Star Wars: 30th Anniversary Collection Volume 1–The Freedon Nadd Uprising from Dark Horse Begins March 28, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in comics, Dark Horse, jedi, midtown comics, scifi, sith, Star Wars, Star Wars Comic Books, Star Wars Expanded Universe Books, starwars.2 comments
Star Wars: 30th Anniversary Collection Volume 1–The Freedon Nadd Uprising Hard Cover is now out and I’ve got a copy.
Usually at ShowMeSciFi we don’t focus that much on the actual physical construction of a comic, this is an exception.
This is a GORGEOUS looking graphic novel.
Dark Horse has done an awesome job on printing this the cover is slick and elegant and the paper is just top notch. Even better is the price -they’re charging the same for this hardcover as I would have expected to pay for a regular soft-cover trade paperback.
The hardcover series is part of a 30th Anniversary thing from Dark Horse where they’re re-printed some popular stuff. Next up is Jedi vs. Sith which ShowMeSciFi has already reviewed (in the regular soft paperback edition).
Full review of the The Freedon Nadd Uprising will follow in the coming weeks.
Saturn’s Hexagon Captured by Cassini March 27, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in cassini, NASA, satrun, scifi.12 comments
Science fact is something far stranger than fiction. Case in point is a new picture released from NASA from their Cassini probe currently orbiting Saturn.
I don’t think any human has ever seen anything like it.(Though Voyager 1 and 2 did more than 25 years ago).
It’s a hexagon shaped cloud formation that now covers the entire North Pole of the ringed planet. The hexagon is nearly 25,000 kilometers (15,000 miles) across. Nearly four Earths could fit inside it. This image was acquired with the Cassini visual and infrared mapping spectrometer , from an average distance of 1.3 million kilometers (807,782 miles).
“This is a very strange feature, lying in a precise geometric fashion with six nearly equally straight sides,” said Kevin Baines, atmospheric expert and member of Cassini’s visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif in a statement. “We’ve never seen anything like this on any other planet. Indeed, Saturn’s thick atmosphere where circularly-shaped waves and convective cells dominate is
perhaps the last place you’d expect to see such a six-sided geometric figure, yet there it is.”
For more on this freak’ish feature of Saturn check out NASA.
Escape from New York set for remake – Kurt Russell isn’t happy March 26, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in escape from new york, john carpenter, kurt russell, scifi, snake plissken.6 comments
Another SciFi classic is set for a remake – though some might argue whether or not John Carpenter’s 1981 Escape from New York is classic.
One this is for sure – Kurt Russel’s performance as Snake Plissken makes the movie.
None other than 300’s lead Spartan Gerard Butler is set to take the role of Snake in the remake set for a 2009 release.
Apparently that hasn’t left poor Kurt Russell very happy. In fact multiple news outlets are reporting that he’s quite peeved.
Asked if he’d do a cameo in the new version, he said: “F–k that! I am Snake Plissken! It’s like Sean Connery always watching someone else do their version of Bond.”
Russell isn’t the only one that isn’t happy about the remake, there is already a petition online to Stop The Escape From New York remake.
Just in case you missed it 26 years ago…here’s the 1981 trailer…(trailers sure did suck back then).
How Much is the SciFi Apartment worth? $200,000 USD March 26, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in 24th century design, scifi.add a comment
Thanks to ShowMeSciFi reader iwanttofitin who pointed out that Reuters has a story up now about the SciFi Interior Design firm 24th Century Design.
Apparently the dude is now selling his original apartment.
The price?
$200,000 US – and it doesn’t even include a bedroom.
Check out the full vid on Reuters.
Battlestar Galactica Movie all about Pegasus March 26, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in Battlestar Galactica, Battlestar Pegasus, battlestargalactica, scifi.7 comments
So now that Season 3 is officially over for Battlestar Galactica – we’ve got 8 long months until we see Season 4. In the interim there will be a Battlestar Galactica direct to DVD movie – all about the Battlestar Pegasus. In an awesome interview, Ronald D. Moore explains what’s going to happen.
That story will not pick up our cliffhanger at the end of Season 3. That didn’t seem right. The story will be set on the Battleship Pegasus and will take place in the past, relative to where we are in Season 3. But the events set up in that story will then pay off in Season 4.
