information to the public. Tell them what is going on and explain to them what they should do. If you’re already treating them with a certain level of respect, then they’re very likely to follow instructions and use what little information you can give them to make sure they can survive. But if you lie to them or intentionally keep silent about things that they’re demanding to know, they’ll panic.1 Respond quickly. This particularly point is one we should already have learned from recent non-bio disasters, such as the New Orleans/Hurricane Katrian fiasco. But bio-disaster films have been making the case for quick response times for decades. If there is a biological threat, whether in the form of a zombie-style virus, a bio-weapon, or a mutated bacteria, then reacting quickly is the best and only way to go about things. The longer it takes for you to control the spread of the infection, the better chance the infection has of moving into the general populace. You have to keep the infection contained to one area, and do so as fast as possible. Infections spread like wildfire, and firefighters know how bad those can get. Provide food and medical supplies. There are two things that people care the most about during any sort of crisis: food and medical supplies. It should be pretty obvious why. We need to eat and drink, and some of us might be hurt, or infected. In the movies, both of these things are impossible to come by, either because the government refuses to hand them out, people steal them, or people are too afraid to leave their homes to acquire the supplies they need (maybe because the government shoots them if they are found wandering the countryside). This can be solved, if not entirely, then at least to a certain degree. Providing care packages to people, whether delivered door to door or dispensed at special locations across the city (the former is preferable), can go a long way towards making sure people survive, are less afraid, and are more cooperative. Starving people or people who need meds are not happy people, and people who are not happy are the kinds of people who tend to steal, become violent, and so on. All that is bad news for anyone trying to control an infection. Have a well-developed, and practiced, contingency plan for a bio-disaster. Reality #1: Biological weapons exist. Reality #2: Viruses and bacteria continue to evolve and super-strains do exist. Reality #3: Police and other public protection services need to be prepared to handle all of these. Officials should be trained in handling the infected or the potentially infected and in infection containment. Otherwise, it’s quite likely that all four of the things that precede this point will occur. And we don’t want that. So, what things do you think the government should learn from bio-disaster films? ———————————————— 1. The irony of this particular point is that the reason for lying to the public or keeping silent about pertinent information is usually to keep people from panicking. Yet in doing so, they end up producing the panic they were trying to avoid.
Top 10 Most Ridiculous Moments in Science Fiction and Fantasy Film in the 90s
Many months ago I posted a list of the top 8 most ridiculous moments in science fiction and fantasy film in the 21st century. It turned out to be the most popular post in the history of this blog, to my surprise, and inspired me to pursue further the plan I had already set up in my mind. What was that plan? To go backwards through time, decade by decade, picking out the most ridiculous moments in science fiction and fantasy film for each of those decades, as far back as I can reasonably go. So, here we are, with another list (slightly larger, of course) set one decade earlier than the last, and likely just as controversial. Note: the fact that two Dennis Hopper’s movies appear on this list is not a coincidence. Here goes (after the fold): 10. The Midichlorians — Star Wars, Episode One: The Phantom Menace If the original movies never existed, I wouldn’t have a problem with Midichlorians. They’re not a terribly stupid concept by themselves, but when your entire fanbase is familiar with the more mystical and magical world you created twenty years before, you can’t really expect them to take a half-assed scientific attempt to explain the Force seriously. The Force is the result of little alien microbes in all living things? Well, fantastic. Sounds like a disease to me, the side effects of which include turning the occasional man or woman into a raging genocidal lunatic. Wonderful. Where’s my shot of antibiotics? 9. Matthew Broderick — Godzilla When I first saw the American reboot of Godzilla, I have to admit that I was quite pleased. You’ve got to give me a break, though; I was 14, naive, and clearly without taste. That said, the one thing that completely destroyed the Godzilla movie wasn’t the story, per se, but the casting, and none more obvious that Broderick. Don’t get me wrong, I love Broderick. He has acting chops outside of the comedy genre, but taking the role of Dr. Tatopoulos was a horrible idea (and the folks that cast him should have known better). He’s not the only problem; the whole film is dragged down by its cast, despite the fact that, visually, the damned thing is gorgeous. And if you don’t believe me, ask yourself this: was Godzilla (1998) supposed to be a serious movie with a handful of cute lines, or a comedic farce meant to toy with a series of Japanese movies that only look funny to us today because they are absolutely ridiculous by modern standards? 8. Why So Serious? — Super Mario Bros. (the Movie) Trying to list all the things that were wrong with this movie would take days, but probably the most important for fans and film people is the tone. The makers of the film took a mostly cute, mostly silly video game and tried to turn it into some sort of bizarre not-quite-futuristic dystopian cheese-fest stocked with a Dennis Hopper playing an evolved dinosaur with a really bizarre hairdo, mindless slightly-alien goons serving a megalomaniacal government, strange cars that run on some sort of alternate power source, rocket boots, bad music, and bad acting. The problem is that fans were left wondering why the film was so dark, particularly since it’s based on a video game that is, by all accounts, practically G-rated by 1950s standards. 7. Vanilla “Go Ninja” Ice — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze Okay, so apparently someone in the early 90s thought it would be a good idea to get Vanilla Ice to write a song for the second TMNT movie. Instead of having the resulting tune play over the end credits, the filmmakers decided to have Ice put on a mock concert, part of which consisted of a mock “improvisation” of “Go Ninja.” You know, because everyone buys a perfectly improvised, perfectly choreographed “live” rendition from the guy whose only major hit contains the lyrics “Cut like a razor blade so fast other DJs say damn / If my rhyme was a drug I’d sell it by the gram.” Right… 6. Alien 3 (the entire movie) — Alien 3 We’ve heard the story before. What started as an attempt to tell a two-parter involving Hicks devolved into a ridiculous festival of deus ex machina in the form of killing off characters to avoid having to actually tell their stories. The worst part of all of this is that, looking back and knowing what could have been, we are left with a film that feels like a less-terrifying remake of the original Alien, without all of the emotional and societal depth, action, and visual effects established with Alien and amplified ten-fold in Aliens. When James Cameron tells you that killing off a whole bunch of important characters at the start of a film is “a slap in the face,” maybe you should listen… (Of course, it gets worse. Since Alien 3 is technically “canon,” its lazy story affected the films that followed it, which were, to say the least, not nearly up to the standard of the first two Alien movies.) 5. Waterworld — Waterworld When I first saw this movie I was naive and enjoyed it. Looking back, I think I might have been on crack, because I now have no idea how it didn’t earn a Razzie for worst picture in 1996. There are too many things wrong with this movie. Costner drinks filtered pee and has gills, the Earth is somehow covered almost entirely with water (never mind that such a thing isn’t technically possible, unless all the landmasses magically sink), a little girl has a map or whatever tattooed to her body, and Dennis Hopper runs an aquatic version of a Mad Max biker gang. It sounds remotely interesting when you put it like that, but then you see the movie and realize that someone was smoking something crazy when they picked the cast… 4. Deep Space Nine (Season One)