Poll Results!

Here are the final results of our last poll:

What is your favorite Science Fiction Franchise?
1. Star Trek - 25%
2. Babylon 5 - 17%
3. Star Wars - 14%
4. X-Files - 8%
4. Red Dwarf - 8%
4. Firefly - 8%
5. Battlestar Galactica - 6%
5. Stargate - 6%
5. Doctor Who -6%
6. Farscape - 3%

Last day of current poll

Don't forget to vote for your favorite science fiction franchise as today is the last day to do so. Tomorrow we will start a new poll. The poll may be found on the right side below the links and ads. Thanks for voting!

Very complex...

Alex's wife, Toni, has a very intriguing take on Revenge of the Sith. I like the way this woman thinks. Read here.

Star Wars series getting closer to reality

George Lucas seems to be pressing the series idea for Star Wars that follows a new story line of characters. Lucas checked on Matthew Newton. The 28 year old actor was in the running for Anakin Skywalker role before Hayden Christensen finally landed it in episode II Attack of the Clones. Matthew Newton has reportedly already visited with Lucas at his Skywalker ranch in CA and may be cast as the hero of the new series once it begins production later this year or early next. It seems the money making franchise will continue its unbelievable growth with the Star Wars television series and I hope Mr Lucas continues to hold true to the story lines and shows both the good and the dark side of the force since you do need a little evil to balance out the good. I am sure that sci fi and Star Wars fans alike will be planted in front of there televisions with DVDRs and VCRs at the ready when it finally does make its T.V. premiere. So far as I know, there is no news on what network the show will appear but I sort of have my doubts it will be on UPN since they seem more interested in the more brainless sort of programming as of late, so I would look for it on a larger network. If anyone has any new information on the new Star Wars series please E-mail us here at SCIFIPUNDIT or post a comment so we can get the word out to the fans.

Vote!

Just a few days left to vote for your favorite science fiction franchise. We will be ending this current survey on Tuesday, May 31st. There will be a new survey for June.

You may find the survey on the right-hand side beneath the links and ads. As of today, Star Trek is still ahead! Don’t forget to vote! I will share the results with our readers on Wednesday June 1st.

Reader Email

This week I received an email from a fellow Star Wars fan. Pamela Kinney was nice enough to share with us a new convention coming to Richmond, Virginia, RavenCon. She, also, has her own personal website. On this website, you will find pictures of her Jedi persona and different science fiction and fantasy projects she is involved in. Thank you, Pam, for sharing this information with us and allowing us to sharing it with our readers.

Who are you?

Take this Star Trek personality test and find out which character you are most like. Turns out I am most like Dr Leonard "Bones" McCoy…go figure. Tell us, who are you?

The Voyage of Voyager

NASA’s Voyager 1 is boldly going where no one has gone before. NASA’s website has some truly fascinating pictures and audio recordings from Voyager 1 as well.

StarFleet Region 17 at Opus

At Opus I got together with some folks belonging to a great fan club known as Star Fleet Region 17 with 205 members here and around Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. There are approximately 4000 + members and 250 active chapters around the world and still growing. Star Fleet started in 1974 in Texas as a way for fans of the Star Trek series to come together and talk about the shows they love and what they mean to them. Their Prime Directive is to share their interest in Star Trek and science fiction and in the science of space exploration. StarFleet members also participate in numerous charities in their own communities and around the United States as well as overseas, such as the Relay for Life, Toys for Tots, and The Marion House. I sat with the group for a while as they explained their love for science fiction and how they found wonderful friendships among themselves as well as others, because of a common interest. As we chatted I discovered a wonderful family bond between them and how they have come together in times of need to help one another. I just wanna say what a great job you and you and yours are doing and if there is anything I can help you do to promote your organization or an event please let us know here at SCIFIPUNDIT. We will post it for all to see and in closing to this if any of you all from StarFleet wanna comment or have a concern please let us know and we will be happy to talk with you and thanks again for letting me share part of the day with you all.

Battlestar Galactica Spoilers

*****Major Spoiler Alert*****

Beware! Clicking on the link to this website will lead to inside knowledge of what is to come on the 2nd season of BSG. However, if you feel so inclined go have a look.

Haunters Convention

Interested in meeting fellow paranormal enthusiasts? Here's your chance. The Midwest Haunters Convention is being held in Columbus, Ohio July 22 - 24. Looks like they are planning many interesting events, including a Masquerade Party and a variety of seminars.

