Christmas is around corner and everyone's going through the horrors of the holiday crowds - in the malls, on the roads, in your fridge .... So I figured it would be fitting to feature a horror movie based on Christmas. It's an Iceland horror film called Unholy Night and it sounds intriguing - set on the eve of Christmas, a group of people in a rehab clinic comes across Santa Claus. Except it was more like the big red giant from Futurama. Basically, these poor folk discover that the Icelandic fables about Yule Man were spot on and now these creepy "Santas" with terrifying names like Meathook are unleashed. Oh Boy! I found the trailer for it on youtube but it's not in English, so just use your imagination.
I just had to put this one in. It's an old User Friendly webcomic ( I've been browsing their archive and found some really classic ones ). Sigh, I don't think anyone can read comic at this size and am still trying to fix that. So just click image to view larger comic on the User Friendly site.
Here are some cool websites about Stargate Atlantis.
Atlantica
This is a fanlisting about everything Atlantis. Among other stuff, it's got some awesome images, funny quotes from the series, screen caps ( somedays you want a different wraith on your screen, you know) and, my favorite bit, the cultural reference list. These two references were too good to pass:
"Oh my God, he is Kirk." - McKay
These two quotes reference James Tiberius Kirk, captain of the starship Enterprise in the television series Star Trek. Kirk had the habit of romancing (or being romanced by) an attractive woman in practically every episode.
"Romancing the alien princess? Very 1967 of you." - McKay
The 1950s and 1960s was a time when science fiction movies and television series where strapping young handsome heroes have to save the world or explore the universe, and along the way, meet and romance beautiful women, was quite popular. 1967 would seem to be a time when this type of entertainment peaked in popularity.
Shiny Pretty Things
There's not too much on this site cos it is still under construction. But it's absolutely worth a mention! It's got some truly fabulous banners and icons. Looking forward to more artwork on that site. The banner for this SGA blog is taken from the site. Good job, er. Jacksrubberduck.
Funny picture about good old Gandalf. What next, Slow Zone, Hobbits Crossing?
Source:
Ryankg on Flickr
Got a link from Alexander Zaitsev about his earlier work called Sending and Searching for Interstellar Messages. (Thanks to Alexander Zaitsev for the link.)
"There is a close interrelation between Searching for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) and Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence (METI). For example, the answers to the questions "Where to search" and "Where to send" are equivalent, in that both require an identical selection from the same target star lists. Similar considerations lead to a strategy of time synchronization between sending and searching. Both SETI and METI use large reflectors. The concept of "magic frequencies" may be applicable to both SETI and METI. Efforts to understand an alien civilization's Interstellar Messages (IMs), and efforts to compose our own IMs so they will be easily understood by unfamiliar Extraterrestrials, are mutually complementary. Furthermore, the METI-question: "How can we benefit from sending IMs, if a response may come only thousands of years later?" begs an equivalent SETI-question: "How can we benefit from searching, if it is impossible now to perceive the motivations and feelings of those who may have sent messages in the distant past?" A joint consideration of the theoretical and the practical aspects of both sending and searching for IMs, in the framework of a unified, disciplined scientific approach, can be quite fruitful. We seek to resolve the cultural disconnect between those who advocate sending interstellar messages, and others who anathematize those who would transmit."
The comment ... a joint consideration of the theoretical and the practical aspects of both sending and searching for IMs, in the framework of a unified, disciplined scientific approach, can be quite fruitful... sounds interesting. Good point there. If a set of scientific ground rules exist, you don't have to worry about rogue transmitters. Think of it as a mellow version of uploading material on youtube - communication is open to all and you know what you can and cannot upload.
Any work done in this regard contributes to progress for SETI & METI in the future and scientific advancement in general. What was that famous phrase ... from the shoulders of giants?
There's been controversy brewing within the SETI community as is evident from this SEED article. The issue at hand? Should we send out signals to contact possible alien civilizations out there? And of course the constant worry about the responsibility surrounding first contact.
