io9: top, +http, www'sciencedaily'com, releases, 2004, 05, 040512044611'htm;++AL+TAJROBAH+AL+DANIMARKIYAH'html

#top #http #wwwsciencedailycom #releases #2004 #05 #040512044611htmaltajrobahaldanimarkiyahhtml

ceti — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 23:31:09 PDT

Just finished reading His Dark Materials. Pretty good although the plot frays into loose end territory by the Amber Spyglass. Was struck as well by the third appearance in recent memory of a plucky and brilliant girl heroine as the central character, and a slightly older male hero as a protector-action dude (Aenea and Raul in Endymion, and Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow in City of Ember).

In Endymion and His Dark Materials, Aenea and Lyra are also messianic characters fighting totalitarian religious authorities.

#observationdeck

ceti

#top #http #wwwsciencedailycom #releases #2004 #05 #040512044611htmaltajrobahaldanimarkiyahhtml

Ruthless if you let me — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:36:09 PDT

I'm playing Aliens vs Predator as a marine, on "nightmare" difficulty. The pings on the motion tracker are freaking me the fuck out.

#observationdeck

Ruthless if you let me

#top #http #wwwsciencedailycom #releases #2004 #05 #040512044611htmaltajrobahaldanimarkiyahhtml

ExtensionOfBob — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:02:24 PDT

Watching Alone in the Dark for the first time. Best.opening.scroll.ever. I wish I was absurdly wealthy just so I could write Uwe Boll a blank check to continue making movies.

#observationdeck

ExtensionOfBob

#top #http #wwwsciencedailycom #releases #2004 #05 #040512044611htmaltajrobahaldanimarkiyahhtml

Darklighter — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 21:23:19 PDT

How do I follow up last night's choice of Hot Fuzz? Netflix has Eddie Izzard: Dress to Kill on Watch Instantly.

#observationdeck

Darklighter

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ObservantUnderachiever — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 21:13:28 PDT

I just saw a commercial on Syfy advertising Merlin as a Syfy original series. Did I miss something?

#observationdeck

ObservantUnderachiever

#top #http #wwwsciencedailycom #releases #2004 #05 #040512044611htmaltajrobahaldanimarkiyahhtml

mamadragon49 — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:05:15 PDT

Well, I've always heard that if you don't know, ask. So I'm asking:

Can someone tell me what "posts," "messages," and "favorites" on my profile page are and how to use them? I would really truly appreciate the information. Thanks

#observationdeck

mamadragon49

#top #http #wwwsciencedailycom #releases #2004 #05 #040512044611htmaltajrobahaldanimarkiyahhtml

Groucho Marxism — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:50:39 PDT

Bryan Singer might not be directing X-Men: First Class, after all:
[www.hitfix.com]

#tips

Groucho Marxism

#top #http #wwwsciencedailycom #releases #2004 #05 #040512044611htmaltajrobahaldanimarkiyahhtml

BullfightsOnAcid — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:45:13 PDT

Real Housewives of Witch Mountain

Gawker just posted biographies of the cast of the new 'Housewives of Beverly Hills' TV show and one of them is Kim Richards who starred in the Witch Mountain movies of the 70's as a child.

[gawker.com]

#tips

BullfightsOnAcid

#top #http #wwwsciencedailycom #releases #2004 #05 #040512044611htmaltajrobahaldanimarkiyahhtml

Discodave: R.O.A.C.H. M.O.T.E.L. — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:08:49 PDT

Pixar's The Terminator.

Oddly more creepy than the original:

#tips

Discodave: R.O.A.C.H. M.O.T.E.L.

#top #http #wwwsciencedailycom #releases #2004 #05 #040512044611htmaltajrobahaldanimarkiyahhtml

Spaceknight — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:46:00 PDT

You know that Fringe musical you wrote about?

[scifiwire.com] offers a bit more info about it, including a very distressing dose of reality...
"set to air during a Glee-themed week of musical programming in May"

It's no longer a cool idea, it's now a contrived piece of network product placement.