…. Since we won’t be back until January, which is a long time to be off the air, it gives the fans something to see and keeps the show alive. So it serves multiple masters. There was no way we could pick up the cliffhanger in that format, and then ask people to wait to really start the season later. One of the story lines everyone had really liked was the Pegasus story and the character of Admiral Cain, so we decided to go with that.
Moore also drops a real bomb- apparently he hasn’t yet determined whether or not Season 4 will be the last season for BSG either.
The way i see it Season 4 is all about the origins of the cylon race as well as the human race. When and if both of those plot lines are resolved the show really should end.
Read the full interview with Moore on Salon.com
Stargate Universe will be the third stargate series March 25, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in scifi, stargate, stargate atlantis, stargate sg1, stargate universe.4 comments
It’s official! Following in the footsteps of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis will be the new Stargate Universe Series.
Details on the new series so far are very sparse- we don’t know for example when the show will actually air. Though it is being targetted for sometime in 2008.
BUT we do know that it won’t be a prequel or something in the far future, though it’s not a spin off of either of the two existing franchises.
The new series has been conceived to be “a completely separate, third entity,” executive producer Robert C. Cooper said in an interview — “much more so than Atlantis was. Atlantis was much more of a spin-off series of SG-1 and was sort of born out of SG-1.”
Apparently the show will also deal with the 9th Chevron the stargate (most addresses requiring 7 chevron with the 8th being for distance).
More information (though few hard details) are available in the full length interview on Gateworld.
USPS March 28th Star Wars Event Details March 23, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in R2D2, Star Wars, starwars, USPS.add a comment
Thanks to ShowMeSciFi reader Pat who just sent this in about the March 28th event for USPSJediMaster.com
For 12 days, R2-D2 has been waiting patiently on street corners around the United States, eager to show how the U.S. Postal Service will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Star Wars Saga. On March 28, the U.S. Postal Service will preview the design of a commemorative stamp based on the most successful and popular epic adventure movies of all time and announce when the stamp will be available for purchase.
At 10 a.m. (PST) on Wednesday, March 28th, USPS Executive Director of Stamp Services David Failor will be joined by R2-D2, Darth Vader, and Imperial stormtroopers in front of Hollywood’s Grauman’s Chinese Theatre to reveal the design of a new stamp commemorating 30 years of the Star Wars saga.
The Grauman’s Chinese (actually Mann’s Chinese back in 1977), was one of 32 theaters to open Star Wars on May 25, 1977, and has since become a destination for fans who wish to explore some of the Star Wars hotspots scattered throughout the region. It is the perfect venue for revealing a stamp commemorating the cultural impact of the Star Wars saga.
Although the March 28 event is intended as an unveiling for the media, it will be held in the forecourt of the Chinese Theater, and there will no doubt be opportunities for fans to be the first to see the new stamp design. Of course, fans and collectors will soon get to send a little piece of Star Wars with every letter sent through the mail.
When: 10 a.m. (PT), Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Find USPSjedimaster.com Mailboxes Across the US March 23, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in R2D2, scifi, Star Wars, starwars, USPS, YouTube.6 comments
R2 D2 WHERE are you?
Looking to find where those R2D2 mail boxes are?
Now there is an easy way to find them.
There is a wickedly cool site up now that shows the location of all reported R2D2 boxes in the US – complete with pictures. There is also some great footage up on YouTube.
Check it out the interactive map at :
YouTube vid below:
Dr. Who Coming Back For Fourth Season – or is it the 30th season? March 22, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in bbc, Dr. Who, science fiction, sciencefiction, scifi.3 comments
BBC News is confirming that the NEW Dr. Who show will be returning for its fourth season in 2008.
It is unclear however whether or not David Tennant, would return in the lead role.
Personally i much preferred Christopher Eccleston who was the Dr in Season One of the new series.
Then again this really won’t be the fourth season will it?
Friends of the Dr know well that this is actually the 30th season of Dr. Who which ran from 1963 to 1989 making it the longest running SciFi show ever.
My favorite Dr of all time?
That’s easy.
Tom Baker.
Jelly belly anyone?
Battlestar Galactica Season 4 Extended to 22 Episodes – and a few ideas to keep the show fresh March 22, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in Battlestar Galactica, battlestargalactica, scifi.8 comments
Originally set for only 13 episodes, word has come down from SciFi that an additional 9 shows have now been ordered.
I guess that’s pretty good frakking news.
When BSG rocks it really rocks.
