Stargate Universe is one of the best Sci-Fi shows out right now.  I’m really excited about how they are stepping up in the second half of the season.

I can’t wait for April 2nd when season 1.5 will primer.

Get Season 1.0 from or Amazon

Watch it streaming online

Stargate Universe news and Stargate news

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I’m a sucker for a movie with sword play in it and / or a mid-evil setting besides could it be any worse or better then Kevin Costner 1991 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.  It will hit theaters May 14, 2010.

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As you know I’m a sucker for a vampire movie bad pun intended. Many turn out to be really bad but every once in a while a vampire movie will stand out from the pack.

Suck is a comedy vampire movie about a rock band while on the road becomes vampires to improve their rock. With classic great lines like:

• “what happens on the road stays on the road”
• “try some groupie”

The trailer is awesome! Watch it below.

Unfortunately it is currently making the independent film rounds which means for me living in the middle of nowhere I will have to wait to watch it.

The guest stars in this movie floored me: Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, Moby, and Henry Rollins all musical icons plus , Dave Foley who’s performances I have always enjoyed.

(via /Film)

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Words can not express how badly I want a 2.4 meter tall Alien King sculpture! Made from recycled parts and welded together.

I went to Robosteel site where there are more awesome pictures of the Steel Alien sculptures and the worse thing ever happened.  They are actually for sale… *drool*

(via Fantasy SF Blog)

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Right Me Up is one of my absolutely favorite songs from State Radio’s Us Against the Crown album .  Every time I need a pick me up, this is one of my top go to songs.

Watching them perform live with Manny on the stage is a guaranteed way to make bring a smile to my face, how about yours?

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I am so stoked to be able to bring you this review. I’ve been waiting for Black Butler to be translated into English for over a year.

A short distance from London, just beyond the fog-cloaked forest, there stands a well-kept manor house.

Kuroshitsuji, or Black Butler, is an awesome gothic tale about a butler who can do absolutely anything. The art in the manga is the best gothic craftsmanship I have ever seen. In fact, before the English translation came out, I had to talk myself out of buying the Japanese version several times because I loved the art so much. I just wanted to hold such beauty in my hands and study the details even, if I couldn’t read the darned thing!

I just finished the English translation version and I am not disappointed in the least. The story and characters live up to the awesome artwork. So, what’s it about?

The Black Butler, Sebastian, is the kind of man anyone could use around the house. He can clean, garden, make the most delicious sweets, and even rescue you from kidnappers. Most would say that his type of know-how is impossible in a mortal and they would be right. Sebastian’s master Earl Phantomville, a twelve-year-old boy named Ceil who is obsessed with games. Being the head of the family that owns Funtom, Britain’s leading confection and toy making manufacturer, liking games is a must.

The other servants of the house are comical, but useless. After all, who needs maids, gardeners, and man servants when one has Sebastian the greatest butler of all time? These other servants make it difficult for Sebastian to do his job by constantly messing things up, destroying china sets, poisoning the garden, and eating the Earl’s desserts. The Black Butler always saves the day with his quick wit, speedy service, and ultimate all around wonderfulness.

My favorite scene is when Sebastian is riddled with bullets and then stands, his coattails all in tatters and looks at the bullets in his hand. Then he throws all the bullets back at the baddies, effectively sending them to their graves. After the fight, he picks up his master and calmly walks for the room while apologizing that dinner has not been prepared.

As I have said, this artist is awesome. I haven’t been this excited about a manga artist since Kaori Yuki’s Godchild. From ruffled cravats and tailored suits to ornamented chandeliers and elaborate tea servings, every detail is beautiful. Even the chibi portions of this manga are well done.

A fun detail is that each chapter, Sebastian makes a special dessert for Earl Phantomville. The dessert is shown up close with a banner stating things such as:

Today’s Dessert: Apricot and green tea mille-feuille.

This awesome book includes seven pages of author notes with translation notes outlining everything you’d like to know about what is described in the book, including what mille-feuille is.

The author is definitely into portraying authentic Victorian England settings and clothing, but I’ve never seen a manga artist pay this much attention to customs, history of the time, and even what people might have been talking about during dinner.

I’ll leave you with a quote from the author:

I like black…
…It’s a color that can’t be violated by any other colors.
It’s a color that simply keeps being itself.
A color that sinks more somberly than any other…
…It’s a passionate, gallant color.
Anything is wonderful if it transcends things, rather than being halfway.

If you haven’t bought a manga yet, this is the one to start with. Few others are in it’s league. You can find out more about Black Butler at Amazon.com.

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After Avatar premiered on the big screen I noticed it having a strange effect in some of those around me.  Then the headlines pointing out how there was a rise in depression from some who watched the movie.  This cause was pinned on the movie being “a little too real” CNN with that being followed up by pinning it on the intense visuals.

