Life on Mars - A Review of Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson and some Podcasting News...

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1993)

Not long ago, I was spouting on Facebook about one of the books I was reading when fellow musician and Sci-Fi fan, Bill Truelove asked me if I had ever read Red Mars.  I had not and while I am always open to look at new things, I figured I would give it a try.  Bill gave me further advice telling me that I need to savor this book and pay close attention to the characters.  If you have not read Red Mars and think you might, please be sure to keep Bill’s advice in mind because this is no casual read.  It is a masterpiece that explores all aspects of the colonization of another planet by humans, if such a thing were ever to happen.  Red Mars is the first of three novels that deals with humans migrating to another planet and attempting to set up an entirely new society apart from earth-bound humanity.

Beginning in the year 2026, the story begins with a joint American-Russian mission to the planet Mars to see about the possibilities of colonization of the planet.  A giant ship called the Ares (I thought it was cool that the author chose the name of the Greek god of war as the name of the ship to travel to the planet that sports the Roman god of war’s name) which is constructed from spent Shuttle external fuel tanks that have been boosted into orbit rather than returned to earth for reuse as fuel tanks.  The ship’s crew is made up by the “First Hundred” people to colonize the planet.  The expedition consists of people from varying science and engineering disciplines.

The First hundred set up the first settlement on Mars using the resources that are provided by the planet itself along with the limited equipment and supplies they brought with them.  Ne the first settlement is established, the process of colonization starts as the First Hundred divide into factions that represent numerous points of view about what the eventual outcome of this effort is to be.

While there are differences of opinion as to whether the planet should be terraformed, a governmental entity known as UNOMA (United Nations Organization Mars Authority) decides that in view of the political, social, and economic conditions on Earth, terraforming should be made a reality.  Also, while governments become weaker on earth, large corporations called TransNats (short for Trans Nationals) begin to vie with each other and with the Martian colonies for the use of resources.  

As they work to thicken the atmosphere and warm up the planet, an asteroid is captured and set into synchronous orbit around Mars with the use of a long cable, thus allowing more and more people to emigrate to the planet.  As the population grows so does the unrest as many factions attempt to assert their visions of what the planet should be socially.  After a time, this leads to a rebellion against the First Hundred and they are slowly killed off.  The Asteroid is caused to crash into Mars, and this along with the use of nuclear devices causes underground caches of water to be released and flooding the planet violently.

The last of the First Hundred make their way through many perils as a result of the flooding and the torrents that accompany them.  Finally they arrive at underground caverns.

Characters

The real focus of the story is on the characters.  Within each part, there is massive character development while the author explores what makes them tick.  Some of the main characters include:

John Boone: American astronaut and the first person to step on Mars six years before the story begins.  His immortal first words as he stepped on Mars are “well, here we are.”    He is a larger than life character who has the ability to sway others to his way of thinking.

Frank Chalmers:  Head of the American contingent and rival in many ways to Boone.  Chalmers is responsible for the assassination of Boone.

Nadia Chernyshevski: A very talented engineer who is responsible for much of the infrastructural improvements on the planet’s surface.  She avoids conflicts and concentrates on work.

Arkady Bogdanov: A mechanical engineer and anarchist.  He leads the team that engineers Phobos and is considered by many to be a trouble maker.

Sax Russell: Leader of the movement to terraform Mars.

Ann Clayborne: A geologist who, in direct opposition to Sax, advocates leaving Mars the way it was  when people first landed.

These are by no means all of the characters, but these are among the most important.

Themes

Many of the themes in the book are the same as the ones that we face today, and have faced throughout history.  One theme that stands out is the conflict of whether to adapt the planet to human habitation or whether to make humans adapt to the environment.  Indeed, environmentalism is a theme that is very present today in our own lives.  So if we do somehow find the means to travel to Mars and begin colonization, do we have the right to change an entire planet to suit our needs?  Assuming that there is no indigenous life already on the planet, should we, if we are able to, make the atmosphere thicker, release large quantities of water by crashing asteroids into the planet and melting the polar ice cap?  I don’t see why not, but when I consider the factors such as the way Mars is constantly bombarded with radiation because of the lack of a magnetic field such as we enjoy on the Earth, it would seem impossible for that reason alone.