Firefly News

The Sci-Fi channel will be airing all 15 episodes of the Firefly series this July on Friday nights along with both Stargates and Battlestar Galactica.

Also according to the Serenity website, the Firefly movie will be in theaters September 30th.

Opening night, Episode II

You may recognize Matt as the Darth Vader from our May 19th posting, he is pictured here sans the Darth Vader helmet.

Matt, a fan since the age of two, was dressed as Darth Vader. When asked if he is excited about this movie he responded, “This is the duel, I’ve been waiting all my life for this!”At the same time, he expressed his sadness as this is the last Star Wars movie. However, he is looking forward to the new television shows that will be coming out soon as well as the new Fantastic 4 movie.

Not only did his mother assist in making his Darth Vader costume, but she also made Jedi costumes for Episode II for him and his brothers. He has a great story about the first time his parents took him to see the re-release of the episode IV. He stood up in the theater and shouted “Look Mom at all the Artie-Do-dos!” He said his parents love to share this story. Thanks Matt for letting us share this story with our readers!

Taking approximately three days to make his costume, he used items mostly purchased from Walmart and Home Depot. Matt is one of those people who can look at an object and completely imagine it as something else. Sharing with us he had decided to make his costume while having a light saber fight with his 5 year old son, he also added that is was relatively inexpensive to make. They have also made a Yoda costume for his son to wear the following day, when Matt would be bringing him to see the movie.

He said he was having a blast waiting for the movie to open since 8 that evening and had been in 3 light saber fights prior to speaking to us. As in the first two movies he had waited in line where he said he had met a lot of cool people.

Once again, we would like to thank Matt for sharing his heart-warming, family filled Star Wars stories with us.

Opening Night, Episode I

The first fans we encountered were Jim Moncher and Danine Schell. What lovely people! Both dressed in Jedi robes, they happily spoke to us about their love of Star Wars and costuming.

Jim is a member of the Jedi Assembly and the Rebel Legion, both costuming groups. The Rebel Legion is a spin off of the 501st – Vader’s Fist and was formed shortly before Celebration II as the good to counteract the evil of the 501st. The Jedi Assembly strictly dress in the old “prequel” costumes with the exception of Luke’s costume. Among the several charities they support are Kisses for Katie. They have selected charities that have somehow affected members of their orders. In addition to the charities, they often visit children’s hospitals. Can you imagine the joy they must bring to these kids?

Jim, also know in Jedi circles as Mon-Jas Charan, has his own personal website . Moreover, Jim makes handmade belts for Jedi costumes and was nice enough to show us his homemade light saber he had just made that morning. You may purchase these belts for your costume. Also, he is a member of the Rocky Mountain Fan Force. You will also find that Jim espouses Jedi philosophy. Danine, his wife, states “I don’t know where he got it, but it’s pretty good!”

Danine is a costumer and an actress at Iron Springs Chateau in Manitou Springs, Colorado. She is currently playing Dudley Do Better’s dog Buck in the production of Further North to Laughter. This show plays through October. Both costumes they were wearing were made by Danine. The costume Danine was wearing was made originally for Jim for a renaissance wedding, shortly after Episode I. Danine only uses the finest fabrics, including premium wool.

Jim shares a great story about how the actor that played Kit Fisto got the part, when he was working at Lucas Arts, because he was about the right size. After seeing Jim's awesome costume, he commented they were better than what they had wore in the movie.

Again, we would like to thank Jim and Danine for speaking with us and giving us so much amazing information.

Revenge of the Mistakes

*****CAUTION MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*****
My friend, Scott, sent me this interesting link. It contains mistakes found in the most recent Star Wars movie.

Poll Update

Have you taken our poll yet? It is located under the links and ads. Right now, Star Trek has a huge lead. Got a favorite sci-fi franchise? Vote!