This left me curious, there is a real effect being caused but the explanation of visuals for the cause did not make sense.  After watching Avatar Eric and I talked about the experience and the feelings left behind and he pointed out the cause.

The Cause

Experiencing Avatar gives one a religious experience stimulating metaphysical urges.  If lacking in one’s life this will leave a longing, drawing attention to the emptiness that already exists in their life.  Due to our secular society this whole event is felt but probably not realized on a conscious level.

It’s Human nature

It’s human nature to feel the need for a connection.  This need is what drives us as a species to be social creatures.  This is not only one sought between each other but also between our environment around us and to a greater universe.

This is the deeper purpose that mythology and religion serve as they help us to get connected to one another, our environment and the greater universe.

Without it one is left with a restless longing.  This longing can be ignored or temporally filled but it still persists if those connections are not made.  Our secular society has become quite adept at even distracting ourselves so much that the longing is numbed.

How Avatar stimulates it

Avatar does something amazing by giving the viewer an experience of a beautiful setting in which the characters have a deep connection to each other, the environment around them and to a greater universe giving immediate validation of that connection.

This starts with the viewer being able to relate to Jake who through a dreaming state gets a direct neural transmitted connection to a Na’vi.  Through the Na’vi we are connected to the rest of the world around.

A Na’vi does not just climb on a mount and ride around or fly around on it.  They make a neural connection to the mount, a bond that is very deep and reciprocal.  It is a connection that has immediate reward and shown true through the creatures response.

They connect with those that came before them through the Tree of Voices.  This connects the Na’vi to their ancestors and validates this afterlife with immediate feedback.  Connecting to the Tree of Voices they can hear the voices of their ancestors.

The connection to a greater universe is shown through Eywa and the Tree of Souls.  Through this experience we see the validation of a person’s soul and it’s ability to transfer from one back into nature and even it’s ability to reincarnate transferring from one body to a new one.

The validation goes so far that even Eywa validates the prayers of the people.

The result

While experiencing the movie we also experience the deep connection and the validation of that experience.  Once the movie ends so does the experience.  The audience member returns to their life and if they have a longing it is made apparent and thus the feelings of depression and a strong desire to return to the Na’vi.

The sad thing is because we live in such a secular society many will not realize on a conscious level those metaphysical urges were stimulated.  Then the distractions set in and attempts to ignore the feelings.  Pushing the longing back down into the unconsciousness and Missing the opportunity to take edifying action.

Exploring Avatar’s Religious Elements

Eywa

Eywa is the great spirit of Pandora revered by the Na’vi and represented through the interconnectedness amongst all of the flora, fauna and indigenous peoples.  The Eywa is most represented through the Tree of Souls, Tree of Voices and the Atokirina which are little floating airborne jellyfish like creatures.

Emissaries of Eywa

The Atokirina’ are seeds from the Tree of souls that float around on the air of Pandora.  They are viewed and revered by the Na’vi as spirits sent from Eywa.  Their presence is viewed as a sign to the people to help them and guide them.

Tree of Voices

The Utral Aymokriyä is a tree kind of like a weeping willow but the branches hanging down are full of neural connections.  These trees are viewed as a sacred space.  The Na’vi can connect to the branches and hear the voices of their ancestors, kind of like a prayer space.  They also partake of the more sacred rights under the branches of the tree like marriage rights.

Tree of Souls

The Ayvitrayä Ramunong is a tree similar in appearance to the Tree of Voices except it has a massive root structure that is close to the surface.  The Tree of Souls can make neural connections to the Na’vi and other creatures around it by sending out many small tendrils.  Through that connection one can get a direct experience of Eywa.  They can even transfer souls from one body through Eywa and back into another body.

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Leaving the theater I was disappointed in Avatar’s marketing efforts.  If only they told me this movie was a Planetary Romance I would have had much more interest in watching it.  Avatar is the first good Planetary Romance in a long time.  They are hard to pull off with the last really good example being Dune.

A planetary romance is a story style where the setting becomes the main character.  In Avatar we get to explore Pandora, it’s inhabitants, and the unique interconnectedness of everything on the planet.

I was so proud with the introduction into the depth of the setting.  This begins with a subtle clue from the scene where Dr. Grace and Norm studying the root structure of a tree and noticing how vast that structure stretches and how interconnected it is with all other plant roots in the area.  The big reveal after Jake slowed down listening to Neytiri and actually looked around is a breathtaking scene with all the plants glowing and even the moss lighting up with each foot steep.

Na’vi

The Na’vi are the indigenous species of Pandora.  9 to 12 feet tall, blue skin with bipedal humanoid features. One of the most distinctive feature is the series of tendrils that protrude from the back of their head masked by their hair which is in a long braid.  These tendrils are used to make a neural connection with the Pandora’s plants and animals.  This gives the Na’vi a more direct means of communicating with their environment and even leaving impressions upon the fauna that can be recalled by latter generations.