Also, if Mars were to be colonized, where would the seat of government lie?  Would the Red Planet be governed from Millions of miles away, or would the people who colonize mars decide what sort of government, if any they want.  I think Robinson hits the nail on the head when he speculated that corporate influences would do their best to make every attempt to have their say on what happens to with the exploitation of the resources on another planet.  There would eventually be a revolution by the people on the planet to exert their independence, just as colonists did in our own American history.

In any case, Red Mars is a good story, no matter where you fall in the philosophical spectrum.  It will give one cause to think, but this is not a book to be read quickly.  The author doesn’t lay everything out for the reader to simply digest; one has to think while reading this book.  The science is well researched, the characters are well developed, and there is every element that makes a good story that a reader can relate to.

Podcasting News

In my last several posts, I have neglected to plug my friends and their Sci-Fi podcasts that are very good and fun to listen to.  With the recent release of Star Trek Into Darkness in theaters, Trek fans are debating the issues, and so are the podcasters.

On the most recent release of the Scifi Diner Podcast, Scott, Miles, and M are joined by David Moulton from the Lancast Podcast, and myself for a review as well as a debate of many points of the movie we liked, and some points that gave us trouble.  Later we are joined by Troy Heinritz pops in live with his list of Trek movies and justifications for his favorite to least favorite.  Also chiming in on the discussion with recorded remarks is Colin from the Trek News and Views podcast.  Mary the Televixen also checks in with some very astute remarks.

Another good discussion of the latest incarnation of Star Trek is from Trek News and Views.  Colin and friends discuss many aspects of the film including the logic of why certain things are done.  This podcast is sure to cause you to rethink taking Into Darkness at face value.

Starbase 66 with Rick, Kennedy, Unkk, and special guest Rich from the Simply Syndicated Podcasting Network discuss Into Darkness.  They look at the film from an intellectual point of view, but there are a lot of laughs as you listen to this.  It was especially fun to listen as Rich, who seemed ready to say that it was the best film ever rethinks as the plot holes and incongruities were presented.  I was also privileged to have my recorded remarks included in this show.

Finally, I would like to promote a new podcast that has just been started built around the upcoming mini series presentation of Stephen King's Under The Dome.  My friends Wayne Henderson and Troy Heinritz are hosting the Under The Dome Radio Podcast centering around the miniseries to begin airing on CBS on June 24th.  Here's your chance to get in on the ground floor and follow along as the show airs.  The first episode is out; a fifteen minute introduction of what to expect from Under the Dome.

So, read Red Mars and listen to podcasts.  Both are great entertainment.

 Well, there it is…

I am Kahless…

Q’aplaH!

Before After Earth, Read A Great Book: A Perfect Beast - After Earth...

A Perfect Beast – After Earth by Michael Jan Friedman, Robert Greenberger, and Peter David (2013)

While checking my Facebook account, one of the authors that I have friended, Mike Freidman announced the release of A Perfect Beast and mentioned that it is the official prequel to the film due for release on May 31, 2013, After Earth starring Will and Jaden Smith.  After seeing the trailers of this film, I definitely decided that it was worth a watch and was very excited to read this book.  I downloaded it for my Kindle and started reading.  I am glad I did because this is a great read for many reasons.

The story is set on a planet that humans have inhabited because the Earth was no longer able to support humanity.  Unbeknownst to the human population of the planet Nova Prime, they had chosen to live on a planet that was considered sacred to an alien race calling themselves the Krezateen.  The planet, known by the Krezateens as Zantenor.  To the Krezanteen, this world is so sacred that they do not even set foot on it, and they were extremely upset that human “vermin” had dare to attempt to populate it.  The Krezateens tried to eradicate the humans by bombing them out of existence, but the humans were quite resilient and repulsed the Krezateen attempt.  So they had to hatch an alternate plan.

 576 years after the humans land on Nova Prime (576 AE), the story follows several important characters, but one in particular becomes the hero of the story.  His name is Connor Raige.  Connor is the descendant of a long line of Rangers (a military organization charged with protecting Nova Prime from threats within and from without the planet) who are a very dedicated force.  At this point, Connor is a cadet in training at the Ranger Academy, he displays skills that will be useful in his future, and indispensable for the survival of Nova Prime.