Adventures at Opus

From what I understand Opus Fantasy Arts Festival was started to give folks a place to go that enjoyed Fantasy and Sci Fi writing, costume making, fantasy art, horror and music, both Gothic and Celtic and even some magic, with the incredible help of the growing number of fans of J.K. Rowling "Harry Potter". I was there from the launch of the first festival and have absolute pleasure of watching it expand over the last few years from a few hundred to well over a thousand. New groups seem to join each year and build their number of members. I was also impressed with the staff of Opus, who handled so well, the huge number of events going on both day and night and sometimes till the wee hours of the morning, as well as the hotel staff of the Sheraton Four Point were so pleasant to all the folks who attended this year and made us feel so welcomed. No complaints from me on that subject My beautiful wife had her birthday up there and from what she remembers she had fun. I enjoyed meeting some new folks from the wonderful Star Fleet Region 17, a Star Trek based fan club here in Colorado as well as other states here in the west. I didn't have Cheryl , my trusty photographer with me, but I did get some terrific information from them that I thought some of you would like to know of, so read the next blog to be coming soon.

Cellular Peptide Cake with Mint Frosting Wrap-up

Today ends the big birthday week here at SCIFIPUNDIT. I'm the last one to celebrate a birthday. It's been a great weekend and a wonderful day. We had dinner at the Melting Pot Restaurant. If you have never been, GO!

I am waiting for Alex and Toni to go see Revenge of the Sith on Tuesday, then I shall post my review of this movie. Stay tuned, lots to talk to about this week.

The tale of two Georges

Is George Lucas bashing George Bush? Personally, I agree with this guy. But before you make up your mind, read this CNN article.

The second serving of the Cellular Peptide Cake with Mint Frosting!

As I have mention in a prior post, this a big birthday week here at SCIFIPUNDIT. Today is Toni’s birthday. Toni is Alex’s brilliant wife and sometimes acts as our “grip”. Have a great day, Toni! We love you!

Doctor Who News

I just received an email from our dear friend, Kat. She sent me this article regarding a new Doctor Who series. So all you Doctor Who fans go check it out! Thanks Kat for the information!

I'm not done yet!

Please note there are still more postings and pictures to come from our adventures at the Star Wars opening. So please keep checking back!

Our love for Star Wars is blind

At last night's opening of Star Wars, one of the local blind companies gave us this flyer for Star Wars blinds. Get them while their hot! Keep coming back as we will be posting interesting facts, stories and pictures from last night's opening.

Alex confonts the Dark Side

What we can learn from this picture is never, absolutely never piss off Darth Vader.

Stay Tuned!

Last night, we decided to interview some of the fans waiting for the opening of Revenge of the Sith. We are thrilled to say that we met some really wonderful people. I am in the process of disseminating the wealth of information we obtained. As soon as I am done, I will post the pictures and information we were fortunate enough to receive. Expect to see something this evening. A very special thanks to Jim, Danine and Matt for taking the time and risking bad seats to talk to us.

Lucas strikes back

At the London premier of the Revenge of the Sith, Lucas tells fans he is working on Indiana Jones IV.

Forced

We have officially achieved sensory overload. The media has exploded or imploded, depending on your point of view. One would think there’s a Star Wars movie opening this week or something. Nonetheless, if you’ve got an issue with George Lucas, Jar Jar Binks or Obi-Wan Kenobi, you can easily find someone who shares that opinion or disagrees with it. Who knew one movie could cause would stir up such fervor? After all, it is Star Wars.

Our friends over at Vodkapundit are celebrating with a “geek week”. Check out Stephen Green’s Star Destroyer made from Legos. There is also talk of anti-Bush sentiment themes running through the movie. You may also read more about the anti-Bush sentiment in this article. There are some daunting comparisons made to the fall of Anakin to Bush’s motivation for invading Iraq. Personally, I think it is simply a science fiction movie with a plot dreamed up long, long ago by Lucas. Nothing more, nothing less. You could completely wear yourself out trying to come up with comparisons to all sorts of topics including something as far fetched as Padme Amidala’s hairstyles with the introduction of the latest Paul Mitchell hair conditioner if you see fit. Additionally, NPR has been running several special reports on Star Wars as well, including, a somewhat unappealing review of the movie. Along with the NPR review, there are many other mixed reviews. However, it would seem overall the reviews have been fairly propitious.

Also, there is an abundance of Star Wars toys , collectables, video games, brand name promotions, a trading card game and books. There’s something for people of every age and interest. Everyone seems to have jumped on the Star Wars bandwagon including me. I have purchased many a bag of the Darth Mix M & Ms. They are made of dark chocolate and come in nifty colors. I may never go back to the Milk Chocolate M & Ms ever again. Thanks Alex and Toni! Along with that, I have already bought a miniature Star Destroyer, Star Wars Cheezits AND…I bought a friend’s son a Darth Tater. In fact I may go back and buy one for myself because it is down right cool.

