Goodies for today

This is fun to read, if you are familiar with the Wold Newton universe. Also, it may be of general interest for those curious about fan-fiction and copyright issues, etc.

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2013/10/excerpt-read-the-introduction-from-tales-of-the-wold-newton-universe-edited-by-win-scott-eckert-and-christopher-paul-carey/

Here is an interview with Charisma Carpenter, and she talks about the Expendables movie and the recent Wonder Woman costume changes.

http://www.liveforfilms.com/2010/07/14/exclusive-interview-charisma-carpenter-talks-psychosis-the-expendables-wonder-woman-and-more/

Charisma Carpenter is a latina? And Vanna White? Cool.
Click on the slide show.
http://www.latina.com/entertainment/tv/5-joss-whedon-actors-you-never-knew-were-latino?slide=2#axzz2iJWF5ZC4
http://www.latina.com/entertainment/105-stars-you-never-knew-were-latino#axzz2iJWF5ZC4
Charisma Carpenter, 42
"She's best known for playing Cordelia Chase—a conceited and popular teenager who reluctantly joins “The Scooby Gang” in Whedon’s hit TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But we’re betting you didn’t know that this talented beauty—who also starred on Whedon's Buffy spinoff, Angel—is Latina! Charisma’s dad might be French and German, but her mom is a mix of Cherokee and Spanish. The actress lived in Rosarito City, Mexico during her teen years."

About Vanna White, 54:

"You know her as the legendary hostess of Wheel of Fortune, but White – whose very last name hints that she’s Caucasian— is actually part-Latina! You see, “White” is not Vanna’s real apellido—it’s the name she took from her stepfather Herbert Stackley White Jr., a former real estate agent in North Myrtle Beach. Not much is known about Vanna’s real father whose name is Miguel Angel Rosich, except that he was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico and abandoned the family when she was a child. Fun fact: Rumor has it that one of White's ancestors, whose last name was Barnes, was one of the first mayors of the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico."

Also, I just learned that in Nashville, Tennessee (of all places) there is a concrete recreation of the Greek Parthenon in Athens as it was when in ancient times. That's worth a trip to see.
http://www.nashville.gov/Parks-and-Recreation/Parthenon.aspx

Turok's Fate: Deathmate

I'm finding out more things about Turok's days with Valiant Comics.
Actually, I am learning more about the comic book industry in general, Valiant in particular, and Turok as a desired consequence.

Apparently, there was a "comic book speculator boom of the 1990s" hyperbolicly termed an apocalyse of sorts of which Turok (through Valiant Comics) was a part. Back then, Valiant proudly touted it as "the Valiant Era."


I need to go now, but I wanted to put up these links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathmate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathmate#cite_note-newsarama-1

http://www.valiantfan.com/valiant/valiantdays.asp
http://badmouth.net/the-comic-book-apocalypse/ (this is GOOD stuff)
The Image Story: Part 3 of 4, critiquing the Image side of Deathmate
says NOT FOUND
also failed at finding it on Google...lost to the ether, I guess.

worth a read? dunno yet: http://www.oocities.org/valiantfanfic/magvsaliens1.htm

Hey, this guy wasn't in Jurassic Park: Carnotaurus

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120903195505/primalcarnagethegame/images/thumb/8/84/Carnotaurus.png/640px-Carnotaurus.png

http://www.wikidino.com/wp-content/uploads/Carnotaurus-M.Shiraishi-2.jpg

From my reading, I am given to understand that Carnotaurus (Meat-eating bull-lizard) was roughly contemporary with Tyrannosaurus Rex and Allosaurus, and of similar contour, but was off doing his own thing on the then-island of South America, which much like the Australia of then and now, was an isolated continent giving rise to unique forms.

Actually, also from my own reading, I recall many other examples of the peculiarity of South American fauna, represented even today by the sloths and their xenarthan brethren. You see, South America didn't connect up to North America directly until about the last Ice Age.

Apparently, I am just now learning something many 4-year-olds probably know. There is apparently a year 2000 Disney animated movie that features Carnotaurs fairly heavily. Gonna have to see that sometime.

http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Dinosaur
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Carnotaurus

I am wondering if that's the dinosaur on the Turok animated movie cover.
There is so much genetic and evolutionary hanky-panky in Turok's Lost Land that I don't think it matters much.
http://donglutsdinosaurs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Turok-DVD-697x10001.jpg

kaiju emotion

It is hard to convey distinct emotion in monsters, but I saw this photo of a diorama recently that did a very good job. Despite the fact that these are "real animals" represented, I think my use here is justified.

http://archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2008/11/01/being-eaten-alive-arrrrrgggggghhhhhh/

http://archosaurmusings.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/rhyncho-herrera-model.jpg


Also, I have been impressed with art in the Kill All Monsters webcomic. Heck, the webcomic in general. They appear to have a published form for sale, but at the moment I am broke. And truth be told, I try to restrain my whimsical purchases.

