TiVo will be providing video on demand (original) soon. That’s cool; it’s another step in the process that leads to the question, “Why do we care about scheduled TV programs at all?” Doesn’t look like it’ll cost more than the usual subscription. That probably won’t last, though; the free stuff is from IFC, which needs to promote its programs. Someone like (say) HBO doesn’t need the same publicity — we already all know about The Sopranos. ...
And the Hugo envelope please… (original) Best Novel: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke Best Novella: “The Concrete Jungle” by Charles Stross Best Novelette: “The Faery Handbag” by Kelly Link Best Short Story: “Travels with My Cats” by Mike Resnick Best Related Book: The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: The Incredibles, written & directed by Brad Bird ...
If you happened to read Global Frequency this week, you might be interested to hear that Le Parkour is not something Warren Ellis made up — it’s a real little urban subculture, originating in France but spreading to England, Russia (original), and no doubt other places. If you didn’t read Global Frequency, Le Parkour is a sort of extreme athletic activity that involves doing incredibly foolhardy things on rooftops without a net. If you’ve seen those Nike commercials (original), that’s Le Parkour. And of course Luc Besson’s gotten his hands into it. Cool looking stuff.
Charlie Stross’ new novel slash collection of short stories is about to be out in stores in the US. It’s also available as a free download (original). Why wait? But do buy as well if you like it.
Mark Cuban isn’t the only guy experimenting with releasing DVDs on the day the movie hits theaters (original). I betcha none of the exhibitors are going to threaten not to show this movie, though.
Hey, look, A Feast for Crows is done (original). By which we mean that the massively huge tome Martin was writing has been split into two parts, geographically, due to the physical limits of book side. The first part is complete and going into production. Well, hey, I’ll take that.
Announcement: C. E. Murphy Fans (original) is now open for business. C. E. Murphy is a dear, dear friend of mine who has just broken into publishing in a fairly big way, with six books sold over the course of the last year or so. Her first book, Urban Shaman, just hit the shelves. I’m running her unofficial forums.
Much of my Count Dooku opinion was shaped by Sean Stewart’s Yoda — Dark Rendevous. Sean Stewart is one of the best fantasists working today; his Star Wars novel rises way above the pack. It’s all about the relationship between Dooku and Yoda and Stewart knows how to write about mentor/student relationships. He’s also got a surprisingly good knack for writing lightsaber battles; or maybe not so surprising when you consider the swordplay in Night Watch. The… second to last? I think so. The second to last time I saw Stewart read, he read that portion of Night Watch and it was clear he loved writing it, but he hasn’t returned to any action to speak of since.
This one’s for Jeff. By last count, I had 528 DVDs — this includes TV shows and some wrestling, though. So maybe around 475 if you only count movies. A relatively small number of those are in a sell stack. The last film I bought was The Life Aquatic, in the Criterion 2 disc edition. It looks like another great Criterion production. The last film I watched was Serenity; it’s been an off-month for me. ...
George Axelrod passed away Saturday. As big Hollywood names go, his wasn’t that big. Still, he wrote Breakfast at Tiffany’s and The Manchurian Candidate and the original play Seven Year Itch. So, yeah, let’s recognize.