Nova Prime’s government is a tripartite system that is democratically ruled by the Ranger Prime Commander, the Primus (a spiritual leader), and the Savant (the leader of science and technology).  After the urging of a rabble rousing broadcaster named Trey Vander Meer, the people of Nova Prime, the Primus, and the Savant are all convinced that far too much of the human resources are being spent to maintain the Rangers since there hasn’t been any trouble from the Skrel (the human name for the Krezanteen) for hundreds of years.  Well, just as the decision was being made, the Skrel unleash their plan to completely eliminate humanity from Nova Prime.

This plan comes to Nova Prime in the form of a Beast the humans call Ursa; a sightless animal that was created by the Skrel for one purpose; to devour every human they can find.  The Ursa is described as having no sight and hunts humans by smell and hearing, and being sightless is no disadvantage to the beasts because they have a layer of armor just under their hide that can repel the best weapons the humans have.

By means of attrition, and the way he demonstrates his skill at killing Ursa, Conner eventually rises to lead the Rangers in the fight with the help of a new weapon.

A Perfect Beast is full of fast paced action that never slows down.  It is full of characters that really mattered, and many of them were killed during the course of the story by the Ursa.  I simply could not stop reading this book and finished it in five days.  Those that are familiar with Star Trek novels will recognize the author’s names and know of the quality in their usual writing.  Well Friedman, Greenberger, and David pull out all the stops on this one and have penned a brilliant story that has only served to pique my desire to see the After Earth Film.  I give this book my highest recommendation and would have to say that it is amongst the best stories I have read in quite some time, and perhaps a must to help with the understanding of the film.

Michael Jan Friedman, Robert Greenberger, and Peter David

A Perfect Beast also includes three Ghost stories.  The ghosts are not departed spirits of Nova Prime, but they are very special Rangers that can foil the Ursa’s abilities to locate and kill them as they attack.  I think that the three shorts stories might be a key component to the understanding of the upcoming film as they take place 400 years after the events of the novel.

If you are planning to see After Earth, I would urge you to pick this book up, but even if you are not planning to see the movie, it would still be worth reading as it stands well on its own as a fine piece of sci-fi literature.

Podcasting News

I have been negligent on promoting the sci-fi podcasts that I listen to.  I’m sure that you know how it is when real life demands time that could otherwise be spent on leisure pursuits.  In the life of a small school music teacher, the months of March, April, and May can be harrowing with concerts, contests, and other performance obligations.  But things are slowing down and I should have more time to write the blog, and write and record comments for the various podcasts I listen to regularly.

Anyway, on the SciFi Diner Podcast, the latest episode #171, Scott, Miles and their guest host M talk about various science fiction subjects and we get to hear an interview with John Billingsley (Phlox from ST: Enterprise) and Bonita Friedericy (the General from Chuck, also a Borg on Ent.).  This was a fun interview to listen to as Billingsley and Friedericy play off of one another to give a fun interview to listen to.

I also noticed that the Diner released a Conversations episode with comments from me on Iron Man 3 and Defiance.  I haven’t listened to this one yet, but will be listening very soon.

I also listened to an excellent episode of Trek News and Views in which they discuss all things Klingon.  That would be Episode #71.  Colin again gathers a great panel of people who are quite expert on the Klingons and they share ideas and discuss facts that are both known, and some that may not be so widely known.  Definitely worth a listen.

Well, there it is…

I remain,

Kahless

Q’aplaH

A Blast from the Past...

Earth 2

I recently re-watched an old attempt at sci-fi television called Earth 2.  It aired for only one season from November 1994 until June 1995.  I remember watching this show during its original run and discovered that it the entire series was available on Amazon for a reasonable price, so I got it.  It was a fun watch, so I thought I would share some of my thoughts on this unfortunately unsuccessful series.

The premise of Earth 2 is that the Earth was rapidly becoming uninhabitable , and most of the people of the planet had moved onto space stations in orbit.  It was a goal of the population to find other habitable planets to move to, and one had been found some 22 light years away, called G889.