goodies from your friendly neighborhood uber-goober

I had not heard of 'Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal' comics until today. This one is about the revolution debate. http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2703 If you watch the Star Trek movies, the series by this author are really good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoWfTq8dYos&noredirect=1 Again, if you watch Star Trek. It seems I was wrong. http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=35860 Commercials sometimes are really catchy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmWWJ3OPCtI Who knew taxes could be such fun? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmynbxyfFjM

TV series Heroes

I said I was going to post more on natural history and ecology, and I had entirely intended to, but life intervenes. (Although on an ecology note, I heard on NPR this morning that the guest was estimating a 80%-90% chance Obama will succumb to the Keystone pipeline bill during his second term, despite his political base. Say it isn't so!) Well, my pre-wife bought me the box-set DVD collection of Heroes Season One. I finished it last night, and it was quite the thrill ride, but I am glad it is over. It was fun, but I am glad. Why? It was not a series that was convenient. It was not kind to it's audience (or at least the part represented by me). Here's why: there were very few story frameworks. It was not appropriately episodic. There were very few reliable endings. Now, cliffhangers during a two-parter are acceptable. Unresolved endings are acceptable. Hints that "the villian lived and will come back for revenge later" or somesuch are acceptable. Heroes was a continuous flow of story lines that felt like a 26-parter (I forget how many episodes the season had.) It was not until the season ended that I felt a little relief in the form of something resembling an ending. A TV series needs to be episodic, I think. It felt more like a made-for-tv movie. I guess that is a matter of taste, but I think I have precedent on my side. A talented creative team can form a wonderfully rich story taken as a whole, but with each installment being readable or watchable in and of itself. This may be been a matter of taste, and certainly makes good business sense for the TV series, but I wa unhappy with it. Storywise, I was especially disappointed that the whole series did not diverge much from the X-Men archetype. Wrapped up with that, I was also disappointed the eclipse (despite the series logo and pilot) wasn't much of a factor in the plot. Perpahs the solar eclipse was explained and incorporated later, but it was such promise as an alternative to the tired old mutation concept. Like the X-Men movies, heroes even featured a mutant conspiracy and government-sponsered genocide. And the concept of a villian-stealing-super-powers was one of their biggest innovations, but even that was taken from LXG (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). Can you please point me to any example of innovation? I generally applaud the series, but I am very glad I caught it on DVD rather than immersed in the broadcast episodes. One of my largest applauds most go to the casting of Malcolm McDowell as a great, multi-faceted villian. I have caught his performances on other occasions, and this was one of the best roles. A role befitting him. I am still annoyed that Star Trek Generations so wasted his potential. Although the same happened with F. Murray Abraham in Star Trek: Insurrection, so I guess it's a sad habit of the franchise. Speaking of Trek, seeing the reboot Spock (Quinto) as Sylar was interesting, and very good casting also. George Takei had a good "peice of the action." Oh, and do you recognize this guy? I knew he looked familiar! Erick Avari was Daniel's Abados father-in-law on Stargate, plus a million other things, including bit roles in Star Trek: Enterprise, Babylon 5, Independace Day, and Lois and Clark, among others. And he was in The 13th Warrior, too! Speaking on Insurrection earlier, I did a quick search on YouTube, and although it says little to nothing about Abraham, it's well done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=qlV3bsafkq0&feature=endscreen

Do you read comics?

Recently, I found a resource for some cheap entertainment: old comic books (specifically, the 90s run of Valiant Comics). I have never been a comic book fan, and until this month owned a grand total of two. But that has grown dramatically, and I am discovering that the "reading" is enjoyable, although not "literature" exactly. I began with Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, and have now begun to follow his cohorts occupying the same "universe" of Valiant Comics. I found this article about Turok fun and enlightening. http://pwrcords.com/2012/06/18/just-who-is-this-turok-guy-anyway/ Especially the above article was useful because the publishing history of these characters, and of Valient itself, was pretty confusing to me. They appear, seem to die, then reappear, only to die again, and once more be reborn in a new guise. And that can either refer to some of the comic book characters, or to the publishers. Anyway, my real point here is that I was taken by suprise at some of the sophisticated ideas interwoven in these comics. The depth was quite unexpected, and a nice suprise. Specifically, I refer to a few complex sci-fi ideas. Ideas that I have rarely seen elsewhere. Firstly, artificially-sentient animals. In this case, dinosaurs, which is a rather sensational use of the concept, and is more used to further the adventurous story, but nonetheless it's nothing shallow in sci-fi terms. Second, moving a moon from Jupiter into a habitable solar orbit to create a new planet. Wow, that takes some sci-fi balls. Thrid, an entire nation taking up residence in a space station orbiting Earth, rather than face Earth-conditions. In this case, Japan as an artifical moon. Well, I have a substantial sampling of the Turok series, and I am starting to pick up others, and especially the "armored Visigoth" XO Manowar catches my interest. Actually, pretty much all their character are good, with Magnus Robot Fighter not being ridiculus such as I had feared, and Solar suprising me also.