The Discussion Group has a weblog on it's own now.

'This is fiction to stand alongside that of Calvino and Borges.' - The Guardian"

The new book by everyones favourite strange writer Jeff VanderMeer is out. Also visit Ambergris and the writers blog VanderWorld

"Dixon argues that when we consider cyborgs (human and machine), we shouldn't rely on the binary (male-female) system of gender to understand or describe them. Dixon says that people who think about gender should consider Artificial Intelligences (AI) in cyborg form as a new form of gender: Metal Gender." Heidi in "GENDER IN SCIENCE FICTION"!

"The Speculation Speakers and Media Resource program can help event planners to find entertaining experts who are qualified to cover topics ranging from science fiction, fantasy and horror all the way to cutting-edge science and other aspects of our rapidly-transforming future."

They should hire Alan for this!

Chewbacca says: "Huuuuuurrnnnnnnnnnnn!"

By Samuel R. Delany

Via Mr. Ellis

Something to do for these cold nights in Berlin.

Yesterday’s tomorrow, today. You will love it!

"This is the rare UK Channel 4 documentary about Blade Runner, giving insights into it's history with interviews of Ridley Scott, the writers and nearly all the cast. (...) There is also a tour of some locations, most notably the Bradbury Building and the Warner Brothers backlot that was the LA 2019 streets, which look very different from Ridley's dark version.

The documentary then details the test screenings postproduction editing/changes (voice over and happy ending, deleted Holden hospital scene), special effects, soundtrack by Vangelis, and the unhappy relationship between the filmmakers and the investors; which culminated in Deeley and Ridley being fired but still working on the film. The question of whether or not is a replicant surfaces. After being a "disaster" in the box office (a financial loss initially) Blade Runner was reborn in the video rental market, and a great reception of a chance screening of Ridley's workprint at the Fairfax Theater, Los Angeles, in May 1990 led to Warner Bros. having the 'Director's Cut' done by film archivist Michael Arick."

IMDB

Torrent: On the Edge of Blade Runner

written 1978, from "I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon"

Also check out the Philip K. Dick - Life & Work (Phildickian reference guide with information about Philip K. Dick (1928-1982))

Dragon Con! Some really funny pictures!

"Annalee Newitz and Charlie Anders are editing an anthology of essays titled She's Such a Geek, billed as 'An Anthology by and for Women Obsessed with Computers, Science, Comic Books, Gaming, Spaceships, and Revolution'" We want introspective essays that explain what being a geek has meant to you. Describe how you've fought stereotypes to be accepted among nerds. Explore why you are obsessed with topics and ideas that are supposed to be "for boys only." Tell us how you felt the day you realized that you would be devoting the rest of your life to discovering algorithms or collecting comic books. We want strong, personal writing that is also smart and critical. We don't mind if you use the word "fuck," and we don't mind if you use the word "telomerase." Be celebratory, polemical, wistful, angry, and just plain dorky."

...read on at boingboing.net

A Six-part Discussion Group at Another Country with Heidi Allene Henrickson, PhD Women’s Studies (and scifi addict)

What’s the point of the discussion group? To explore the concept of “gender” in science fiction in a discussion and reading group.

When are we gonna meet? Here are the proposed days to meet: SATURDAYS about 1-2 times per month at 4pm-sh.

Heidi requests that you come to as many meetings as possible, but feel free to “drop in” if you are only able to attend one or two meetings – any participation level is welcome.

Zombie Astronaut, a pretty cool site about old time horror, science fiction and radio suspense, is currently hosting the Caltex Theater -radio dramatization of the sci-fi classic, Forbidden Planet. And if you want pictures: here's the promotion material and stills.

"Read illustrated accounts of the world's first robot, the Steam Man, created in 1865! Subsequent automatons such as the Electric Man and the Automatic Man are also profiled. The most comprehensive section, with more than 20 pages, concerns the mechanical man known as Boilerplate.

Boilerplate was unveiled in 1893 by Professor Archibald Campion. Built as a prototype soldier for use in resolving the conflicts of nations, Boilerplate served with Roosevelt's Rough Riders and fought alongside Pancho Villa"

Don't miss this website

"The Strange Case of the Spoofer Captured by a Spoof" - Story in the New York Times

The meeting will come back soon in a new form. There will be a regular meeting plus a series of meetings with a more academic focus than usual. Potential days are sundays or wednesdays. The new program will be announced soon.

recordbrother found some rare audio-files by Arthur C. Clarke: -transit_of_earth.mp3
-the_star.mp3
-9_billion_names_of_god.mp3

Directories and analysis of Islam in sf literature, film, alternate history -- as well as sf by Muslims and original works of Islam-themed science fiction.

Spaceship Radio is a podcast featuring vintage science fiction radio plays written by such writers as Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein and Frederic Brown.

Kim Stanley Robinson has a brilliant interview with the Guardian today about his new eco-disaster novel, 50 Degrees Below, the sequel to his chilling, gripping 40 Signs of Rain. The interview focuses on the eco-disaster in the offing in the USA, and what Robinson's fictional debates about environmental management and re-shaping on Mars and Earth have taught him about disasters like Katrina.

"It seems so easy on Mars, and looks so hard on earth, which is kind of ironic," Robinson agrees. "It's infinitely more difficult when there's already an established ecology. There's no room for error. And also, alas, there are some mistakes that we simply don't have the power to correct."

Such as?

"Reducing the acidity of the ocean. That's a problem I've become more aware of since I finished book two - it will definitely feature in the third volume. Much of the carbon dioxide we're putting into the atmosphere actually ends up in the ocean, increasing its acidity and making it harder for the little creatures to live. They represent the bottom of the food chain and we're at the top of it. Scientists have looked at whether we could de-acidify the oceans after the fact, and the answer is flatly no ...

"But there are things we can do. The kind of terraforming projects we may well have to contemplate in the future are huge, but they're not outside civilisation's industrial ability."

Full story