Billionaire Devon Adair puts together an advance group to attempt to settle G889 as a new home for humans.  Her main motivation for this though is an attempt to save her son, 9-year-old Ulysses, who has contracted a disease caused by life on the space stations.  Specifics on this disease aren't made clear in the series, but suffice it to say that it is a degenerative and fatal disease that strikes children living on the station.

Devon's mission does not have governmental support and an attempt to sabotage her ship with a bomb, which is discovered and jettisoned.  The crew goes into cryogenic sleep for the trip to G889, and arrives at their destination 22 years later.  The ship has more problems and the entire crew and colonists are forced to abandon, and the group winds up scattered all over the planet's surface.  Devon and her group salvage what equipment and technology they can and start out for New Pacifica, where the first colony is supposed to settle.

Along the way, the group encounters many unknown dangers and situations.  One discovery made is of a race of people that populate the planet called Terrians, a race of subterranean dwellers that can only communicate with the humans through a dreamscape that only a few, including young Ulysses, can understand.  The Terrians have a symbiotic relationship with the planet, in other words, if the Terrians become extinct, the planet will also become uninhabitable.  The Terrians take an interest in Ulysses and cure his disease.

The cast on Earth 2 was very good.  My favorite character in the show was John Danziger played by Clancy Brown.  A very fine actor who doesn't get his due as far as I am concerned.  His role as Danziger is to keep the equipment running and he becomes the protector of the group.

Debrah Farentino plays Devon, the leader of the group who successfully, or unsuccessfully maintains balance in the group.  Yale is played by Sullivan Walker (another favorite), a former convict who has cybernetic implants that allows him to act as a library computer, as well as a trusted adviser to Devon.  Dr. Jessica Steen plays Dr. Julia Heller, a bit of a mysterious person who not only is the group's medical aid, but is also found out to be working for the Council (the government) as a spy.  The beautiful Rebecca Gayheart stars as Bess Martin, wife of Morgan and played by John Gegenhuber.  This is an interesting couple; while Morgan is constantly getting himself into trouble, Bess spends most of her time getting him out of it.  Morgan is a minor government official who is basically scared of his own shadow and quite greedy, always trying to profit from the group's situation.  Antonio Sabato Jr. is Alanzo Solace, a hotshot pilot who has problems coping with being grounded.  He also is the most adept with communicating with the Terrians.  True Danziger is played by J. Madison Wright; she is the daughter of John and seems to be also quite good at assisting with equipment maintenance.

Adair, Danziger, Alonzo, Julia, Morgan, Bess, Yale, True, and Ulysses

 There was some heavy duty star appeal with two guest stars.  One was Tim Curry who was Gaal, a person sent to G889 as a prisoner while the planet was being used as a penal colony by the Council.  He was accepted by the group as someone who could help the colonists survive until he was discovered to me manipulating True to fulfill his own agenda of enslaving the Terrians.  Terry O'Quinn is Reilly, thought to be a member of the council until he was discovered to be a computer program that tried to gather information on the colonists.  Anytime Terry O'Quinn shows up on a television show, trouble is never far behind.  Reilly tries to control Julia and get information from her about the whereabouts of the colonists as they traveled across the planet.  He was unsuccessful though as Julia appeared to cooperate, but never really revealed any important information.

Gaal and Reilly

While Earth 2 had no lack of star appeal with a good cast and some great guest stars, I tink it was severely lacking in the writing department.  The story-arc was good with the colonists working toward finding New Pacifica, and the individual stories were interesting, but the characters themselves were shallow.  There wasn't enough back-story on the characters to give viewers a chance to invest in them.  In my experience, the characters in sci-fi become people that we can care about, or become people that we love to hate.  Characters that have no depth are always an indicator of success for a sci-fi franchise.  Even the best actors on Earth 2 were under-used and never really became real because they were just thrown into situations as objects to advance the story; they should have been the story, especially in the first season of the show.

Article Review

It is funny to me that at the same time I am watching a show about colonizing other worlds, the science teacher I work with would just happen to find an article in Scientific American magazine that discusses the same subject.

In the January 2013 edition of Scientific American, Dr. Cameron M Smith of the Portland State University discusses the future of space colonization.  According to Dr. Smith, there are many obstacles to be overcome that go beyond technological problems.  He explains that as humans move out into space problems of biology and culture will need to be addressed.