I guess the TV Guide article you originally referenced didn't think that part of the story was important. There's no mention of it there. *shrug*

Fox sucks.

#tips
#Fringe

Spaceknight

Steampunk Dinosaur Madness in Luc Besson's "Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec" [This Is Awesome]

Annalee Newitz — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:46:30 PDT

You don't need to speak French to appreciate how awesome this trailer is for Luc Besson's latest SF flick. A brilliant, sexy adventurer named Adèle Blanc-Sec has discovered a dinosaur egg - and now a pterodactyl threatens steampunk Paris!

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec hits theaters in late April, and as far as I can tell it combines everything that is best in life: Dinosaurs, lusty adventuresome ladies, mummies, and French people dressed in period costumes worthy of Dr. Grordbort. Luc Besson is the director of scifi classics Subway and 5th Element, and recently penned the kickass near-future Paris flick District 13.

Adèle Blanc-Sec - Le film-annonce. sur Yahoo! Vidéo

[spotted on /Film]

#top #http #wwwsciencedailycom #releases #2004 #05 #040512044611htmaltajrobahaldanimarkiyahhtml

Roklimber — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:39:13 PDT

Not a demand, only suggestions...

mamadragon49
[io9.com]

CuriousYellow
[io9.com]

#starthisperson

Roklimber

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AlexKap — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:35:01 PDT

one step closer to growing organs for transplant:

[www.telegraph.co.uk]

#tips

AlexKap

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gods-n-clods — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:33:09 PDT

Caprica:
I was researching some graphics, and came across an article on Tauron tattoos.
And all you Sasha Roiz fans can thank me later:
[www.chicagonow.com]

#caprica

#observationdeck

gods-n-clods

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Scotland — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:12:44 PDT

#starthisperson: for petition-style demands that someone receive a star.

#starthisperson

Scotland

#top #http #wwwsciencedailycom #releases #2004 #05 #040512044611htmaltajrobahaldanimarkiyahhtml

Roklimber — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:20:29 PDT

Question for the powers in charge...

What's the best way to recommend commenters for stardom? There are at least two people who, in my opinion and the opinion of others, have consistently shown that they deserve their stars.

#observationdeck

Roklimber

Book Artists And Designers Pick Their Favorite Recent Covers [Book Covers]

Charlie Jane Anders — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:00:00 PDT

What's more amazing — the arresting loveliness of many recent SF book covers, or how different from each other they are? SFSignal asked artists and designers for their favorite recent covers. Here are a few of the ones they picked.

It's well worth checking out the whole feature over at SFSignal, both for the gorgeous cover art and for people's insights into what makes for a good cover. But here are a few of the covers that people picked which jumped out at us. [SFSignal]

Shrapnel 3, cover by Stephan Martiniere. Writes gaming artistic director and concept designer Sparth, "Perfect sense of composition, perfect balance."

The Dream Of Perpetual Motion by Dexter Palmer (design by Ervin Serrano, Jacket illustration from Isifa/Alamy/Getty) As Orbit Books/Yen Press Creative Director Lauren Panepinto points out, that took a lot of time to put together. And it tells you so much about the book, including the time period and how awesome it is. She points to some other examples of elaborate/brilliant design in the SFSignal mind meld.

Finch by Jeff VanderMeer. Cover art by John Coulthart. Artist John Picacio singles this one out for its brilliant composition, and explains eloquently why the best book covers are about "becoming":

Becoming doesn't spoon-feed and isn't slave to the latest game of "follow the leader". It isn't the path of least resistance. It favors an audience that is active, rather than passive, dynamic of imagination, rather than static with nostalgia. It favors an image that evokes, rather than an image that crams the frame with every literal detail.

A Memory Of Wind, illustration for Rachel Swirsky's story at Tor.com, illustration by Sam Weber. Another one chosen by Picacio.