Pa’li

Called a Direhorse by the humans.  It is used by the Na’vi like a horse as a mount to ride around on.  Standing in at 13 feet tall and 14 feet long, mostly grey in color with blue stripes.  The Pa’li has two long antennae that the rider connects to the tendrils in the end of their hair.  Through that connection the rider can direct the mount through mental commands.  This makes the training process very quick because once the connection is made all the rider has to do is think stop, go, slow down and gets the desired result.  The tricky part in riding is for the rider to realize the Pa’li is like an extension of self rather than this other thing to be ordered around.

Ikran

Called a Mountain Banshee by the humans.  The Ikran are a flying predator with four wings used as a mount by only the strongest of the Na’vi warriors.  Like the Pa’li they make a neural connection through the Iran’s antennae but this is a life long connection meaning an Ikran will have only one rider.

This process is a dangerous one performed alone in front of the other warriors.  This part of the movie has many similarities with Dune and the Fremen sandworm riders who go through a similar ritual to become a true warrior and one of the tribe.

Toruk

The Ikran are mythically like the Sandworms in Dune leaving the Toruk like Shai-Hulud.  I loved how the name means last shadow because it’s the greatest predator of the skies with nothing as large or as fierce as it.  The Toruk has only been tamed five times before.  Those instances were at times of great trouble where their riders brought the tribes of Pandora together to overcome the adversity.  The Na’vi celebrate the Trouk in dance, song, and with elaborate totems that symbolizes both the fear and respect accorded to the creature.

Toruk is massive in size, scarlet in color with black stripes and a midnight blue crest on top of the head and on the lower jaw.

Eywa

Eywa is the great spirit of Pandora revered by the Na’vi and represented through the interconnectedness among all the flora, fauna and indigenous peoples.  The Eywa is most represented through the Tree of Souls, Tree of Voices and the Atokirina which are little floating airborne jellyfish like creatures.  For more on the interconnectedness read Avatar’s Religious Experience.

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Blessed be the Dunecat and all His cuteness. Bless the coming and going of Him, May His passing ease the world. May He keep the world smiling for all his people.

(via Dark Vision Hardware)

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Horrorfest III: Tales of Terror

A Second Life Convention presented by Bookstacks

Notice By Kghia Gherardi, Organizer

This month on the thirteenth, Bookstacks will commence Horrorfest III: Tales of Terror. You might not live to see the Ides of March this year! We will have a full schedule of events with numerous authors reading their works, including Mike Stackpole. The survivors will continue on the fourteenth when, amongst other events, Tobias Buckell will make one of his rare appearances in-world to read “Spurn Babylon.”

In other events you will be able to swap poetry with author Emerian Rich in the graveyard. Or learn about real life horrors with Mark Eller. Find out how to incorporate horror sound effects to your own shows. Sample Crap Mariner’s short shorts. Participate in a costume contest and attend a fashion show for the fashionably undead. And that’s not all! Bookstacks will be running all its normal events, usually with a twist…a twist of Terror.

Saturday, March 13
•9:00 am – Horrorfest opens with new and classic tales read by West of Ireland storyteller Gyro Muggins.
•10:00 am - Emerian Rich, author and host of the Horror Addicts podcast, hosts a workshop on creating horror sounds for podcasts…or simply to scare your friends next Halloween.
•11:00 am – Simeon Beresford serves as quiz master for a horrific game of Book Trivia. The winner of the game will take home 500 lindens, and the person in the best costume in the theme will also win 500 lindens.
•1:00 pm – Emerain Rich reads from the sequel to Night’s Knights
•2:00 pm – Science Fiction Saturday
•3:00 pm – NYT bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole will give you nightmares when he reads one of his scary tales
•4:00 pm – Join Emerian Rich for the annual sharing of scary poetry in the graveyard. There is more out there than “The Raven”
•5:00 pm – Crap Mariner offers his own take on terror with his 100 word stories and scary shorts
•6:00 pm – Author and host of the Hell Hole Tavern podcast, Mark Eller, will remind us that not all horror is fictional with his real life tales.
•7:00 pm – Live performance by Scream Machine*

Sunday, March 14 (please note: Daylight Savings Time begins in the US)
•11:00 am – Henry Snider reads from one of his stories about occult, parapsychology and esoteric studies
•1:00 pm – Off the Shelf interviews Mark Eller, author and host of the Hell Hole Tavern podcast
•3:00 pm – Poetry Libre’s Open Mic
•4:00 pm – Award-winning author Tobias Buckell reads “Spurn Babylon”
•5:00 pm – “Twenty Ten Horror and Chills Couture Event” – Fashion Show for the Fashionably Undead from the Infinite Focus Fashion Agency
* Scream Machine is brought to us by Grave Concerns Ezine

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