Unlike what Sci-Fi would have us believe, the people who will venture into space will not just be Captain Picards, but rather these new space-going populations will consist of ordinary people in family and community configurations.  But how will these new populations be chosen?  Well, according to Smith, genetic testing will need to be done to choose those that are most suited for life beyond Earth.  While travel beyond will probably have to consist of small populations, that alone would mean that any pandemic infection could wipe out an entire population.

Space going cultures might become vastly different than out Earth-based in several ways, including belief systems, language, performing arts, and in the way we even measure time.

Long term genetic changes must be anticipated, not only in the people that leave our biosphere, but the animals and plants that must be taken along to sustain populations.

In view of today's technology, Dr. Smith's arguments are all very plausible.  This is an interesting article with many ideas that are not commonly addressed in discussions of space colonization in sci-fi, nor are addressed in much of science fact.

Podcast and Blog News

The Scifi Diner released a Conversations episode that discusses Going to see the Hobbit to see the Star Trek: Into Darkness footage in Imax Theaters, problems with Kahn, and , Dr. Who, and more.  I did record some remarks about my own sci-fi activities and you can hear them on this show.  You can also hear recorded remarks from Renee, a fellow listener and follower on Twitter.

Colin released and episode of Trek News and Views that is mostly an all news show.  He covers many not commonly known topics in this episode and includes some very interesting remarks from JJ Abrams on why he guards Trek secrets as he does.  I recorded remarks on the previous show that dealt with the Star Trek Original Series episode, Turnabout Intruder.

Go to the Subspace Communique blog to see a neat video of the original test footage of Star Trek: Next Generation characters.  Chris speculates on whether the show would have been as successful if some of the things that were tested were used in the show.  I watched this video and found that some of the hair styles that they were considering for Counselor Troi were absolutely frightening.

Well, there it is...

I remain, Kahless!

Q'aplaH!

Activity Update...

Podcasts:
There have been a couple of pocasts released that I have listened to and enjoyed since the last time I wrote on this blog.  Scott and Miles of the Scifi Diner Podcast released a Scifi Rewind of the movie, Galaxy Quest.  Scott describes this movie as a parody of Star Trek as opposed to being a satyr.  I did watch this film and sent in a comment.  At first, I thought that I wouldn't care for Galaxy Quest but ended up enjoying it.

If you haven't seen it, Galaxy quest is about a group of actors that starred in a television series that had been off the air for twenty years.  The actors were never really cast into new roles because they were stuck with the personas that they achieved while on that show.  So they were relegated to continually attending conventions to appease the cult following that their show created for them.  While at a convention, the "captain" of the cast, played by Tim Allen, was approached by what he thought were fans, but were actually members of an alien race who needed help in defeating an enemy.  The aliens had seen the broadcasts as they received them in their star system thinking they were actually historical accounts of factual events.  Before you know it, the entire cast is taken into space and do help the aliens defeat their nemesis.

Brea Grant

It really is a good movie and the Rewind is very good.  Scott and Miles are also joined for this Rewind by Colin of the Trek News and Views Podcast.  It is a great episode.

The Scifi Diner also released a Scifi Diner Classic episode which was their interview with Brea Grant of Dexter, Halloween II, Heroes, and We Will Bury You.  This is a great interview with and Grant is a good guest.

Speaking of Trek News and Views Colin is joined by Charlynn, Lorries, and Gwen in a review of the last episode of Star Trek the Original Series, Turnabout Intruder.  This is an episode where Kirk's personality is forcibly interchanged with a guest star who wants to be a Starfleet captain.  This is a very hilarious episode and I laughed all the way through it.  A fun listen.

Colin has also released another episode of Trek News that I haven't had a chance to listen to yet, and it is on the movie Star Trek: The Wrath Of Kahn.  Scott and Miles join him for this look at the iconic trek film.


Books and Television:
After Eleuthera, I went back to the ST: New Frontier series and read Missing in Action, the 16th book in the series by Peter David.and have since picked up with reading Edward of Planet Earth by Nicholas Eftimiades.  I am up to chapter five and have found this book quite amusing so far.  I will report back when I finish with this one.

