This is a new post, despite it having a similar Blue Poppet picture! 😉
No, the above picture doesn’t represent my feelings on not being as built as the guy in the picture! It represents my profound sadness of news that affects an author that we are all fond of, Colleen Gleason.
Yes, dear friends, Madame Gleason committed a grievous error…she signed a book “”Meghan–Happy Birthday!” The faux pas was that she signed the wrong book! And so, if you know anyone name Meghan with an upcoming birthday, you can get your name in the running for getting a free signed birthday gift! There is already one name in the pot over there, so act now!
And now for something completely different.
It has been awhile since I’ve featured any websites here, so I thought I’d point you to a couple of recent additions to the blog links list and then to some must-read posts:
Bombastic Bagman Jean Pierre has finally gone and gotten himself a blog. If you don’t recognize the name, Jean Pierre has been posting for a little while now and is one part of the triumvirate that is having a whale of a good Tolkien conversation here. Join us! In addition to his book reviews for the One Upon a Time Challenge, JP has recently become a proud Poppet parent and has a post about revenge films that is generating some talk about foreign films and filmmakers. Hope to see you there.
That Black Bastard Fear not, there is some irony in the name. This is my good friend Cameron’s blog. He hasn’t posted much, but what he has posted is good. A great review of Ocean’s Thirteen, a pretty powerful introductory tale of his young life (not for the faint of heart), and a post about critics and films that not only caused him to have to slightly eat his words (he enjoyed Pirates 3), but caused my infamous ‘f-you’ tirade awhile back.
You may or may not be a frequenter of Neil Gaiman’s journal, but if you don’t visit or haven’t in awhile, you simply must go visit now. His daughter Maddy is guest blogging their current trip to hang out on the set of Hellboy 2. And the posts are hilarious. She’s an entertaining writer and I guarantee you’ll smile. Plus it is Hellboy news…that’s a two for one. The first post is here, followed by day two and day three.
(image courtesy of Charles Vess’ blog)
I fully intended to be bragging here today that I was one of the first to get my hot little hands on the re-tooled Stardust Illustrated Hardcover. It was scheduled to arrive at the comic shop yesterday. As fate would have it the box with that in it, as well as several other items, was diverted to Illinois and will not be in until later today or tomorrow. Just goes to show you that you shouldn’t get the big head!
Irene Gallo over at The Art Department has posted about the Richard Serra exhibition going on over at the Museum of Modern Art. Check out the pics on her site and then travel over here to see pictures and video from the exhibit. I would have to agree with Irene’s assessment…it looks very fun. I am jealous of anyone who has the opportunity to check it out in person.
To close, a reminder that there are still a couple of day’s left for Lisa Snellings-Clark’s Midsummer Sale. Get those poppets while they’re hot!
Okay, ONE MORE THING! SF Signal posted a link to this post entitled Why Firefly is not Good Science Fiction. While the person’s arguments don’t really support their premise, I respect his right to feel the way he felt. I suggest you go over there and read it. Unlike yesterdays’ ignorance (most of you should know of what I speak) this person at least carries himself with some dignity despite me not agreeing at all with his assessment of the show. Go over there and weigh in. If you need the opposite perspective, go read my gushing praise of Firefly post.
Yeah, I saw that post about Firefly earlier this morning. I didn’t think it was worth responding to.
He’s saying the amount of sex in the show has weight in being a good scifi show. I don’t see how one has to do with the other. No, I don’t care for the morality of the show. But it has no affect on it’s quality of science fiction.
maddy is delightful!! thanks for directing my fish to that, it has been a while since i swam my way to the dark one’s shores.
I’m also really enjoying Maddy Gaiman’s posts. She is so cute 🙂
I read that article on Firefly and disagreed with a lot of it. But notice how, unlike a certain other post, didn’t attempt to insult anyone who did 🙂 Plus, they liked Serenity, so they get kudos for that lol.
I loved the very stark difference in that post vs. the fantasy bashing post, Fence. It shows how you can intelligently voice your opinions, even if they are different from the masses.
I really like Jean Pierre’s blog! And I’ve been enjoying Maddy’s posts immensely. She has a great sense of humour.
The Tuffy thing… she actually posted “I’ll have you know, Sirs and Madams, that it is not I who suck, but you. Stop bragging about how much fantasy you read. P.S., you suck.” And this after admitting she hadn’t even read our comments. That in itself says everything there is to say about her. I’m not going to bother with that person anymore.
Hey Carl! I was impressed with your posts regarding the fantasy readers. Too bad for such close-minded people, I say. I do like Maddy’s posts! As I recent Gaiman convert, I’ve been reading his blog as much as I can!
And yes….I have my review up. Better late than never! But I had a good excuse. Live Free or Die Hard! That’s a great motto as well as a movie!
If anyone is interested in the ARC of Warren Ellis’, I’m giving it away!
*sniff* Thank you Carl. I feel much better now!
(What a great picture! You do such a great job with photos.)
Maddy’s posts are great! I’ve been enjoying them. The new blogs are great! Always enjoy some new reading.
