tagged w/ Speculative Fiction
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In the last moments of World War II, a secret Nazi space program evaded destruction by fleeing to the Dark Side of the Moon. During 70 years of utter secrecy, the Nazis construct a gigantic space fortress with a massive armada of flying saucers.
When American astronaut James Washington puts down his lunar lander a bit too close to the secret Nazi base, the Moon Führer decides the glorious moment of retaking the Earth has arrived sooner than expected.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py_IndUbcxc&feature=player_embeddedIn the last moments of World War II, a secret Nazi space program evaded destruction by... more
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A Meditative Voyage Through Five Lands Of Fantasy.
Burdened this evening with weight upon my mind I set foot upon a fantastical voyage into the forbidden realms of celluloid eternity. Come, my guest, let us journey for a while through lands that, as you shall surely see, ease the night’s mind of the day’s worries.
And so we shall begin with a land you know well.A Meditative Voyage Through Five Lands Of Fantasy.
Burdened this evening with... more
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It's a completely different Continental landscape than you can believe. Here on the Continental Divide I am happy to be alive. From our Mountain perch we can now see the Pacific Ocean. The largest known earthquake in recorded history a month ago led to a unmanageable series of earth moving smaller quakes that dropped massive amounts of land into the sea. Throw out your maps of the World, they don't work anymore. What the hell is next for humanity? I haven't a clue, but I am extremely glad and fortunate to be alive and to have seen this all happen in my time. I can't imagine how many poor souls lost their lives in this Geological upheaval. For now our small Army has become a small community of humans banning together and building shelters for all. It kind of reminds me of
the town in the TV series "Little House on the Prairie" everyone willing to help one another. Sorry it has taken so long to get back to you all, but I've been a bit busy and on the move despite a sprained left knee. Even though we pretty much stayed off the main road accidents do happen and I'm recovering quite quickly, no time to stop and heal up till we reached this spot. Stoney's here as well as his family and Louie C and Ziggy with their family's too. Our radio station KB723 hasn't brought us to much information as you can understand with things in such Chaos. Most hostility's go unreported for those who are still keeping track of human history, and the struggles that have gone on we will probably never know. For now we are hoping that the Earth is done smashing what is left of humanity so we can get along with our lives. The weather is still highly unpredictable as it has been for years, so we have built our shelters into the side of this mountain facing the sun for as much passive solar energy we can collect throughout the day. The dwellings are really quite comfortable and are starting to resemble Hobbit houses. We are strewn out among the tree line or as some call the Timberline. Years ago I remember thinking about moving up here to the Rockies because of a premonition I had have about this day. It sure would have been easier back then, but again as they say hindsight is 20/20. Things are tough but getting more organized with every new day. A few people arrive everyday (By boat) it seems as we can see down into the valley and the new ocean front property line. I catch myself singing that old George Straight song "Ocean Front Property" in my mind several times a day. Thats about it for today, I'll get back to you folks as soon as I can!
Stay tuned for more "Letters From The Near Future"It's a completely different Continental landscape than you can believe. Here on... more
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Steampunk movie peek , with a delightful song
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It's only been a couple of days since my last letter, things are still pretty much in flux around the country. Back East it sounds as if all hell has broken out, even though the Federal Government has officially apologized for their actions and will make amends as long as the citizens give up and lay their weapons down. Word quickly came out about some of the lame changes they made were quite evident the same puppet masters were running the show. Now that we have our Gorilla network boys re-establishing communications the story's are incredible of our perseverance and courage of our citizens. One story made us all chuckle a bit, seems as if some Fortune 500 Execs thought they would get out of dodge, when their private jet was shot down over New York's Hudson river. Rumor has it, it was a group of defectors who had gathered intelligence of what they had planned, and since they were running a defense battery of missiles, well you get the idea. Bottom line, nobody is flying unless your Military and you better be on our side. I have some great news that my wife and I have found each other and let me tell you, I had my doubts we would ever see each other again. It's great to have my best friend back (My wife). And yesterday I heard from a friend back East, I'll let you read what he had to say;
Stoneyroad: Me and my family have packed up and are headed West along with some neighbors, word is spreading that Government forces are no longer in control of the Northwest. On day one of our journey we foolishly drove into a check point at the Delaware Water Gap and had all our electronics, most of our supply's, and our only gun confiscated. Luckily the soldiers could not get a transport to take us to the FEMA Camps. As we laid face down in the slow lane they argued amongst themselves about wether or not they should just execute us for crossing State lines with "contraband". Finally a soldier approached us (The only one older than 30) and told us we were free to go. He apologized for scaring us and slipped me a GPS as he whispered "Not long until all satellites are encrypted" It seems as if some of the "Good CompanyMen" are starting to feel like "Good Germans". So from now on out we are sticking to the back roads, siphoning gas from abandoned cars and relying on the kindness of strangers. Who knows, if our luck holds up we may stumble across some crops that haven't been "Secured" by private contractors.