I have also made it through about half of the old television series Earth 2, and continue to watch a second season episode of Fringe when I have a chance.

Well, that's about it for today.  In light of the Turnabout Intruder episode, a Twitter friend and fellow contributor to Colin's podcast, Renee,  pointed me to this video. It is from a 1991 short-lived Carol Burnette show and I have been laughing over this for a while.  Enjoy

Do Androids Dream?

I finished reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick a few days ago.  I read this book in preparation for my upcoming appearance on the Scifi Diner Rewind that we are recording in early February.  On the Rewind show, Scott, Miles and a guest choose a sci-fi film and analyze it.  I appeared on a Rewind once before and it is a lot of fun.  If you're interested in listening, you can go click HERE to listen to the Rewind of Total Recall, which incidentally is also based on a story by Philip K. K Dick.

Published in 1968, the story is set in a post apocalyptic future.  Dick chose the year 1992 for the year this book is set in.  There was a nuclear war that caused a global nuclear winter.  There are several references to the typically gray sky and the constant presence of radioactive dust falling and being blown around by the wind.  Much of the Earth's population had emigrated to other planets, but the only one mentioned in the story is Mars.  According to the author, just about everyone that has left has android servants that resemble humans in every way, except that they do not posses human empathy.  Many of these servants have escaped from their owners and are showing up on Earth.  They have no problems with killing people and are considered renegades.  The only people left on the earth are the "chickenheads" (people who are not of high-functioning mental capacity), police, and people who could not afford to emigrate.

The story focuses on primarily two characters, Rick Deckard, who is a bounty hunter that is charged with "retiring" renegade androids, and John Isidore, a "chickenhead" who aids the androids that Deckard is charged with retiring.

Bogie from Maltese Falcon

I enjoyed reading this book mostly because as I went through it, I could actually picture the characters and the setting.  To me, it seemed like an old black and white film noir setting.   I could completely believe Humphrey Bogart as Rick Deckard in this.

As a newcomer to reading Philip K Dick, I found this story well written and easy to follow.  It is quite fast paced because the story all takes place in a single day.  Well worth the time.

I haven't watched the movie Blade Runner for a while and am looking forward to seeing that soon to see how the book and the movie stack up against each other.  I will be saving my comments on the film though for the Scifi Diner show I will be on.

Podcast News...

Since I last posted, I have listened to three podcasts.  Colin and company of Trek News and Views continued their discussion of time travel in Star Trek as they covered the Voyager series.  They not only talked about voyager, but drifted into some interesting tangents and had a good time doing it.  Well worth the listen.

David and Darren posted a discussion mostly about the upcoming Into Darkness movie on their Trekcast podcast.  One thing they said that gave me pause to think about is why we like Star Trek.  They couldn't have been more accurate when they said that the main reasons are the characters and the stories.  For them, and for me for that matter, it isn't the sction.  When looking at the trailers, one can get the impression that the JJ movies are moving into the Action/Adventure genre.  I hope that's not the case.  I completely agree with the Trekcast hosts.  There has to be good characters and good stories.  Also, they recorded their impressions upon leaving the theater that showed the first nine minutes of Into Darkness that has been tacked onto the beginning of the new Hobbits film showing in IMax theaters.  in a word, David said it was "amaaaaaaazing!"

Finally, Scott and Miles posted their annual Geek Christmas List show on the Scifi Diner.  If you are having trouble figuring out what to get that special sci-fi fan on your list, just listen to this episode (#160) of the Diner for some excellent ideas.  The coolest part of this though is that I appear on this show with my top five gifts I would like to receive.

I don't know when I'll be posting again.  It seems that I have plans that will keep me out of touch for a while over the Christmas break.  I am hoping to at least see a good film and do a lot of reading.

Well, there it is...

I remain Kahless!

Q'aplah!

New in Books, at least for me...

Greetings...

On Sunday night, while watching the Packers win over the Lions, I caught a trailer for a new Sci-Fi movie that is coming out in April starring Tom Cruise.  This will be, at least as far as I know, Cruise's second stab at Sci-Fi, with the first one (War of the Worlds) not coming in as a huge success. Here's the trailer...