Got your tickets yet? Robert and I, along with 6000 of our closest friends, will be going to see Star Wars this Saturday. Our fearless leader, Alex, will be at Opus. In the meanwhile, it looks like many fans have been waiting in line for the Midnight/tomorrow morning opening for quite a while. I, too, am excited and ready to see this movie. I still remember the first time I saw A New Hope. I was 14 years old and already a major sci-fi fan. When Harrison Ford appeared on the screen, I knew I had to have some of that!

As always, we will let you know what we think about Revenge of the Sith. Maybe even Robert will share his thoughts with our readers. HINT HINT! Go enjoy the movie, folks! Let us know what you think!

Birthday card weirdness

We scanned the birthday card I gave Robert as we thought it was well worth sharing. The inside simply says..."I don't get it either. Happy Birthday!"

Break out the Cellular Peptide Cake with Mint Frosting!

This week is a big birthday week here at SCIFIPUNDIT! We start off by wishing the quieter of the SCIFIPUNDIT bloggers, Robert, a very Happy Birthday!!! If you prefer qoSlIj DatIvjaj or kunli gad t'keshtan!

Take a poll!

We have a new poll for our readers. You will find it on the right hand side below the links and ads. We will be putting this type of survey or poll on our blog from time to time. After it has run for an appropriate amount of time (TBD), we will publish the results. So far Star Trek has taken the lead! Thanks for your participation.

Star Wars Fan Films explode across the internet

Being at Starfest in Denver this past April and May exposed me for the first time to fan films for the Star Wars franchise. I stood memorized with one of the films in the dealer room I think it was called "Conflict" it was the battle of the Sith Lord, Darth Maul against three other creatures. I was completely intrigued by the makeup and locations, as well as the well choreographed fight scenes done throughout the film. I stood there with barbarians and klingons and Starfleet dressed folks pushing past a group of us that were huddled around a dealer table and watched intently the martial arts performance of the actors in the film, there was very little actual script involved but the fight scenes were great, with light sabers and light staves flashing. Dozens of other Star Wars Fan Films is one of the great sites for seeing the wonderful amateur fan films produced by dedicated Star Wars fans, who do it for pleasure of making something they love and in most cases grew up with, and won't let the films pass away after the release of the final film in the series this month by George Lucus and his creative team at Industrial Light and Magic I just want to say "Thanks George, for you imagination and dedication to a great story"

An Interesting Paranormal Website

My best friend, Gloria, and her delightful husband, Rob, sent me this website Coast to Coast AM with George Noory. It's full of interesting paranormal stories and pictures. You may even listen to them on one of your local radio stations. You can find that information here. Thanks again, Gloria and Rob, for the great website.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program...

We have an email address now that you may contact any of the three of us or all of us as a whole. As always, we welcome your comments and feedback. Please feel free to share your thoughts and suggestions. As we are still fairly new to the blogging world, we extremely open to your ideas and look forward to hearing from our readers. If there is anything we can do to make our site more interesting or informative for you, please let us know! Our new email address is scifipundit@yahoo.com. Or if you prefer you may click on the link just below our friendly alien greeter. And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

More paranormal activity

Here's another picture donated by our fellow SCIFIPUNDIT blogger Robert. It was taken of a Bedouin gravesite while he was on a UN mission in Western Sahara, Africa in 1995.



If any of our readers have any paranormal or UFO related pictures or stories to share, please let us know, we'd love to hear from you and perhaps publish it here on SCIFIPUNDIT.

A Paranormal Request

One of our new friends and loyal SCIFIPUNDIT readers, John, has asked that we discuss paranormal activities. Because we greatly value our readers...John, your wish is our command.

I think we have all experienced an odd incident or two. So very often, we have seen pictures that contain ghostly images. strange dots of light. or misty apparitions. I have a great one that was taken of me about five years ago of me just outside of Golden, Colorado. I was standing in the middle of a display of various farming implements and the military equipment from the 1800s. The picture was taken with my digital camera. There are at least two faces in the "mist" that can be seen here.

