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Sometimes you come here expecting me to be funny, but this weekend, in light of what happened in Iowa on Friday, I'm afraid I've got to get serious. Deadly serious. About stopping gay marriage. More »
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There are people who believe in global warming, and there are people who don't. But mostly, practically speaking, there are just people who try not to think about it. More »
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Sure, on the surface, the proposed Running Man reboot sounds like a can't-miss proposition, a seamless blending of America's two current favorite pastimes: reality TV and recycling ideas from the '80s. There's just one problem. More »
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"Half the reviews say it's too true to the book, and the other half say it doesn't do it justice," my darlingdearest said as we left for Watchmen. And both takes could be accurate. More »
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I'd be willing to bet that a third of people who join ascetic orders do it because it's easier than moving. That said, while packing, I uncovered the following gem of a decade-old diary entry. More »
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In a crowd of Trekkies, gamers, cosplayers, and people who think The Dark Knight deserves an Oscar, there's not much you can say to incur loss of dignity. "I'm a U2 fan" might work, though. More »
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The greatest, and most offensive, paradox of all time is: What happens if a unicorn takes a maiden's virginity? But the next-greatest paradox has to do with New York Comic Con and its ilk. More »
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“There is nothing new under the sun,” someone once said, probably George Carlin. Which is why we all want to visit another solar system so badly. But things might well be exactly the same there. More »
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Apparently, no matter how much swearing and girl-girl kissing they allow on television, some of you fancy lads insist on continuing to read books. In rejoinder, I offer an anecdote from my youth. More »
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Science fiction can be a terrifying place, and no part of it more so than Lost. That show’s so scary, the fear leaks into people’s everyday lives! More »
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The last season of Battlestar Galactica is upon us, and the big question is: Who is the final Cylon? You probably don’t know, and I sure don’t, but I have some excellent guesses. More »
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“I gotta kill Dad,” I told my mom over Christmas. Her eyes widened. “Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m not going to have sex with you.” I paused. “I do need to kill you, too, though.” More »
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Recently, we asked whether designer babies were OK. I’d like to reopen that discussion, because it’s such a complex question, with no easy answers. So let me start by saying: No, obviously they are not. More »
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When I think of Christmas, the first thing that springs to mind is the happy fact that I am going to enjoy eternal life in Heaven. And the second is He-Man. More »
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Of all the powers given us, none has done more for humanity than science. Because knowledge is the ichor that flows in science’s veins, it may surprise when I say: Let’s hear it for ignorance! More »
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When I look back on my earliest days of science-fiction fandom, it is with both gratitude and fondness. How many happy afternoons I spent, curled up in the nook under the stairs at my grandmother’s house, lost in Samuel Delany’s ruined city of Bellona, or one of Jose Luis Borges’s thought experiments (in the original Spanish, of course; English loses something), or following The Book of the New Sun’s torturer protagonist in his wanderings across old, ruined Urth. “Oh, Severian!” I would cry delightedly. “You unreliable narrator, you!” Eventually, my mother would come to collect me, and, grudgingly, I went with her, longing for the night and the next day’s morning session of kindergarten to already be over, that I might return posthaste to my secret world. More »
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Ah, irony. It is as delicious as turkey. And Thanksgiving - the day we offer thanks for all the things we have - is perhaps the most ironic of American holidays, in that it is immediately succeeded by Black Friday, the day we trample people to death in pursuit of all the things we want (which is more or less how it happened back when it started, with the Indians, too). Yes, as our chubby, gravy-stained hands click the TV away from reports of terrorist attacks and over to football, it is hard not to wonder quietly if the end times are upon us, and if we don’t deserve them. Well, they probably are, and we almost certainly do. But in keeping with the spirit of irony, here are some reasons to be thankful for the inevitable apocalypse. More »
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Superman’s weaknesses are well documented: Kryptonite. Magic. The evil genius of Lex Luthor and Brainiac. The imperilment of those closest to him. Bryan Singer. The risotto at Le Cirque (The calories! Soooo worth it, though). And all of these, except for the risotto, have been explored at great length—which, you might think, is why DC is sending him into space. But no, the truth is that the Big Blue Boy Scout is facing a more serious threat than any he’s seen in the 70 years since his debut. A threat that none of his yellow-star-derived powers can help him against. A threat that will seem painfully obvious once it has been pointed out. More »
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Few sacred cows of classic science fiction remain, largely because science-fiction fans love sacred hamburgers, but also because we are surly lot, possessed of a discerning critical eye and the highest of standards. More »
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Going to the opera is like having a separate browser just for porn: You do it because you’re married. But when my wife called me at work to say we had free tickets to something called Doctor Manhattan at the Met and asked if I wanted to go, I was intrigued. With all the hoopla over how well Zack Snyder’s Watchmen movie will translate the graphic novel to the big screen, I hadn’t even heard there was a stage production. Better still, the music was by Star Wars/Raiders/everything else awesome composer John Williams, with lyrics by Peter Sellers. Superheroes and bombast and Inspector Clouseau–style hilarity! More »
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I don’t know what all the fuss is about. Last week, I said I quit watching Battlestar Galactica, and some of you got all up in my face like we were back on the block in Fargo, playin’ the dozens. Probably I should have been more clear: I didn’t stop watching just because I thought the plot was fakey. Indolence played a large part, too. See, I have mad respect for anyone who sticks by a TV show these days, especially a science-fiction show, the same way I have mad respect for people who work in factories, or for bookbinders. ’Cause these days, television is a lot of work. More »
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I’m not that smart of a guy. I can’t tell you what a categorical imperative is, or how to hot-wire a motorcycle, or what the Singularity is going to look like. But I can guarantee you one thing: If we ever face a real Robot Threat and I have anything to say about it, I will not put Edward James Olmos in charge of dealing with it. How did I reach this admittedly controversial conclusion? It all started back in April, when I asked you, my fellow io9ers, about Netflixing the new Battlestar Galactica. I took your advice and, when the DVDs came in the mail, the missus and I watched up until almost the end of the second season - and then I had to quit. I’ll explain why. More »
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