Picacio's own illustration for Frederik Pohl's Gateway, as chosen by Dave Seeley, who writes, "I loved John Picacio's Gateway, with his hallmark -surprising and clever- montage of figure and stuff (space in this case)."

River Of Gods by Ian McDonald, illustration by Stephan Martiniere. Chosen by self-confessed Martiniere groupie Dave Seeley, an architect turned book illustrator.

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick: (design by Lucy Ruth Cummins, photo by James Porto). Again, chosen by Panepinto. "I love how the image is so subtly colored towards the top. A really subtle touch. And the pearl paper is so nice. Such a spare design, it really was a breath of fresh air when I saw it."

Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow: (design by Suzanne Dean, illustration by Natasha Michaels). Another Panepinto selection. Such a cool-looking image, it speaks for itself.

#top #http #wwwsciencedailycom #releases #2004 #05 #040512044611htmaltajrobahaldanimarkiyahhtml

mamadragon49 — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:55:23 PDT

Evidence Indicates Humans' Early Tree-Dwelling Ancestors Were Also Bipedal
[www.sciencedaily.com]

I wish they had included chimpanzees and bonobos walking bipedally as well but this is really interesting.

#tips

mamadragon49

First Teaser Trailer For The Return Of Futurama! [Futurama]

Charlie Jane Anders — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:45:43 PDT

Thanks to the Panama Wormhole — which is a sort of Comedy Central Channel in space, Futurama is coming back in June! And here is the first trailer.

Why V's Reality Makes Less Money Than Its Promise [V]

Graeme McMillan — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:00:40 PDT

The ratings may have fallen during its four week run, but that didn't stop ABC's V from being one of the largest moneymakers on television last year. How good a position does that put the show in for next year?

Forbes lists V as the fifth largest moneyspinner on television in 2009, but notes that that's mostly due to positive pre-premiere buzz, as opposed to the show itself:

Unfortunately for those enthusiastic buyers who collectively shelled out $5.6 million per hour-long telecast, the remake of a popular 1980s miniseries shed more than a third of its audience over the course of its limited run, from an impressive 14.3 million viewers on premiere night to only 9.1 million. Ordinarily that would lead to a pricing correction for subsequent in-season (or scatter market) purchases, says [Ad-spend tracking company Kantar Media Senior Vice President of Research, Jon] Swallen, "but since V was a limited-run series, it was insulated from potential pricing adjustment."

What it does mean is that the show will be much less successful on its second run, starting at the end of this month, according to Swallen:

Now the show has a track record... buyers and advertisers have a more realistic fix of how it should perform.

V returns to ABC on March 30th.

TV's Biggest Moneymakers [Forbes]

#top #http #wwwsciencedailycom #releases #2004 #05 #040512044611htmaltajrobahaldanimarkiyahhtml

collex — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 13:43:30 PDT

Yesterday, I rented and watched The Princess and the Frog, as I had not gotten the chance to see it in the theater. I wanted to know what you thought of it?

The nostalgia glass removed (I grew up with Alladin and The Lion King, so seeing a hand-drawn musical again? My god, was I happy), my opinion is that it's not the best movie Disney made, but it's a worthy instalment. My main problem with it was the villain: He is criminally underused and gets defeated before he can become a real threat.

Also, I found the love story between the two leads would have beneficiated from being a bit less subtle. There was no "A whole new world" or "Can you feel the love tonight", which was too bad.

My favorite song was Mama Odie's "Dig a little deeper". I can still sing it! The fireflies one was cool too. Oh, and Ray's my favorite character. And I loved how they called his love Evangeline, from the old Acadian story (I can't count the number of song that I've heard about her). And being billingual, a smattering of French here and there was well received!

All in all, I would say it rate close to, say, Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Very, very good, but not great. I hope they continue the trend of doing one hand-drawn movie every couple of years or so. I think one is on the slab, but I'm not sure. So your opinion on the movie?

#observationdeck

collex