I am thinking that this actually looks like it might have some promise.  I really enjoy post-apocalyptic stories, and this is one of those.

At the same time, I was on Twitter, trading puns with Larry Nemecek, also known as Dr. Star Trek.  If it has to do with Trek, Larry knows it.  He's also very quick with a pun and was very hard to keep up with.  Great wit.  Larry appears on many podcasts from time to time and is always fun to listen to.

I was also surprised to gain a new follower on Twitter, a gentleman named Ralph Ewig. He is on the real science scene and serves as a Mission Operations Engineer at SpaceX.  Yes the SpaceX that has flown two resupply missions to the ISS.

The SpaceX Dragon Vehicle Captured By The Arm Of The International Space Station

 I also learned that he is an author of Sci-Fi stories that are available through One Hand Publishing.  As far as I can tell, One Hand Publishing works for independent authors to help them get their works out to the public.  I purchased three works by Ewig, two short stories and one novel that I am looking forward to reading as soon as time permits.  I will, of course report back here when I do.  I paid less than $6 for Ewig's stories for my Kindle.  The two short stories are Choice and Freedom, and the novel is titled Eluthera.  Below is the trailer that goes with the novel...

There is also apparently another book in the works, perhaps a sequel to Elutheria called Sadaka.

Podcast News...

Scott and Miles posted a new edition of the SciFi Diner Podcast episode #158.  This is an interview only episode that is also about an author; Mr. Nicholas Eftimiades.  He is currently an American Government Official living in London.  His book, Edward of Planet Earth is a philosophical satire in the same vein as the works of Douglas Adams, author of the Hitchhiker's Guide series.  This sounds like an interesting book and I am hoping to read it sometime in the near future.

 Colin at the Trek News and Views podcast has also posted whit I consider to be the most useful show to date.  He and his guests talk for over an hour about Star Trek literature.  So when there's no series on television, and it is three years between films, what else is there to do if you can't get enough Trek, well you read.  This show is a quite comprehensive guide to what literature is available in novels, as well as comic books.  There are some ideas presented on what to go after, and what to avoid as well.  If you don't listen to any other edition of this podcast, and you are into Trek literature, this is the show to listen to.  Colin and his guests are quite well versed in this area.

I am currently setting aside the Star Trek: New Frontier series for a bit while I am reading a story by Philip K. Dick called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep in preparation for my upcoming appearance on a future Scifi Rewind show dealing with the film Bladerunner.  The film is "loosely" based on the book.

A short entry I know, but this is information that seemed important.

Well, there it is...

Kahless

My Sci-Fi World...

Hello again...

Things have been pretty busy lately, so I haven't had a great deal of time to do many scifi activities.  However, I am continuing to watch the 4th season of Star Trek Voyager, and am enjoying it as always.  I am also continuing to read the Star Trek New Frontier novel After the Fall by Peter David.  I'm on chapter 5 as of today.

After the Fall is the 15th book in the series.  In all of the books before, the new ones started off at almost the moment the previous ones ended.  This one however begins after a gap of three years from the previous novel entitled Stone and Anvil.  What makes this one so interesting at this point is to see the changes that have taken place during the three year gap in the story line.  There are promotions, changes in relationships, and some new characters appearing.  It is really neat how one can become so involved in a group of fictitious characters and actually wonder at and care about what is happening to them.

As I have said before, this is a series of books that is great to read.  Awesome characters, great stories, and well worth the investment of time.

I have managed to keep up on most of my favorite podcasts and am currently listening to Trek News and Views episode number 55.  The topic for this Colin's entry this week is time travel.  Specifically the Star Trek Enterprise episodes that involve Crewman Daniels and the Temporal Cold War.  I'm only about 20 minutes into it, but will listen to the rest on my drive home this afternoon.  It is an interesting discussion so far.

Yesterday I listened to another episode of the Life After Trek podcast.  Capt. Pyke and Crewman Becky interview two of what I consider to be the greatest Trek stars of all time.  Those being J.G. Hertzler and Robert O'Reiley.  Hertzler played the role of the Klingon character General Martok on Deep Space Nine as well as numerous other personalities in the Trek universe.  Not only that, he was also in one episode of another favorite series of mine, Highlander.  O'Reiley played the infamous Chancellor Gowron on both Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.