BUT the show needs to kick it up a notch or two if it’s going to pump through to season 5 (if that’s the plan). We know that season 4 is going to have alot to do with final 5 cylons and the search for earth.
There is only so long you can stretch things out before they get bad so i really hope that they line up some other interesting plot angles that will truly take BSG over the top.
Here are a few of my own suggestions…
1) Where is the illustrious leader of the Cylon race? Wouldn’t that make for some interesting plot?
2) Introduce a third ‘alien’ race – non humanoid that hates both Cylon and human
3) Mirror Universe baby!! It works for Trek why not BSG?
Katee Sackhoff to star in the Bionic Woman (kinda/sorta cylon’ish..) March 20, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in Battlestar Galactica, bionic woman, katee sackhoff, scifi.5 comments
Katee Sackhoff is set to guest star in a re-imagining of the 1970s show.
Sadly Lindsay Wagner who played the original bionic woman isn’t in the show and Lee Majors the bionic man isn’t likely to appear either.
This time around as in the 70’s the show centers on Jamie Sommers now played by Michelle Ryan, a woman who is turned into a walking technological miracle after a car crash. Sackhoff will play Sarah, an evil bionic woman and nemesis to Sommers.
Why doesn’t she does play an evil robot hell bent on the destruction of humanity? oh wait i forgot she already does that on Battlestar Galactica .
So i guess that makes Sackhoff a fembot??
Tvashtar’s Plume March 17, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in NASA, new horizons, pluto, scifi.add a comment
I had always thought that IO was the most exciting of all the Jovian moons.
I mean come on it’s so far away from the Sun and yet it has enough geological thermal activity to have the most active volcanoes in the entire solar system.
The Pluto-bound New Horizons space probe, which was launched a little over a year ago, recently passed Jupiter.
On its way through the Jovian system it snapped some amazing shots..this one of Tvashtar’s Plume on Io is one of the most spectacular.
More info on Tvashtar’s Plume can be found at NASA’s New Horizon site.
Next up: Saturn
New Horizons’ next checkpoint comes on June 8, 2008, when it passes the orbit of Saturn.
Projected Orbit Crossing Dates
Uranus: March 18, 2011
Neptune: August 24, 2014
Pluto: July 14, 2015
Star Wars Horoscope March 17, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in scifi, Star Wars, starwars, Yoda.1 comment so far
Just tried this out … apparently i’m most like Yoda (strange this is i always figured myself to be more like a Sith).
You are superbly wise and have been known to spread your wisdom widely.You are impatient and pushy when people take your teachings too lightly.
And your philosophical side always peeks through.
Star wars character you are most like: Yoda
Battlestar Galactica – Season 3 Finale – SPOILERS (don’t read this post if you want to be surprised – you have been warned) March 16, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in Battlestar Galactica, battlestargalactica, scifi.16 comments
Looks like SciFi sent out some screening copies of the season 3 finale of Battlestar Galactica – and the screeners are all over the frakking place.
So for those of you who like surprises – FRAK OFF AND GO AWAY.
** last chance….
TOO LATE.
Now for the rest of you – here’s just a bit of the spoilers you’re looking for.
1) Kara Thrace is back (as ShowMeSciFi predicted) though it’s not what you think (she comes back in the final episode in a viper saying that she’s been to Earth).
2) Baltar is found not guilty. Immediately after the verdict CYLONS ATTACK.
Frakking finally! Though didn’t the end of Season Two end with the cylons attacking too? I wonder if all seasons will end with a Cylon Attack.
3) Final five cylons? Saul Tigh, Galen Tyrol, Sam Anders and Tory Foster (Roslin’s aide) all hear the same music in their head and are all driven to the same launch tube.
USPSjedimaster.com is live (sort of) March 16, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in news, R2D2, scifi, showmescifi, Star Wars, starwars, USPS.12 comments
Finally! uspsjedimaster.com is live so now there is no doubt that jedi mail is coming...
The US Post Office just has a little teaser up now with a few clips from Star Wars..and a big hint –
MARCH 28TH is the day that US Postal Service will formally announce…
something…
I have no doubt whatsoever that it’s the R2D2 post boxes and likely some stamps and other 30th anniversary stuff.
Star Wars Legacy # 9 review March 16, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in comic books, comics, Dark Horse, scifi, Star Wars, star wars legacy, starwars.5 comments
This series does not disappoint.
