The Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Spy, and Superhero Genre

[Machiavelli]

ALL Doctor Who Title Sequences (UPDATED) | Doctor Who

! No longer available


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNszKKAtEwU

[sneakypete]

Made a goodfaith effort to watch Mars 3 separate times. I really wanted to like it. But I couldn't take it. The excruciating slow pace, the slow droning narrations, the PBS special type presentation. I could tell there was an actual space story buried in the documentary. Didn't have the patience to slog through all the educational stuff to watch it. If they would separate the story from the documentary, that I could watch.

@240B

There is a Mars that is a documentary,and there is a Mars that is a Sci-Fi series. There is also another one that is a movie.  I started watching the Sci-Fi series Mars one night and really liked and watched maybe 3 episodes. Haven't been able to log on to watch it again since then.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

@240B

There is a Mars that is a documentary,and there is a Mars that is a Sci-Fi series. There is also another one that is a movie.  I started watching the Sci-Fi series Mars one night and really liked and watched maybe 3 episodes. Haven't been able to log on to watch it again since then.

The one that is a SF series also includes some short bits of documentary stuff, which I would be okay with if it concentrated on current Mars projects.  Instead it's basically a St Musk commercial, though they did concentrate on greenpeace in the last (last in more than one way in my case) episode. 

Also, they've gone pretty lefty this season in the SF part.

[kevindavis007]

The one that is a SF series also includes some short bits of documentary stuff, which I would be okay with if it concentrated on current Mars projects.  Instead it's basically a St Musk commercial, though they did concentrate on greenpeace in the last (last in more than one way in my case) episode. 

Also, they've gone pretty lefty this season in the SF part.

Did they ever take a hard turn left this season..


Here is what I'm seeing..


1. Mars should be only explored for Scientific reasons. Newsflash Space is not their playground.
2. Corporations are evil.


Of course they have lefties like Kim Stanley Robinson or people from Greenpeace speaking.

[sneakypete]

The one that is a SF series also includes some short bits of documentary stuff, which I would be okay with if it concentrated on current Mars projects.  Instead it's basically a St Musk commercial, though they did concentrate on greenpeace in the last (last in more than one way in my case) episode. 

Also, they've gone pretty lefty this season in the SF part.

@InHeavenThereIsNoBeer

Ok,thanks. I didn't get that far before I couldn't view them for free anymore,so I didn't see that. Too much free stuff that is good to watch to pay for anything unless it is "Game of Thrones" good.

[Machiavelli]

Margaret Atwood Is Writing A Sequel To 'The Handmaid's Tale'

Merrit Kennedy
NPR
November 28, 2018

More than 30 years after the release of The Handmaid's Tale, author Margaret Atwood has announced there's going to be a sequel.

Penguin Random House said Wednesday that the new novel is set to be published on Sept. 10, 2019. It's called The Testaments and will take place 15 years after The Handmaid's Tale left off. The story will be told by three female characters, according to the U.S. publisher.

The Handmaid's Tale, a dystopian novel set in the fictional theocratic dictatorship of Gilead, has risen again to prominence with a critically acclaimed TV series based on the book that started airing in 2017.

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[Sanguine]

Margaret Atwood Is Writing A Sequel To 'The Handmaid's Tale'

Merrit Kennedy
NPR
November 28, 2018

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Oh, yaaay......

[kevindavis007]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfzEFx0NzCo


I think I have seen this before..

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

I like SciFi, but I'm usually disappointed with it.  Recently I've read a bunch of Alastair Reynolds' stuff and really enjoyed it.  The science seems pretty solid (he works for the ESA).  He adds some interesting technical developments which lead society to make interesting decisions and explores the potential outcomes without a noticeable political bias one way or the other.

I recommend Chasm City as an introduction.  It's a good representation of his style, and my favorite so far.  You may find it listed as part of the Revelation Space "series", but it's really not, IMO, it's fine as a standalone work as it doesn't depend on earlier works, it just exists in the same "universe".

[Formerly Once-Ler]

Moon on Netflix is fun.  life changing? no. worth watching? hell yes.

[kevindavis007]

I don't know if it is just me but Vikings have been kinda gone downhill.

[Sanguine]

I don't know if it is just me but Vikings have been kinda gone downhill.

The series or real life?

[kevindavis007]

The series or real life?

The series..

[sneakypete]

The series or real life?

@Sanguine

Both,and for the same reasons. Too many "real" Vikings have died off,leaving the wusses to father the future generations.

[Sanguine]

@Sanguine

Both,and for the same reasons. Too many "real" Vikings have died off,leaving the wusses to father the future generations.

Pretty much my point.   

[Smokin Joe]

@Sanguine

Both,and for the same reasons. Too many "real" Vikings have died off,leaving the wusses to father the future generations.

