If you haven’t seen the new trailer yet, brace yourselves…
I didn’t really think that Steampunk Rap was a category, but then Nerdcore caught me flatfooted as well when I stumbled across it in 2006. But I was just introduced to Professor Elemental, and now I know it exists. My favorite song out of the group so far is Fighting Trousers, from his latest release The Indifference Engine. Not his Tea Trousers, not his Time Travel Trousers, but only his Fighting Trousers will do for this song. After I got my laughing and cheering under control I found more than a few additional songs by the same artist, and a few more from related musical teams like the wonderful presentations Come Into My Parlour or Chap-Hop History. A serious tip of the hat to the Seampunk Workshop for the entry into an aspect of steampunk music I never suspected!
I have half a dozen awards I consider worth the effort to be involved with, and one of them is the Nebula Awards. The members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. nominate and vote on the various entries into that competition and select the winners. Along with the Hugo Awards it is one of the best places to learn about new authors and the best new stories. The video equivalent for these two would be the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes; one chosen by the pros, one chosen by the fans. Each award system has something of value to contribute, so you want to pay attention to both.
The nominations just opened for this years Nebula’s, so if you are a member of the SFWA now is the time to push your candidates to the front of the stage. When I say just, I mean it opened yesterday, the 15th of November 2010, and will run until February 15th of 2011. It really doesn’t matter if anything nominated wins or not from a Fan perspective. If it was good enough or important enough to be nominated, it is worth your time to read it at least once, even if your conclusion is you do not feel it is worth recommending to anyone. From these beginnings cult classics are born.
At long last, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 hits the big screen this Friday. We will have to wait until next year to see the second half of the movie, but considering how many years it has taken to deliver the series, that is a minor detail.
At first I wasn’t even going to mention movies this week, since the dreadful The Last Airbender was the obvious title. But then I discovered Metropia is also being released this week, a rather dark and disturbing story about mind control in near future Europe. Even the animation work in this one helps set the mood for a tale that is fully worthy of Philip K. Dick, to the point where I expected to see it was based on one of his stories (it isn’t). Also, Avatar (Three-Disc Extended Collector’s Edition) is the DVD they should have released in the first place with all of the missing footage. But it is still not in 3D, so I suspect their goal is to try to get everyone to buy the movie three times.
In sort-of non fiction we have The Seekers Guide to Harry Potter, the reviews of which have been underwhelming. I will be giving this one a pass, but thought it should at least be mentioned.
In live action TV this week we have Heroes: The Complete Series for those who haven’t bought each season as it was released. While on the topic of live action television I would like to express my displeasure with Syfy for not only canceling Caprica, but stopping showing episodes with several unaired. Likewise kudos to Space TV for continuing to run them; too bad I don’t have that channel on my cable lineup.
In anime we have one release, Our Home’s Fox Deity. If you enjoy humorous demon fighting this is worth checking out. I suspect things are sparse this week because everything is being held back for the holiday shopping season.
Only a month and a few weeks to go to TRON: Legacy; a little Daft Punk with footage to get us ready… BTW, there is also some trailer footage for the new Green Lantern movie, but since it is mostly a commercial for Entertainment Tonight I didn’t post it here.