I finally got my hands on an actual working, modern computer to replace the one that barbecued in the power surges during Snomageddon. Hopefully that means I will get back up to speed on this blog soon!
Before the Cons, a salute to Ada Lovelace and to this, her day. This was a woman who wrote software in the first half of the 1800’s for Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine, and wrote the world first algorithm, thereby becoming the worlds first computer programmer.
The World Horror Convention takes place from the 25th to the 28th in Brighton, England. You can not get in unless you already have your ticket, because it is completely sold out. This is possibly related to the fact that this is the first time ever that this convention is being held in Europe.
In North America, Wizard World, the Toronto Comic Con, runs from the 26th to the 28th. This is Canada’s monster Comics and Collectibles event, second only to the San Diego insanity. Meanwhile, Comicpalooza will be performing a similar function in Houston, TX. Just take a quick peek at the guest list, which is huge; actors, artists, and authors galore… and that’s just the A’s.
I-Con 29 is a general Sci-Fi con, but huge; again, a glimps of the guest list will give you a feel for the scope of this event. This one takes place at Stony Brook University, in Long Island, NY.
Pax East is a Gamer Con running this weekend in Boston. I am not much of a gamer (I’m usually the guy they send out first so they can spot the snipers when they take me out), but I would be there for the music alone! Nerdcore Godfather MC Frontalot, the orchestral VGO, the hacked hardware of Anamanaguchi, and many more. If you hadn’t already guessed, PAX stands for Penny Arcade Expo, which usually hangs out on the west coast.
Perhaps the most unusual Con of the month is Xanadu Las Vegas, a Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Fetish Convention. Only in that city would you have a Masquerade dedicated to the memory of Forrest J. Ackerman (who along with his date wore the first costumes to a Sci-Fi Con ever in 1939), and judged by an Adult Film Star who is also the con GoH; and only in this city would you have a Masquerade where the wearing of an actual Mask is against the law (Nevada State Law prohibits the wearing of any face covering in any casino, and you will be arrested forthwith). This one looks like a world of fun and CONtradiction.
The person over at The Forensic Scientist Blog has collected up a list of 100 Fun Twitter Feeds for Serious SciFi Geeks. It is a great list, including actors, authors, and organizations both professional and fannish. Minutes after finding that one, I stumbled over 100 sci-fi and horror posters; so it seemed like the day to post lists.
There are two new genre selections to choose from this weekend. The first is Hot Tub Time Machine, which looks to be silly fun requiring no mental straining at all. The main sense of Deja Vu generated in this one just might be that we have seen these jokes before. If you are more in the mood for animated fun, How To Train Your Dragon could be just the ticket. It is built by the same team who did Shrek and Kung Fu Panda, so expect more of the same great humor and animation quality.
And there is a third choice: Waking Sleeping Beauty. I don’t normally recommend documentaries, but this one tells a behind-the-scenes story about the rebirth of the Disney animation studios that received a lot of attention on the Film Fest circuit.
Bringing Psychic Warriors to the big screen for the first time, The Men Who Stare At Goats hits the shelves Tuesday. This amusing fictionalization has more truth in it than the government wants you to know about, or certainly any senate budgetary oversight committee.
From AMC, the 2009 miniseries remake of The Prisoner keeps some of the original referents and redevelops others from the ground up. I don’t think it quite lived up to the 17 episode 1967 series, but I am going to watch them both back-to-back before I decide for sure.
For the young female segment of the audience, The Twilight Saga: New Moon is also being released this week. The second film in this series, it is packed with more brooding stares than ever before.
For fans of a much more classic vampire tradition, Orlock the Vampire 3D becomes accessible to the general public. This 1922 silent masterpiece was originally titled Murnau’s Nosferatu, but it was believed all full length versions of it were destroyed. Keith Carter took this one surviving example and processed it for the complete 3D experience, and then Lloyd Kaufman of Troma does the whole introduction thing to round out the package. As a person who has actually paid cash money to sit in a movie theater on Halloween and listen to a live synthesizer player and percussionist create the audio accompaniment for the truncated version of the film, I can’t wait to add this one to my permanent collection.
There are a few quality western animation coming out this week, starting with The Fantastic Mr Fox. This twisted little movie is fairly true to the book it’s based on, and it has a great voice cast. Also, Toy Story and Toy Story 2 Blu-Ray Special Editions (2 disk sets) become available on Tuesday. If you want the standard definition (regular DVD) versions of these releases, you will have to wait until May 11th.
On the Anime front, Darker than Black is accessible, but from the reviews I have seen somewhat disappointing. I need to see it for myself before I can voice a real opinion. I can voice an opinion on Trinity Blood: The Complete Series: it is worth your time to watch. Yet another tale about humans and vampires, but taking a slightly different approach than you might expect. The Standard Edition was released back in December, this is the Blu Ray version. Finally, there is Nabari No Ou – The Complete Series Part 2. In this story line, Ninja’s beat on each other for the right to rule the world, but the primary character, Miharu Rokujou, just want’s to run his restaurant.
In 1990, Douglas Adams got together with Tom Baker, and they made a program for the BBC called Hyperland, a documentary about the Web. The Internet had been around for decades at that point, and even became common among early adapters around 1984 through dedicated client services like AOL and Compuserve. But the modern version of the Web was being invented as this program was being made, and only came into being two years later, around 1992. So here is a bit of history; you can find more here. By the way, did you see the Doctor and Romana hawking computers in the early ’80s? How about Captain Kirk?