Nah. They left. One of the things that traditionally made this country great was that we got the best and the brightest from elsewhere who came here looking for opportunity to do something with what they had.

Now we just seem to get people who want a handout.
Unfortunately, we have our own wusses who are taking over here, and where is a Viking to go?

[Sanguine]

Nah. They left. One of the things that traditionally made this country great was that we got the best and the brightest from elsewhere who came here looking for opportunity to do something with what they had.

Now we just seem to get people who want a handout.
Unfortunately, we have our own wusses who are taking over here, and where is a Viking to go?

That's a great question.  I hear Honduras is almost empty.   

[Smokin Joe]

That's a great question.  I hear Honduras is almost empty.   

Too d@mned hot! The ones here settled Minnesota, North Dakota, (eastern) Montana--all areas where there are 6 months of winter and six months of hard sledding....

[bigheadfred]

and where is a Viking to go

Where? To Go A Viking, of course.

@Sanguine  @Smokin Joe

[sneakypete]

Nah. They left. One of the things that traditionally made this country great was that we got the best and the brightest from elsewhere who came here looking for opportunity to do something with what they had.

@Smokin Joe

Yeah,most of the adventerous/spirited blood went off on raids and never returned home because they died,and a lot of them never returned home because they liked the local women and the warmer climates,and when offered farms and no more freezing,they jumped at it. It was the Viking blood that gave the European Royalty some back bone,especially the French.

Seems like damn few came to America,though. The ones that did come here either with Eric Red Beard or his son,I can't remember which,had their asses ran off by the natives.

What America ended up getting was the placid farmers looking for free land they didn't have to fight to obtain.

Now we just seem to get people who want a handout.

Welll,ya can't blame them when we put out signs advertising "free stuff,just come and get it!",and then beg them to come. There is fault,but it's not theirs.

 

[Sanguine]

Where? To Go A Viking, of course.

@Sanguine  @Smokin Joe

Of course.

[kevindavis007]

Well since I'm taking it for the team to watch National Geograpic Mars I might as well tell it is 100% crap. I don't mind documentary,  and the challenges they show. However, this week's episode was pure bulls**t. Moslty Trump bashing and having people push man-made Climate Change. Thank god next week is the sesason finale.

[Smokin Joe]

Well since I'm taking it for the team to watch National Geograpic Mars I might as well tell it is 100% crap. I don't mind documentary,  and the challenges they show. However, this week's episode was pure bulls**t. Moslty Trump bashing and having people push man-made Climate Change. Thank god next week is the sesason finale.

Unfortunately, since NatGeo embraced the whole AGW thing (without so much as looking back) they have become less credible than Mickey Mouse. It's sad, as far as I am concerned, because their magazine in the '60s (and earlier issues) was a font of information about archaeology and the world.
Now it's just another political tool.

[verga]

Unfortunately, since NatGeo embraced the whole AGW thing (without so much as looking back) they have become less credible than Mickey Mouse. It's sad, as far as I am concerned, because their magazine in the '60s (and earlier issues) was a font of information about archaeology and the world.
Now it's just another political tool.

You forgot to mention the half-naked natives.

[Smokin Joe]

You forgot to mention the half-naked natives.

Any more they are all wearing T-shirts. Most of the half naked ones were in black and white.  Besides I read it for the articles....

[verga]

Any more they are all wearing T-shirts. Most of the half naked ones were in black and white.  Besides I read it for the articles....

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

Not for the first time, I'm really getting into an audiobook... and then they do it.  "Delta Five".  Seriously, why would you do that?  Just to screw with me?

Many of us like hard sci-fi, including myself.  For the most part, I can't stand FTL, wormholes, inertia dampeners and/or artificial gravity, except maybe when used to help us learn more about the real world through investigating how things would be different if physics (as we know it) were different.  But recently I ran into a fascinating exception in A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge.  He plays with the rules in a way that is going to have me re-reading that one more than once I suspect.

If anyone wants to, you can check out what he came up with w/o any real (IMO) spoilers in the Summary section here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fire_Upon_the_Deep

Or just read it.  But do so when you are able to really pay attention.

[240B]

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

Looks like Syfy is starting reruns of The Expanse starting early am tomorrow.

I didn't care much for the show, but many here seemed to like it, so if you missed it the first time you may want to set the Betamax.

[240B]

Looks like Syfy is starting reruns of The Expanse starting early am tomorrow.

I didn't care much for the show, but many here seemed to like it, so if you missed it the first time you may want to set the Betamax.

Season 1,2, are free on AP. I've already watched it two or three times. Season 3 kind of lost me. They went off on some kind of LSD trip. So 1,2, are all I want to watch anyway. Maybe when Amazon produces Season 4 they will get back to the original story.

[kevindavis007]

Season 1,2, are free on AP. I've already watched it two or three times. Season 3 kind of lost me. They went off on some kind of LSD trip. So 1,2, are all I want to watch anyway. Maybe when Amazon produces Season 4 they will get back to the original story.