I must admit that I have not read the Firefly post yet…I just don’t have the energy to disagree anymore right now….I’m argued out! I can’t tell you how bad I just want to go off on someone right now Carl! Lol…But I’m being good 🙂
The Firefly post is actually great. Everyone is being adult and intelligent and, although the initial post is way off base with the way I feel about Firefly, it has been really fun to go talk about the show some more!
just checked out that black bastard. looks quite cool! i’ll have to have a proper look tomorrow as its bedtime now…
thanks for visiting my blog nymeth – you know, you were the first person who started to leave comments! i also agree with you about that anti-fantasy person. they hadn’t even read our comments. i think the best way to make a statement regarding her is to just ignore her blog completely and when the hits drop down to one again she’ll know just how important her blog is.
I’m looking forward to Stardust with much trepidation! I actually cannot wait for it to be over so that the ‘will it be good’, ‘won’t it be good’ thoughts will be behind me! 🙂 I’m glad it is getting mostly positive buzz, but that doesn’t alleviate any of my anxiety. Thanks to Stardust I can now relate to the feelings that all of the hardcore Lord of the Rings fans were feeling as the release date for Fellowship of the Ring came up. I can truly empathize!
I don’t know…I don’t think I agree with the Firefly critic. In my mind, Firefly is actually intended to be a fusion of Western and space opera…not “hard” SF. Which means that it’s perfectly all right if Firefly wants to gloss over the technology a bit. I don’t know how lightsabers work either, but I don’t particularly care. 😉
Also, I disagree that there’s “too much sex” in Firefly, or that the relationships in it are all based entirely on sex. Wash and Zoe have a deep, loving relationship that – yes – happens to include a lot of sex, but this is mainly because the times when they are sharing an intimate moment are the times when they are able to express the more vulnerable sides of their natures that we can’t see when they’re “at work”, so much.
As for Inara…It’s a WESTERN. What do girls do in Westerns? They are wives, or they are…erm…”saloon girls.” “Soiled doves.” “Ladies of the evening.” Inara’s career path is something more akin to the courtesan and the sacred temple prostitute than to a bar-room floozy of some sort. Being a Companion takes rigorous training, years of study. It’s an art that happens to involve sex, that’s all.
And let’s not forget that Firefly also gave us Kaylee, who is not only adorable but also a genius with machines. That’s gotta count for something!
Do I think Firefly is the best thing ever? No…but I think it deserves some affection, even if only for what it might have been.
You don’t know how lightsabers work, RB? Well, its so simple, here, let me ‘splain it to you…. 😉
Good points, RB.
To me Firefly was one of the best television series ever made, definitely in my top 10…waaay towards the top, so I cannot be objective about it anymore. I’m glad they didn’t spend alot of time explaining how things worked, as the show was about the characters, not about science ‘fact’.
Rampant Bicycle I agree with you. I always felt Firefly was more of a western that happened to take place in space than scifi. Farscape was a show I felt was really Scifi.
Chris – I’m with you. I’m done with the negative blog.
Jean Pierre – I also visited your blog today and promise to return. Cool reviews and I loved your poppet picture.
I also recommend the Maddy posts. I have no doubt she will be following in her dad’s footsteps.
I’m really missing Firefly now 🙁 In my current state of insomnia, I think I may pull out the box set and watch a few episodes. What a wonderful show!
I never saw an episode when it was originally aired on TV. I bought it when it came out on DVD and thought it was silly at first, but by the time I finished it I found that I was never more attached to a show. Not only do I think that it was wonderful sci-fi, but it was wonderful human drama. Just a perfect little show. River and Kaylee will always be two of my favorite characters from a TV show.
I never saw it on television either, Chris. I heard so many people talk about it, including Jeff, that I decided to Netflix it and I fell in love with it. I immediately had to go out and buy a copy. I have since did my utmost to evangelize others to the goodness of Firefly. Believe it or not there was a time when I was preaching Firefly as much as I normally preach Neil Gaiman! Shocker! 😉
You know I’ve been rethinking that review of Firefly, and it may be true, in that the show wasn’t good scifi. Not that it wasn’t a good show, or a great programme, cause I totally disagree with that. But the scifi elements were very much used to serve the story and characters rather than the other way around. Personally I’m not sure where the sex issue comes in, but whatever. Firefly did gloss over some of the scifi aspects. But that is simply because it wasn’t a hard scifi show. I don’t think anyone could make a good hard scifi show that was also good telly.
But was it a great soft scifi show? Absolutely 🙂
“I don’t think anyone could make a good hard scifi show that was also good telly”
That is probably very true, although I wouldn’t mind seeing someone try.
I think that when I fall in love with something as unique as Firefly I want everyone to like it as much as I do. Probably a trifle naive! So, I’d like to say that I admire the passion in your comments to CC. Agreed, enought said. Now I think I’ll go watch some Firefly.
Now I haven’t (yet) seen Firefly, but I saw Serenity and loved it. But I had it filed in my head (roughly) under “space opera” rather than hard sf. That doesn’t make any difference to my liking for it.
One thing I have noticed: Serenity-like bits cropping up in other shows, notably Doctor Who…
I took down the link to Tuffy’s post on my blog. It was just giving her what she wanted– attention.
And she used my name and my blog too, so I felt completely justified in saying what I wanted on my blog as well.
I can’t figure out why we’re all accused of “circling the wagons” when we’re simply defending a position we’ve already taken. I’m not automatically disagreeing with Tuffy, I’m replying to attacks being made against me personally. Why exactly should I not be allowed to do that?