As you can tell everyone has a story to tell on what's been happening to them on this current upheaval. I'm hoping for Stoney's safety and his family and friends on their journey West. We are going to try and stay in touch and bring you news of his trials and tribulations for as long as I can reach you!
Stay tuned for more Letters from the near future.
Although the story is fictional, it's continuing a life of it's own over at;
http://lettersfromthenearfuture.wordpress.com/It's only been a couple of days since my last letter, things are still pretty... more
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a new movie from the director of "300" and Watchmen... this flick looks wildly original and imaginative. what do you guys think?a new movie from the director of "300" and Watchmen... this flick looks... more
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COMIC -
Welcome to the Cowboys & Aliens webcomic home page.
Cowboys & Aliens is a 112 page graphic novel that Platinum Studios Comics released in 2006 and published online right here at DrunkDuck. The book is currently being made into a film directed by Jon Favreau and starring Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, and Olivia Wilde. Produced by Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Brian Glazer, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof, Roberto Orci, Denis L. Stewart, Dan Forcey and comic creator, Scott Mitchell Rosenberg .
Cowboys & Aliens was created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg and written by Fred Van Lente and Andrew Foley. Luciano Lima did pencils. Inks were done by the team from Magic Eye Studios. The color was done by Andy Elder. The art for the prologue you see here was created by Denis Calero.
Cowboys & Aliens is an alternate history concept. A "what if" story that moves the battle of the Old West from between the Cowboys and Indians to a new invader, one requiring the once battling Cowboys and Indians to team up if they are to have even a hope of surviving.
LINK - - -( see webcomic intro )
http://www.drunkduck.com/CowboysAndAliens/index.php?p=93694
MOVIE PLOT -
Blockbuster filmmaker Jon Favreau directs Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford in an event film for summer 2011 that crosses the classic Western with the alien-invasion movie in a blazingly original way: Cowboys & Aliens. Joined by an arsenal of top moviemakers-Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci-he brings an all-new action thriller that will take audiences into the Old West, where a lone cowboy leads an uprising against a terror from beyond our world.
1875. New Mexico Territory. A stranger (Craig) with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don't welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). It's a town that lives in fear.
But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known.
Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he's been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents-townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors-all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.
The screenplay for Cowboys & Aliens is by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman & Damon Lindelof and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby, from a screen story by Fergus & Ostby and Steve Oedekerk. It is based on Platinum Studios' "Cowboys & Aliens" by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg. Grazer, Howard, Kurtzman, Orci and Rosenberg produce. Spielberg, Favreau, Denis L. Stewart, Bobby Cohen and Ryan Kavanaugh executive produce.
movie ( trailer and MORE )
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Cowboys & Aliens Movie Directed by Jon Favreau - In Theaters July 29, 2011 - Official Movie Site - Trailers, Pictures, Games & More
http://www.cowboysandaliensmovie.com/COMIC -
Welcome to the Cowboys & Aliens webcomic home page.
Cowboys &... more
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Disappointed by Skyline? Tantalized by Castle’s X-Files-y episode this week? Want an alien conspiracy with some meat on its bones (or exoskeleton, as the case may be)? Here are six of the greatest real-life alien conspiracy theories.Disappointed by Skyline? Tantalized by Castle’s X-Files-y episode this week?... more
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Mowrer Art Steampunk Frankenstein and more
Steampunk Dragon Ship
Here is one of the action moments in the Story. Frankenstein is now in the body of the clockwork man he has created and full of deep despair, he is secretly watching over the woman he loves without her knowing during an airship ride. They come under attack by a pirate dragon craft and, for the first time, he uses the power of the mechanical being he has become to leap from the airship to attack the craft and destroy it. The man who believed he had become a monster discovers he has power. I've just finished it and taken down the previous image to replace it with this one with the addition of the burning iron boarding lance about to be shot from the mouth of the dragon.
( more,....this is a Steampunk "MECHA",..........heh )
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http://mowrerart.blogspot.com/Mowrer Art Steampunk Frankenstein and more
Steampunk Dragon Ship
Here is one of... more
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-Often dismissed as low-brow, science fiction and fantasy deserve a far better rap, argues Louise Schwartzkoff.
Barely five minutes into the first class on my first day at university and already I have blown it. As part of the preliminary chit-chat, the tutor asks about our favourite books. Others list serious tomes by serious authors: Michael Ondaatje, Umberto Eco, James Joyce.
I pluck one at random from a long list and name a book with a spaceship on its cover. It is as though I have confessed to eating my own earwax. I can see them wondering where I stash my Star Trek memorabilia.