I enjoyed Season 3, however, I think they had a feeling that Syfy was going cancel the show. Also, last season was like 2001.

[kevindavis007]

Well, I watched Nightflyers and I thought it was boring.  It reminded me of Event Horizon.

[240B]

I enjoyed Season 3, however, I think they had a feeling that Syfy was going cancel the show. Also, last season was like 2001.

@kevindavis
Funny. That's exactly what I posted at the time it was airing on SyFy. It was trying to imitate or to at least follow in the footsteps of Space Odyssey, in a way. I liked 2001. But like many people, I thought the ending sucked.

[kevindavis007]

@kevindavis
Funny. That's exactly what I posted at the time it was airing on SyFy. It was trying to imitate or to at least follow in the footsteps of Space Odyssey, in a way. I liked 2001. But like many people, I thought the ending sucked.

@240B


As for the ending, I think it had to do with the fact they thought the show was going to end. Not end up on Amazon Prime.

[Free Vulcan]

12 Monkeys on Hulu. Season 1 starts a little slow. By Season 3 it's a barn burner.

[kevindavis007]

Has anyone seen The 100??

[Sanguine]

Has anyone seen The 100??

No, what is that?

[kevindavis007]

No, what is that?

It is some show on the CW, I saw it on Twitter..

[Free Vulcan]

Has anyone seen The 100??

Yeah, watched all the seasons. Not bad, tho you might have to suspend disbelief sometimes.

https://www.netflix.com/search?q=the%20100&jbv=70283264&jbp=0&jbr=0

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

Has anyone seen The 100??

I watched it.

Pretty sure it was written for teenage girls, with a little queer stuff thrown in because, well.  Science is pretty weak.  Not as good as Falling Skies, not as bad as Lost.

[verga]

Has anyone seen The 100??

I watched the first season, and liked it. Lost track of it after that.

[Snarknado]

Has anyone seen The 100??

I have all of it recorded but haven't watched any of it yet. Same with Supernatural, though the early seasons are poor-quality analog recordings.

Last week I recorded Nightflyers but the discussions on AVS Forum are pretty negative...

[Machiavelli]

Gregory Benford Wins 2019 Robert A. Heinlein Award

Mike Glyer
File 770
January 8, 2019

Gregory Benford, science fiction author and astrophysicist, is the 2019 winner of the Robert A. Heinlein Award. The award is bestowed for outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings that inspire the human exploration of space. This award is in recognition of Benford’s body of work, including his 32 novels, over 218 short stories, and many non-fiction articles.

Benford will receive the award on Friday, May 24 at opening ceremonies during Balticon 53, the 53rd Maryland Regional Science Fiction Convention. Balticon and the Robert A. Heinlein Award are both managed and sponsored by The Baltimore Science Fiction Society.

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Gregory Benford

Robert A. Heinlein Award

Mike Glyer

[sneakypete]

Gregory Benford Wins 2019 Robert A. Heinlein Award

Benford will receive the award on Friday, May 24 at opening ceremonies during Balticon 53, the 53rd Maryland Regional Science Fiction Convention. Balticon and the Robert A. Heinlein Award are both managed and sponsored by The Baltimore Science Fiction Society.

@BALTIMORE SF Society?

Is this a trick to get middle to upper-class to come to Baltimore so they can be robbed?

[Free Vulcan]

https://www.hulu.com/series/deutschland-83-9a2bb1b7-d0d8-4d00-80a9-44a113d786db

German series on Hulu about the Pershing II/SS21 confrontation in the early 80's between us and the Soviets, and an E. German spy sent W. Germany to gain info on the West intentions during the hotest part of the conflict.

So far it's pretty good, did a nice job of getting the historical feel of the time period. Only downfall for some might be the subtitles.

The other thing about the show that comes to mind is -  damn I miss the 80's.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

https://www.hulu.com/series/deutschland-83-9a2bb1b7-d0d8-4d00-80a9-44a113d786db

German series on Hulu about the Pershing II/SS21 confrontation in the early 80's between us and the Soviets, and an E. German spy sent W. Germany to gain info on the West intentions during the hotest part of the conflict.

So far it's pretty good, did a nice job of getting the historical feel of the time period. Only downfall for some might be the subtitles.

The other thing about the show that comes to mind is -  damn I miss the 80's.

If you didn't watch The Americans, you should check it out.

[Formerly Once-Ler]

The Punisher on Netflix.  4 episodes in...so good.

[sneakypete]

If you didn't watch The Americans, you should check it out.

@InHeavenThereIsNoBeer

No kidding!

[Free Vulcan]

If you didn't watch The Americans, you should check it out.

Will do!

[verga]

If you didn't watch The Americans, you should check it out.

Loved "The Americans"