I'm going to keep an open mind here and not say anything about life in other planets. What I was interested in was the main arguments about "responsible contact" with aliens.
Amidst SETI members, the major disagreement is actually over how soon we can expect powerful transmission tools to become widely available to those who would signal at whim. Does this translate as governments and organizations should be in charge as opposed to the public, us mere whimsical human beings? I hear you; these organizations have diplomats with degrees, historians with out of print books and scientists with super telescopes. And let's face it, you don't want first contact to be initiated by your neighbor who also tapes episodes of Judge Judy.
Guess my question is, how much faith do you have in gov't or such orgs that you want to happily hand over responsibility to them? Most of us don't vote; we complain about our gov't, we say they don't do enough or the system is a joke. The nations in our world don't even get along; everyone's bickering over trade or oil and, in what can only be called the greatest irony in the history of the world, one of the most powerful nations in this world recently brought the pioneer of human civilization to its knees. Yes, the country that was the cradle of human civilization, the first area million years ago to start cultivation, one of the first to use alphabet - this country's infrastructure, historical artifacts, precious writings and so many other treasures were lost or damaged beyond repair when a giant amongst nations felt it had to teach the little deviant guy a lesson, irrespective of the consequences for human historical and cultural research. Seriously, you want the governments and organizations in charge? For what? The greater goodness of humanity? That's another irony then.
Humans seem to be territorial and violent; read a history book if you don't believe me. So keeping this in mind, do we really want us to influence or wipe out aliens for fear of attack of WMD? Rudimentary weapons or not, chances are, we are the ones who will feel threatened or eliminate any sign of life out there. What's funny is the reason behind this search - humans have sized each other up in this world and assessed their danger levels; now the paranoid human mind needs to know if there is a threat out there.
Enough about Stargate - more on that tomorrow! I've neglected science fiction and fantasy books in the blog for a while so, to make up for it in this Merry Month, here's a little bit about two of my favorite science fiction authors. Alright sci fi / fantasy then!
Terry Pratchett
Not only are his books the most shoplifted in England, but his creative mind gave that witty, heavy metal edge to Death. After the satirical portrayal of police, tinged with social commentary of ethics and proper human conduct of course, there's just no going back to the gun toting American Cop Shows. Check out his official site at Transworld here. Computer savvy - one of the first authors to interact with fans using the internet and a bit of a game player (more along the lines or Half Life and Dance Dance Revolution). Check out his interview on this site - commenting on the dark tone in his children's novels, he points out that he's no Enid Blyton ... and that was a "good thing". Hmmm......
Douglas Adams
Legendary source of satire. Who can forget Marvin from Hitchhiker's Guide? Or that strange reincarnated bug that kept getting killed by Arthur Dent. One of the awesome traits of Adams' writing was also his use of clever wit in a sort of probing analysis of society's strange and mundane ways. Also fond of technology and avid fan of Macs. According to Wiki, he was rumored to be one of the first to buy Apple in UK. Check out his .Mac page for more on the comp hobby. Anyone interested in his official website, click here. Also found an audio interview of Adams on this site, for those who just can't get enough of the Q&A. For a bit of fun, read the Slashdot interview, a quirky and insightful session. For the record, I've also wondered about the connections between Pratchett & Adams.
Oh Shoot! Jason Momoa has cut off his funky, alienish dreads for a, who knows, the backstreet boy look? Anyway, he still keeps the look for the Stargate Atlantis series (big relief there). Check out his interview at Gateworld. From the sound of it, the team might be considering regrouping, having Momoa aka Ronon go off on a tangent like Ford did. Interesting ....
How silly can you get? I found this on Digg - Microsoft's online support page actually dedicates a page explaining how to remove Linux and install Windows! Well, once you tasted the Open Source fruit, you don't go back to DRM nonsense, so I wonder what they are going on about. I do wonder if it is a PR stunt. See, having such a page makes unassuming users think - hey, this page must exist due to a demand ... means people must be moving from Linux to Windows ... why else would they have it there? At least I can check this page when I need a good laugh.