Another year, another English class and the book, Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed, appears on the set reading list. To my delight (OK, smug self-satisfaction), the doubters zip through the story of Shevek, a brilliant physicist from the planet Anarres, a place where organised anarchy is the only system of government. In lectures and tutorials, we babble about dystopias and science fiction's potential for social commentary.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Graduation and employment do nothing to quash my hunger for imaginary universes but the real world is full of sceptics. When asked, I talk about the other books on my shelves. Not the ones with spaceships. Or dragons or telepaths or wizards. Nevertheless, these are the books that keep me up at night. The ones I read in the bath. The ones I hold in front of my nose as I walk home from the station because I can't bear to put them down.
But in literary circles, science fiction and fantasy novels have all the credibility of Spot's First Walk. It is easy to see why. Walk into Galaxy Books on York Street and you will see cabinets full of plastic Star Wars figurines. A cardboard Gandalf stands near the stairs. It does not look like a place for grown-ups.
On one occasion, a woman came in with her grandchild, ran an incredulous eye over the shelves and said aloud: ''You'd have to be kind of strange to like this stuff.''
''Those were her words,'' says store manager Mark Timmony, an affable tattooed bloke with chunky silver rings on his fingers. ''I made a joke out of it. I said, 'Yeah, one of my colleagues is pretty strange but he was strange before he got here'. Some people are always going to assume you're a nerd with no friends if you read this stuff. It's a cross we have to bear.''
The thing is, there aren't enough lonely geeks to account for the sales. At HarperCollins Publishers, science fiction and fantasy novels make up 20 per cent of all fiction sales. Last month, fantasies by John Flanagan, Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson featured on the bestseller lists. Not that popularity is a reliable sign of quality - just look at the anaemic teenage vampires taking up shelf space in homes all over the world.
Those who say 90 per cent of the genre is crap are quite right. But so was the author Theodore Sturgeon when he famously retorted, ''90 per cent of everything is crap''.
More than any other genre, science fiction and fantasy are judged by their worst examples. Those who despise the stuff leap instantly to the three-breasted martians and chicks in chain mail of the 1950s.
..continued. . . .
LINK - - -
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/a-sucker-for-a-fantastic-story-20101226-197ts.html-Often dismissed as low-brow, science fiction and fantasy deserve a far better rap,... more
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- - -what do you get the man who has "EVERYTHING" for a stocking stuffer on CHRISTMAS !?! Thats RIGHT ! ( see above )
-Every so often you come across a piece of artwork that is both cool and disturbing at the same time, and this Steampunk skull definitely qualifies. The artist Lisa Black came up with this piece, which she titled ‘Departed.’ If you’re wondering, Yes! the skull is real. It’s a monkey skull combined with various components that came from watches and other clocks as well. If you’ve been a Walyou reader for awhile now, you’ve likely seen steampunk animals in the past like this steampunk cheetah. A similar concept, really, if a bit more realistic by using actual animal parts via taxidermy than just metal pieces.
LINK - - - ( not missing )
http://walyou.com/steampunk-monkey-skull- - -what do you get the man who has "EVERYTHING" for a stocking stuffer on... more
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If Dinosaurs Were Alive Today
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chandu
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added this
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1 year ago
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Wikipedia explaining steampunk culture, which reimagines a technological past that mixes past and present.Wikipedia explaining steampunk culture, which reimagines a technological past that... more
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khsing
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added this
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4 years ago
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from - EN World: D&D / RPG News & Reviews
by Mouseferatu 5th November 2010
-It'd be absolutely ludicrous for me--or anyone--to talk about "what people want" from RPGs as if there was any universal answer. Heck, click on any random thread in the forums, and you'll see pretty quick that the differences of opinion are legion.
What you can find, if you're engaged in the hobby, are certain patterns. Things that a lot of people would love to see in their own games. It may not even be a majority, but it's a sufficiently significant subset that the major games would do well to at least try to satisfy that particular desire.
The problem is that RPGs, by their very nature, often prove ill-suited to, or even completely incapable of, providing the desired experience.
(Most of what follows probably isn't news to many of you, but I'm hoping that by laying it out as a specific phenomenon, it might spur some discussion. Or at least provide an interesting read.)
What got me thinking of this recently is Rhukma, my character in the Savage Worlds of Solomon Kane campaign I'm currently involved in. He's one of two spellcasters in the group. He's also a foreign, exotic, mysterious type. (The campaign is set in Eastern Europe. Most of the PCs are European. Rhukma is Indian.)
In a fantasy novel, such as the Robert Howard pulps on which the whole game is based, Rhukma's magics would be creepy, enigmatic, and (above all) ill-defined. When he calls on the names of the various Hindu gods, raises his elephant-head talisman high, and commands the roots to lash out and grab his enemies or the beasts to obey his commands, it would be a bizarre, frightening thing.
