Culture

Hal Clement has passed away. Another of the greats… may he rest in peace. Tributes here (original).

While Sean Stewart’s web site has been redesigned, there’s not really much new information. Still just the brief note about The Glass Coffin. Alas. He has added a section on “The Beast,” also known as “That big Web game designed to promote A.I.” There’s a very good introduction to the game (original). Reading it, I keep wondering what he’s been up to, and I wonder a little if he’ll ever write a novel again.

This post is pretty much for Patrick. Others may be amused as well. Chapter 11 of Dan Simmons’ new book, Hard Freeze, starts like this: “How’s the book?” asked Kurtz. He squinted at the title. “Isn’t that the same guy you were reading twelve years ago, before I got sent away?” “Yeah. His detective fought in the Korean War, which makes the old fart in his late sixties at least, but he still kicks ass. A new book comes out every year, if not sooner.” ...

Remember that huge Straight Dope thread a year or so ago in which countless people rewrote Lord of the Rings in another author’s voice? Now it’s been collated (original). Imperfect but amusing.

Worthy of note: Kip Manley’s City of Roses kicked off today. If you don’t recall, it’s a piece of “urbane fantasy” (his coinage as far as I know, and a lovely one) provided to us with webcomic pacing but not in webcomic form. I.e., we’ll get a piece of it on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; and it’s text, not pictures. Eloquent text. The setting is Portland. The magic is indeterminate. I expect it to be very good, because Kip can write.

According to DVDfile.com, Sapphire and Steel is about to see a DVD release. Sadly, I can’t find a press release on the topic, just the one mention. Still excellent news; this is some of the best of freaky BBC ATV science fiction. (Thanks to Adam Tinworth for correcting my lame knowledge of British TV.) (TINWORTH. No excuse except being up till 2 AM last night watching the baseball playoffs.)

Despite it being an LiveJournal thing, I find myself saying why not? Thusly: Your meme, should you choose to accept it, is to rank the following bands in order, from COULDN’T LIVE WITHOUT to COULDN’T CARE LESS. To add value to this process, you must also add one band to the list, and remove one band from the list, before passing the meme on (including these instructions). David Bowie Bob Mould REM ...

Underworld did very impressive numbers at the box office this weekend, bringing in $22 million. That’s about a million bucks under what it cost to make it, which means it’s going to be a solid moneymaker. Expect Underworld 2 sometime in the next couple of years.

Half of me wonders if Mark Millar’s latest column isn’t a prank. But — Orson Wells as Batman (original)? In 1946? Millar mentions a Lionel Hutton as the source of the news, and there’s no trace of any Lionel Hutton on the Web. I’m thinking the column is a prank. But, hey; it’s a glorious concept, and I’ll dream of Dietrich as Catwoman tonight. (And Cagney as the Riddler. Yum.)

The Kill Bill watch continues with this review from John Tynes. He says it rocks, with incredible fight scenes, but it’s crippled by the decision to split it into two parts. He also says, quote: Speaking of executed, the film features more severings of hands, feet, arms, legs, and heads than I have perhaps ever seen in a film before. Kill Bill is all about the delirious geysers of blood. Bold statement from a man who, I believe, has seen Takeshi Miike movies.