It was declared the season finally for Defying Gravity, which convinced lots of folks the show had been canceled, although some people disagree. The military of the US is funding development of a cute little shoebox-sized robot called the Precision Urban Hopper that can jump over 25 foot tall walls, making your standard perimeter fence fairly useless. It should be no surprise that this makes some people nervous.
SF Signal does it again with a listing of 120 more awesome and free SF/F/H stories, culled from the collection linked at Free Speculative Fiction Online. The stories authors include Kevin J. Anderson, Kage Baker, Peter S. Beagle, Michael Bishop, Terry Bisson, Ben Bova, David Brin, Emma Bull… and that’s just some of the authors listed from the first 2 letters of the alphabet. The more is because they previously posted 76 Free SF/F Audio Stories, a direct link to Starship Sofa’s famous Complete Nebula Best Short Story Nominees 2008, and an absolute ton of individual links in their various Free Fiction posts. Be sure to check out Starship Sofa in detail while you are there, since they have a new quality story pretty much every week. Other sites for good stories include Podcastle and the related Psudopod and Escape Pod, and of course Librivox is a must-visit site for audio stories.
I wasn’t in Hollywood tonight to attend the 2009 Emmy Awards: Creative Arts Awards presentation, but I will be watching on the 20th when it gets broadcast on air, and for those wondering that will be on CBS. But I have to congratulate a few of the winners, starting with Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (and you can see Nathan’s reaction here), which won the Short-format Live-Action Special Class. Which makes sense, since it never actually played on television or in theaters, but premiered on the Web and then was released to DVD. The Wizards of Waverly Place won for Outstanding Children’s Program, and you can see their reaction here. Battlestar Galactica pulled in an award or three, and Dan Castellaneta got one for Best Voiceover (he’s Homer Simpson to you). There were a lot more awards handed out, for next year I am hoping to see a best topless flashing scene in a fantasy category.
For the first time in quite a while, and for one night only, you can watch the original version of The Wizard of Oz in a movie theater. It happens on Wednesday the 23rd, so if you are a fan of this movie you might want to free up that night. Another Fathom Event happens the following night with the one-night only showing of EUREKA SEVEN – good night, sleep, tight, young lovers anime movie, a somewhat different version than the TV series. Check for theaters and showtime here. While not on the big screen, on the following Sunday night (the 27th) on Adult Swim Titan Maximum premieres , and the trailers are hysterical.
The nominees have been announced for the UK’s National Television Awards, and I am happy to report they include Ashes to Ashes, Deamons, Doctor Who, Primeval, and Torchwood entries among them. All five shows are up against each other in the Best Drama category. John Barrowman, Philip Glenister, Eve Myles, Hannah Spearritt, and David Tennant are vying for the Best Drama Performance spot. There are many more categories, I need to go through the list in detail. But I had to relay this bit as well; the creater of Blackadder will be writting a Doctor Who episode in which a historic figure battles a monster. Keeping my fingers crossed that the figure is Blackadder himself!
According to SFX, the original Prisoner TV series is going to be showing on the big screen, in order, for an all-night marathon. Unfortunately for me that will be at the Prince Charles Cinema in the UK, but if your on that side of the pond don’t miss this one!