And we do our best to play it that way, at least so far as it doesn't derail the game, or offer my character more than my share of the spotlight. But let's be honest. It doesn't actually feel that way. We all know that Rhukma has access to four specific spells from the book, and exactly how they work, and what their limits are.
In almost any ongoing discussion of magic in D&D, you'll eventually come across someone lamenting the fact that magic in the game feels so mundane, so commonplace. The spells have no mystery to them. They're so specifically defined that there's little creativity in their use. People being able to buy or create magic items takes the wonder out of them. The fact that a specific quantity of magic item bonuses is built into the system renders them nothing but modifiers. There's no magic in the magic.
I don't necessarily disagree. Obviously, not everyone shares that feeling, but for those that do, it can be a real downer when it comes to playing certain types of campaigns or characters.
It's also almost entire unavoidable, as the first of the RPG paradoxes. Boil it down to the core, and it's very basic: Something's only mysterious and exotic so long as it's unknown.
continued -
LINK - - -
http://www.enworld.org/forum/columns/296507-rpg-paradox.html
graphic-
http://xe0.xanga.com/6b4c04e747231171273561/w130004964.jpgfrom - EN World: D&D / RPG News & Reviews
by Mouseferatu 5th November 2010... more
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. . . .and I ,....well, . . I LIKE Lawrence Watt-Evans, . . . .
that makes his taste important.
( So have a taste ! )
LWE's Favorite Books "Some Old Favorites"
Herein, Gentle Reader, you will find a collection of short pieces about my favorite SF books. I wrote most of these as fillers for a fanzine long ago, but I'm periodically adding new ones. In all of them I recommend works by other authors that I don't feel have gotten the attention they deserve.
You won't find the obvious recommendations of Tolkien and Heinlein here; these are all items I feel have been unjustly neglected. I may add something about better-known favorites later, but for now what you have here are compilations of two series of very short articles on obscurities and lost treasures, plus whatever newer books I think have been unjustly neglected...
LINK on ! LINK on ! - - -
http://www.watt-evans.com/favoritebooks.html. . . .and I ,....well, . . I LIKE Lawrence Watt-Evans, . . . .
that makes his taste... more
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Update: Please submit your story ideas to the "Ripped from the Headlines" challenge.
Many of you have pitched ideas involving historical figures from the likes of Michael Jackson to Richard Feynman, while others have pitched plot lines surrounding historic events such as the JFK assassination or the dropping of the atomic bomb in World War 2. We like this direction and want to take it one step further by seeing if we can translate current events “ripped from the headlines” into fictional tales.
Update: Please submit your story ideas to the "Ripped from the Headlines"... more
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albieh
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added this
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1 year ago
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Well,....approximately a YEAR since I posted this-
LINK- - -
http://current.com/groups/art-and-style/91751177_riese.htm
A - NEW - incarnation has fallen into place,....on the WEB,.....near YOU !
( courtesy of Syfy )
LINK - - -
http://www.syfy.com/rewind/riese/1255985/
WIKIPEDIA -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riese_the_Series
Space Lard reviewed this show.
not bad, just misunderstood
It's not a perfect show, but it's not bad. Very high production, a lot of thought went into the costuming and sets, the acting is on par with a short format series. I feel it's worth watching for some great visuals and unusual genre twisting. It feels like the starting point of something bigger and better.
I think the problems many people have with the show stem from 2 things: the short format and the misuse of the term steampunk. If this had the funding to do a full length format I think more people would warm to the show.
The short format means that unfortunately you have to wait longer to see motivations play out, and also have to wait to have the "wtf, seriously?" issues answered. And that can be a bit awkward (viewing them all together on autoplay on Hulu helps a bit). I think the most complained about aspect is the voice over. I'm not a fan of it, I feel that in general voice over is unnecessary if the writing is strong. However here it seems simply a byproduct of the short format: the voice over is present as a tool to fit in so much backstory or layered mythology. A few episodes in and I really didn't mind it. It gave the episodes the feeling of someone reading a storybook.
This show has frequently been advertised or reported as being steampunk, when it's really not. As a result, people expecting standard steam fare are going to be both frustrated and disappointed. Calling the show steampunk is misleading and short sighted. It has steampunk elements, the purpose of which are creatively and adequately explained in the later episodes (don't want to post any spoilers). I personally think this is a nice turn on the standard genre and I like the fluid anachronism in the show. But because the steam elements aren't explained in the early episodes people who are fans of steam are like "wtf? they just slapped gears on people?!" If you hang in there, you'll find that's not the case.
IMO this show pulls from all sorts of reference, steam included, and mixes them together in a fun way. It's not a show for purists of a single genre.
LINK- - -http://www.hulu.com/riese-kingdom-falling
I DIG IT !Well,....approximately a YEAR since I posted this-
LINK- - -... more
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A Partial Map of Your TARDIS (Subject to Change)
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