The passing of an era...Star Trek passes to the stars

The end of an era as come as the last episodes of Enterprise passes into history and into the stars. I was proud of the writers for how they ended the show and how it isn't the last we see of the Star Trek series that a lot of us grew up with. With hope they will bring back another series in a few years when old and new fans begin to emerge and re-emerge once more. I think the show brought us a great deal to learn about accepting others for who and what they are, how to trust others and accept changes that come, how to deal with the loss of friends and lets not forget political issues I also hope that the actors we followed and learned to care about do not forget their fans that truly did support them, these last four years. I know this sounds geeky but I felt as if we all traveled together on their journeys every Wednesday night then on Friday nights when they moved it to the death slot of television. I was having hopes UPN would have allow the series to continue to develop at least another season but I see that they would rather allow a show that requires no thinking to watch just a small amount of brain matter. I am quite disappointed in UPN decision to produce crap rather than quality on their network, maybe some exec for that network will wake up one day and understand there is more intelligent people out there than they actually realize Please feel free to express your feelings on the subject or any other you feel like talking about

We want to hear from you

We are simply amazed at the growing number of new readers. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Vodkapundit for the “boast”. It is important to us to keep this blog as interesting as possible for our readers. And with that in mind, the staff here at SCIFIPUNDIT would like to hear from you. Please tell us what you would like to hear or talk about. We will do our best to fulfill your request and assimilate them into this blog. Thank you for your readership. We look forward to hearing from you.

Doing a 180 on the 360

I hope you were all able to catch the debut of the new Xbox 360. It looks very cool. Check out what CNET has to say about it. Sorry folks, looks like you will have to wait until Christmas to get yours. Bummer. Need more? Go have a look at this video. Don't let the name fool you, it's a Microsoft website.

We are not alone

Perhaps you have had this problem. There doesn’t seem to be many people in your local area that like science fiction in the same enthusiastic way as you. Well the local Colorado Springs newspaper, The Gazette, is currently running a series of articles about Star Trek and Star Wars. Timely as tomorrow is the day most of us hardcore Star Trek fans are dreading and we will soon see the last of the Star Wars prequels. It appears that we are, in fact, not alone. You may find the article here. If you can get your hands on the actual newspaper article there are some pictures of local sci-fi fans.

Star Trek Live

Robots that reproduce? Remind you of your favorite Star Trek episode? Well, folks go have a look at this article.

The future is now.

Darth speaks

Lovely, just lovely. Darth Vader has a blog. That's right Darth Vader. Go see for yourself here.

Special thanks to Will Collier over at Vodkapundit for the heads up!

Xbox, the Next Generation

Tonight at 9:30 PM Eastern Time, Xbox, in conjunction with MTV, will debut the next Xbox game console. So all you gamer geeks (including me), get ready, get set, go!

War Of The Worlds...Cold War

The WOTW had a lot to do with issues of the cold war era, showing people of the United States that the old Soviet Union was a threat to them. They replaced soldiers and migs with aliens and spaceships, to me it seemed more a propaganda move with the times of Actors, Directors and ordinary citizens being black listed or witch hunted as i call it throughout the United States. The American people kept close watch on each other, wondering if their friends or neighbors were spies. Yes H.G. Wells wrote the story years before this event took place but the timing for the movie was right on the mark, it showed the United States able to fight back against any invading army from here on earth or from outer space. I believe the new movie pulls aways from that thinking and I am looking forward to seeing it soon as well as a long list of other great Sci Fi movies hitting the the big screen all summer long.

War of the Releases

With the release of the Spielberg’s adaptation of War of The Worlds looming large on the horizon, I have discovered that there are many releases coming to fruition. Take your pick, there's a version for everyone. Let’s see if we can wrap our minds around the plethora coming to a store and/or theater near you.

First of all, let’s look at the original movie released in 1953 and produced by George Pal. To some, it is STILL the best science fiction movie ever made. To others, it is the movie that started them down the path of devotion to science fiction…like our very own Robert here at SciFiPundit. Nonetheless, it is truly a science fiction classic. One of the reasons this movie was so effective was in the way the aliens were portrayed as so cold and brutal. And you have to admit the heat rays coming out of the somewhat vague Martian War Machine were enough to give the paranoid movie viewer of the 1950’s exactly what they wanted. These people were in the grips of the cold war. A sudden, unexpected attack on the human race was topical and timely. Unlike H. G. Wells novel where the aliens “make use” of their human victims, these aliens just want to annihilate the human race. Still, it is safe to say this movie paved the way for many of today’s science fiction movies, books and TV series. And you too can buy it for your ever growing science fiction DVD collection!