In this issue – in which Cade Skywalker doesn’t have a line – the story is still awesome filling in the wider picture of what’s going on in the galaxy. With the Sith on Coruscant, the Galactic Alliance remnant floating about, and the true Emperor sitting at Bastion it’s alot going on.
Now the Galactic Alliance remnant may forge an alliance with the true emperor – than again they might not. Guess we’ll see what happens in issue #10.
Star Wars Legacy is Star Wars storytelling at its finest. The only small disappointment is the art in this one..but it’s another one (like issue #8) where Jan Duursema is absent and in comparison to her everyone else is second rate in my book.
Star Wars Legacy of the Force Exile – Review March 15, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in Books, exile, han solo, hansolo, jacen solo, jedi, legacy of the force, scifi, sith, skywalker, star war legacy of the force, Star Wars, star wars legacy of the force, starwars.6 comments
I had been waiting for this book for months and bought it the day it hit the shelves . It was worth the wait.
Another awesome chapter in the Star Wars saga but then again what else should any of us expect?
At this point these books are written to a formula:
• crisis,
• escape from crisis,
• move to next crisis from multiple points
• escape from final crisis while leaving breadcrumbs for the next crisis to open the next book.
The best part of this book for me was likely, Exile’s first escape from crisis which occurs as Han, Leia, Corrran , Wedge and family escape from Correlia as Wedge resigns from the Correlian military.
Overall this installment in the Star Wars Legacy of the Force moreso than any other yet is all about plot progression as opposed to any sort of deeper character development. Not that there is anything wrong with that. This book is all about action and plenty of it.
With Correlia and its allies in an all out war against the Alliance one could hardly expect the book to just be about a bunch of diplomats talking.
Only in the final pages of the final chapter do we see some deeper character development in Jacen as he continues his decent into the dark side. Lumiya tells him that he must choose his Sith name and his sacrifice. Not coincidentally Sacrifice is the name of the next installment in this series. The Darth Who contest should also be wrapped up then so we’ll definitely know Jacen’s Sith name too and I’d expect Lucas to go all out on promotions.
Star Wars Legacy of the Force Exile is a raucous page turning, swashbuckling adventure that I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend. If you haven’t yet indulged in the Legacy of the Force Series you should, the previous books (Betrayal 
Stephen Hawking : The Universe Started From Nothing. March 14, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in big bang, hawking, scifi.3 comments
Everyone has heard about the Big Bang when it comes to the scientific theory of the origin of the universe.
But what came before the Big Bang?
According to world renowned scientist Stephen Hawking the answer is:
NOTHING.
At the Berkeley Physics Oppenheimer Lecture, Hawking said yesterday that he now believes the universe spontaneously popped into existence from nothing.
You can listen to the Real Media stream of Hawking’s presentation here.
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic issue # 14 March 14, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in knights of the old republic, KOTOR, scifi, Star Wars, Star Wars Comic Books, starwars.2 comments
This series is really starting to suck quite badly.
While Knights of the Old Republic started out as an awesome new series it has steadily declined in quality over the past few months. This most recent issue was totally pointless, poorly written and has artwork that is totally mundane and lackluster.
This issue is the second issue an story arc that began in issue #13 . I had high hopes at the time that this might finally kick it up a notch. I am sorely disappointed.
Zayne should be hunted down by all sides, there should be sith, jedi and mandalorians at ever corner. Instead there is a boring, plodding and altogether predicable slow plot that just keeps meanering along.
I’m at the point where I can no longer recommend this series to the casual reader – I’ll keep buying it myself so i can review it on ShowMeSciFi – so if anything does happen and Dark Horse turns this around – this blog will be the first toast and cheer for its return to glory.
Teal’c (Christopher Judge) to Guest Star on Stargate Atlantis March 13, 2007
Posted by showmescifi in scifi, stargate, stargate atlantis.14 comments
We already know that Samantha Carter is moving over to Atlantis starting next year when SG-1 is off the air.
Now word has come that that Teal’c (brilliantly played by actor Christopher Judge) will be on Atlantis too.
Don’t get too excited it’s only a guest spot according to early reports but it does give hope. Hope that SG-1 characters can continue to co-exist even when their show is only available on DVD.
Long Live Atlantis!
(for more info on Atlantis Season 4 check out Atlantis screenwriter Joe Malllozi’s blog)
Show Me SciFi 