Robert O'Reiley

Chancellor Gowron

 

J. G. Hertzler

General Martok

 Also, the host site for Life After Trek, Subspace Communique also posted a story that is a brief Synopsis of the upcoming Star Trek film, Into Darkness.  You can read that synopsis by clicking HERE.

The Sci-Fi Diner Podcast posted a new episode of their Conversations show.  This is #70 in this series.  I have not had a chance to listen to it yet, but will be doing so in the morning as I drive to work.  Scott and Miles have plugged this blog on that show as one can see on the Diner's website.  I was also invited to appear on another edition of the SciFi Rewind where a movie is picked apart by Scott, Miles, and a guest which will be me in in a couple of months or so.  I am not going to give any details beyond that.  You can go to the Diner's website and download the last Rewind I was on, Total Recall.  I think it was a pretty good show if I do say so myself.

In Other News...

I have begun watching Fringe for the first time on the Science Channel.  Isn't it amazing that a channel that is supposed to be devoted to science fact is delving into the world of science fiction?  Hmmm, perhaps SyFy might think about giving that a try...

But I digress.  Anyway, a few weeks ago while watching something on the Science Channel, I caught a commercial that announced that Fringe was to begin broadcasting on Tuesday, November 20th, which I did.  I made sure to get my DVD+R machine all ready to record the pilot and first episode of season one.  All went well there and I enjoyed both shows and planned to watch more.

Later, I noticed that there was a Fringe Marathon scheduled for Friday and Saturday.  I didn't do anything with this thinking that Science would show all of the episodes in order on Tuesday nights.  So, on this past Tuesday night, I again set my machine to record the next three episodes.  Last night, I sat down in the Lazy Boy to watch at least the first episodes that were recorded.  Well, I was really dismayed to learn that I had not recorded the next three shows from season one that I had expected, but I had gotten three season two episodes.  I am not happy!

Is it any wonder why I DESPISE commercial television?  I have very limited time to watch TV, and when I do, I don't want to screw around with the idiotic scheduling that goes on.

Anyway, I did a little research and found that as an Amazon Prime member, I can stream Fringe for free.  Guess what Science Channel: Goodbye.  The reason I want to watch Fringe is because Scott and Miles of the SciFi Diner talk about it all the time on their shows, but at the same time, they also mention that this show is NOT for children.  Who in their right mind would schedule an all day marathon of a show that might traumatise little kids.  With an eight year old in the house, I am certainly not going to have Fringe on while she is playing with Barbies on the living room floor.  Think about it Science Channel!  Geez.

Science Fact...

This morning and yesterday morning, I was witness to an event that never ceases to fascinate me.  I got to see a fly-over of the International Space Station.  I knew exactly when it would be overhead and got some great views as the ISS passed directly over the school I teach in.  How did I know this was going to happen you might ask?  Well I subscribed to a website at NASA that sends me the times and locations of Station fly-overs.  You can do that too by going to http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ and following the very easy instructions that asks for your location and your e-mail address.  Give it a try.

One More Thing...

Thursday evenings is the night that Chrissy (my daughter) has her piano lesson.  Tonight was also the night that Kearney (where I live) decided to have some to-dos downtown for Christmas.  Now you might be asking, what does this have to do with Sci-Fi?  Well, I think it falls under the heading of Abnormal Psychology.  You see, there were hundreds of people roaming the streets.  There was absolutely no parking left anywhere as people walked the sidewalks and tried to get free hot chocolate, popcorn, and whatever else might be available.  What strikes me as funny, is that the same people that were walking up and down the street, smiling, waving, exchanging good holiday wishes, and generally spreading cheer; these same people who were all about peace on Earth and good will toward their fellow man on this Thursday night, were the very same people that were ready to beat the crap out of each other last Thursday night at Wal-Mart to get a laptop for $279!

We're all for Peace on Earth, just stay out of my way on Black Friday!

'Nuff Said!

Well, there it is.

Next time, I will write about my holiday wish list, and share some of the items that make decorating for Christmas fun.

Q'aplah!