I don’t have to tell you Paramount is coming out with its own WotW on June 29. They brought out the “big guns” for this one with Steven Spielberg directing and Tom Cruise in the staring role. I have read and heard that Spielberg took great liberties with the original story. If you were at Starfest, you saw the "specially made for us" trailer where Spielberg and Cruise eluded to extensive use of the original novel’s plot. I believe I have seen all of the trailers, even the Japanese trailer that was shown at Starfest . In the Japanese trailer, you catch a glimpse of what the war machines are going to look like, although brief. You may find the Japanese trailer here. Pay close attention to the scene with the sea-going vessel, there is a war machine in the background. I will try not to form an opinion on this movie just yet. However, it does look like your typical high budget, filled with Hollywood special effects movie. Hopefully this movie will live up to all the hype.

Meanwhile over at Sony BMG, they are re-launching the Jeff Waynes 1978 Musical Version in a re-mastered 5.1 Surround Sound. The CD collection (plus one DVD) will include many extras such as remixes of his songs from the award winning album. You will find Jason Hayward of the Moody Blues on this June 20th release as you would have on the original. In addition, Mr. Waynes will be putting out a CGI version of the musical adaptation in 2007. There is a wonderful article that greatly details Jeff Waynes' re-release. You may read it here.

Asylum Studios, well known for its horror movies, will release its version on June 28th. They describe their straight to DVD movie as a “modern retelling of H.G. Wells' classic sci-fi horror, civilization is laid to ruin when a super race of aliens invades Earth”. Also, they are calling their Martians “walkers”. Additionally, their “walkers” will have six legs instead of the typical tripod configuration.

On March 30, 2005, Pendragon Pictures released its own take on WotW set in Victorian times straight to DVD. Interesting conceptually as the novel was written in 1898, it is said to closely follow the original Wells novel. On Pendragon’s website, there is mention of a theatrical release. However, it does not say when this will happen.

There is no doubt that the Spielberg version will rake in the biggest bucks. But good for the other studios that are capitalizing on the WotW tide. I am hoping to have the opportunity to experience all the different versions. Of course, we will have to wait until 2007 for the CGI variation. In the meanwhile, as the Scifipundit staff has the opportunity to view the various movies and listen to the newly re-mastered recordings, we will let you know what we think. And as always we look forward to your thoughts and opinions!

My Hitchhiker's Experience

My adventures with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy have been a long and a mostly delightful one. It started back in 1982, when I was in college. My mother and I were shopping one weekend when I was home from college (a very typical activity). Having gotten our fill of the abundant couture, we wandered into the department store’s book section. There on the dollar table was a hardback copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It was the cover that first got my attention as any good book cover should. I remember picking it up and showing it to my Mother. She was always ”tolerant” of my love of science fiction. I think she thought it made me smarter somehow.

After I got home, I dove right in to this wonderful book I had found. I couldn’t put it down. I laughed and laughed. The following Monday back at school, I told everyone I knew that they MUST read this book. I made my friends either buy their own copy or read mine. I can remember many a night sitting in a bar quoting this book. My friends and I had our own language and hidden meanings. It was lovely. We were so “hip” discussing this fabulous book I had discovered. We never went anywhere without a towel, seriously. And the answer was ALWAYS 42.

Then, local PBS station started to show the BBC series of HGTG. I was so excited. The series was weird and surreal like the book. I couldn’t wait to see each and every episode. Moreover, as each new book became available I bought it, read it and then spread the word once again. I was hooked!

Now, I can’t find my hardback copy. I know it’s here somewhere. Instead of finding it, I went out and bought another copy. It made me sad, remembering that day that I bought my first copy. I missed my Mother who is now in the deep throes of dementia. She would have made me find the original copy. Nonetheless, I tried to read my new copy before I saw the movie. I finished the first half before we went. I still love this book. In my world, Douglas Adams is bizarre individual that deserves many accolades. I really like bizarre people. This really explains a lot about me.