Watch out, spoilers ahead for Stargate Atlantis. Gateworld has some interesting news about the upcoming mid-season episode - Be All My Sins Remebered. Read on for the full details but all I can say is, there are some awesome developments - alliance with a Wraith scientist, fight to death against replicators, possible eradication of humans on various planets - everything that epic stories are made of. I always wondered when team Atlantis would get a Wraith on their side; you must admit they have played around with the idea for a while.
Looking for some Futurama icons, desktop art, fan art or wallpapers? Check out these fun sites.
What Else? Futurama
Really cool site which points out weird or out of ordinary facts founds in Futurama. You know, instances that don't make sense, a shadow were it ain't supposed to be, wristwatches switching hands in different scenes, etc. Well spotted, guys.
Futurama Icons
Super Punch pointed out this particular site. It's got interesting desktop icons, mainly those freaky heads in jars - all who meddle with our PC, be warned!
The Futurama Point
Oooooh nice! This site has some interesting wallpapers, buddy icons, font and everything else your alien futuristic soul is looking for. Need more Zoidberg!
Has anyone heard of Astropia, an Icelandic fantasy movie (aka the rather morbid Dorks and Damsels). It's this absolutely awesome movie on the net; when I checked the synopsis of Astropia from IMDB, my WOW sensors started to go tingly. Now this sounds like the kinda fantasy Hordes and Alliance Players would rant about.
Summary of Astropia story that I scavenged from the net:
A snobbish girl, Hildur, has to ditch her pretentious lifestyle and get a life - also known as going through the classifieds for a job. She ends up in this fantasy bookshop with super cool work colleagues - Dagur a translator of romantic fiction, Scat a rapper who makes his nerdlyness look cool, the comic and video clerks Floki and Pesi, the violent tomboy Beta and an eight year old whizkid Snorri (Imdb.com)
Not entirely sure what happens next BUT there's mention of battles with Orcs, swish swash and gory evilness! When I say epic battles think something more creative, perhaps anime, as opposed to the more traditional American skimpy babe rubbish. Yea, from what I read, the ditzy gal ends up building character instead of her ultimate goal being movie-defined-love through some pretty boy.
/Film had this horrid story of Warner Bros bullies shutting down someone's Flickr account just cos they had used promo pics for Dark Knight. This after the blogger had gone through "the cease and desist" and taken all the pics from Uruloki blog etc. Sheesh man! It's not like they were selling it for profit and taking credit way from you; it's good publicity and everyone gets to hear the updates about Batman.
And isn't the point of having a viral account with Joker clues an effort to get more publicity and fans through the net? Someone should tell them one of the first rules of advertising on the web - don't pick on the fans who pay for your movie anyway.
C'mon that's just nasty - it sounds like the person had other legal pics in that account which is probably lost now! Well, suddenly I'm not so eager to see the Bat-eared Latex Man anymore - I will take my movie going money elsewhere!
IEBS.net sums it up nicely when they say:
Is there a lesson here? Yes, don’t use Flickr to host any of your images and also Warner Bros. Legal are a bunch of assholes . I hope that the production team wasn’t behind this because if they were they are also a bunch of assholes.
Felipe took down the images so WB had no reason to get his Flickr account shut down. Five years worth images down the drain, that’s just messed up.
Advice to all of our online/blogger friends out there, don’t let yourself be treated this way and learn what things the studios have no control over.
I found this cool meme on Imagine's blog. Very cool. Here's how it goes:
100 Books Meme
Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you've read. Italicize the ones you want to read. Don't alter the ones that you aren't interested in.
1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee).
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela's Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She's Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller's Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolsoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch 22 - Heller
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones's Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard's First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding) -
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)
Here is a bit of fan art I did for an SG-1 poster - added the Christmas spirit to the wacky team.