So off we went to see HGTG. And what did I think about the movie? What’s not to like? It’s British, it’s Sci-Fi. I should love it. Well, as it turns out I’m one of those purists everyone keeps talking about. Yep, that’s me! I enjoyed the movie but not as much as I enjoyed the book. Somehow so much of Douglas Adams’ humor seemed to get lost when translated into cellulous. I was disturbed about the ending in particular. In the book, Zaphod ask Arthur if he was hungry and suggested the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. That’s it; nothing more needs to be said (for the time being). But in the movie there’s a happy ending including some gratuitous kissing etc etc. I didn’t particularly care for this ending. This movie turned out to be more of a boy meets girl, boy loses girl to the President of the Universe, boy meets girl again in a most improbable way kind of flick. So I realize when I read the book, it wasn’t so much the plot as it was the humor I was partial to. The book is simply nonsensical in that oh-so-British-way. The movie makes an effort to capture the mood, but in my opinion falls somewhat short. It is, of course, the same old thing I hear from countless people that read a book and then see the movie. They just don’t like it as much. However, I really did like the movie’s theme song. It is catchy, funny, melodic, and so terribly British. And now I can say I have actually heard Vogon poetry. It is as bad as I imagined. Good job on that concept! Out of five possible aliens, I give this movie three and half aliens.

Alex and Robert haven’t read The Guide, but have seen the movie. What do you think guys????

All the news that's worth blogging

The staff here at SCIFIPUNDIT would like to extend its heart felt congratulations to the good folks, Steve and Melissa, over at VODKAPUNDIT. They are increasing their numbers from two to three, in other words they are having a baby! Best wishes to you both and here’s to a healthy, happy baby!!! We hope the force is strong with this one.

A picture well worth the wait...

Our friend and devoted SCIFIPUNDIT reader, Karen, was kind enough to share this photo with us. She spent several hours in line at Starfest waiting to have her picture taken with William Shatner. Note...he told her she looked really good in her uniform. We concur with Mr. Shatner. Thank you, Karen!!

Survived Starfest 2005 Can't wait till 2006

Ok so I survived another year of parties and friends and the rest of the convention excitement, the 4 am stuff has got to stop though... oh well it was well worth every hour of missed sleep. I am happy with the way things turned out this year with the con, everyone seemed to have a nice time, I am so looking forward to next year. I swear I think I go to see old friends and meet new ones more than anything else although I really enjoy all the panels and guests they get there every year and cant wait to see the guest list for next year. I thoroughly enjoyed the Wizards jeopardy panel on Harry Potter, its amazing how much I don't know about things from the books I suppose I should actually read them one day so that I can be a HP geek and sit on a panel and discuss the books with the rest of the huge Harry P. Fans also for those who might want to know the newest Harry Potter movie Goblet of Fire arrives into theaters on Nov18 2005, I know I will be there. Ok so next stop on my whirl wind tour of cons will be Opus fantasy arts convention May May20th thru May22nd I am looking forward to this con almost as much as Starfest but Starfest will always rule the Galaxy

Photoblogging at Starfest 2005, part deux

Here are more pictures taken at this year's Starfest. We hope you enjoy the photographic substantiation.

The one, the only, THE William Shatner.

My personal favorite from the models in the model contest at Starfest 2005, done by Alex's friend Garry Hill. Great job Garry!

Another view of Garry Hill's Lego Enterprise

Another Garry Hill creation, Battletech figurines! He won 3rd place in the model contest. Congratulations, Garry!

Robert explains the benefits of a daily Science Fiction regiment.

Grace Park from Battlestar Galactica....why bother taking out the red eye in this case...

Revenge is a dish best served cold and on top of you head.

You just never know who you'll run into at Starfest.

Another Great Starfest is over for another year

Another very fun, very entertaining Starfest is over for for another year. The guests were great the old friends were greater and new friends we made rocked the world this past weekend in Denver. I loved seeing everyone but the staying up till 4 am both days was a little rough, I guess I am not as young as I used to be but thank goodness I still look good doing the early mornings. I believe I can speak for everyone when I say Starland puts on fantastic shows. The panels and discussions were excellent and the guests really seemed to love their fans who most times packed the main events room Dean Haglund from the X-files and the Lone Gunman put on a very funny performance Friday night I has laughing so hard my sides hurt. Claudia Christian was another fun guest to listen to tell of her adventures in acting and she is a Rengeek so that's a plus for her in my book of best guests. Jeffrey Combs explained his feelings on leaving Star Trek Enterprise and you could sense his sadness a little. The Marriott Hotel was amazing The staff of the hotel were considerate and enjoyed us being there, and I hope we get invited back for another con, I will post more but for now its rest time after all it was a very long weekend.