Sunday SciFi: Ringoverse/Warehouse 13 crossover
Filed under: Baen Books, Science Fiction, Sunday SciFi
John Ringo has slipped a non-subtle Warehouse 13 reference in his latest book, Queen of Wands.
OK, it’s more of a ‘guest appearance’ than a reference. Artie and Claudia show up to bag and tag an artifact after Barbara Everette, and an Opus Dei strike team, finish wiping out the nest of evil people who wanted to use it to raise a demon. If you have read the first Special Circumstances book, the only spoiler there concerned Artie and Claudia.
Apparently, John Ringo is a fan of the show.
Sunday SciFi: Buckaroo Banzai
I’ve been a Buckaroo Banzai fan since I saw it, twice, during the opening week back in 1984. Saw it at the old Juliet Theater in Poughkeepsie.
Got the paperback and the long sleeved Jet Car t-shirt.
Now there is a Buckaroo Banzai RPG.
This is not Doctor Banzai’s first appearance in an RPG. Team Banzai was an official part of the Battletech universe.
This is the first official RPG focused on the Banzai Institute though.
Bottom line, Buckaroo Banzai was a fun movie, a good read, and it’s a damn shame a sequel was never made.
Check it out.
Sunday SciFi: Top Ten Red Shirts who weren’t wearing Red Shirts
Tor publishing has created a list of The 10 Most Memorable Trek Redshirts Not Dressed in Red
10.) Crewman Green (Uniform Color: Gold), “The Man Trap”
9.) Joe (Uniform Color: Blue), “The Naked Time”
8.) Robert Tomlinson (Uniform Color: Gold), “Balance of Terror”
7.) Lee Kelso (Uniform Color: Beige?), “Where No Man Has Gone Before”
6.) Karen Tracy (Uniform Color: Blue), “Wolf in the Fold”
5.) Latimer (Uniform Color: Gold), “The Galileo Seven”
4.) Sam (Uniform Color: Pink Bathrobe), “Charlie X”
3.) D’Amato (Uniform Color: Blue), “That Which Survives”
2.) Arlene Galway (Uniform Color: Blue), “The Deadly Years”
1.) Sam Kirk (Uniform Color: Civilian Orange Colored thing), “Operation—Annihilate!”
Sunday SciFi: Traveller
The classic SciFi RPG is Traveller. Originally released in 1977 by GDW (Games Designer Workshop) and written by Marc Miller.
It consisted of three little black books:
1. Characters and Combat
2. Starships
3. Worlds and Adventures
That’s it and it was all you needed to get started. Define your character, how to get to other planets, and what you find once you get there.
Oh there was more, GDW published additional rule books, adventures, and other supplements, including two reworkings of the rule set. Those were MegaTraveller and Traveller: The New Era.
Steve Jackson Games put out a licensed version for their GURPS rules, and Mongoose Publishing is producing books with that LBB (Little Black Book) feel.
I’ve enjoyed Traveller for a lot of years, and it has a very rich and detailed game history that you can use or ignore as you desire.
Sunday SciFi: New Star Trek: Phase 2 trailer
If you haven’t seen Star Trek Phase 2 yet, check it out!
Sunday SciFi: John Carter
Saw John Carter last night, in 3D on an IMax screen.
Excellent adventure flick by one of the early masters of the genre, Edgar Rice Burroughs. It was based on the first of the John Carter of Mars books, A Princess of Mars. It was written 95 years ago (1917), so it’s in the public domain. You can download it from the Gutenberg site or get the Kindle version for free.
The show was completely sold out and the audience was a mix of young and old, including a lot of families. Glad I saw on the big screen.
Update: Ed Morrissey reviewed John Carter and gave it a thumbs up as well.
John Carter has plenty of surprises and edge-of-the-seat action all the way to the very end. It won’t win a nomination for Best Picture, but as a fun adventure and popcorn movie, it’s terrific and smarter than most, especially this time of year. Don’t be surprised at the end if you’d like another trip to Mars very soon.
John Carter is rated PG-13, with a lot of violence, some of it quite bloody (even if the blood might be another color at times) and very intense. It has no foul language or nudity — a few skimpy outfits for Collins, but nothing one wouldn’t have seen on a Xena: Warrior Princess episode.
Sunday SciFi: A Middleman/Doctor Who Crossover story
Written by Middleman creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach!
Sunday SciFi: UFO
UFO was live action SciFi show from the puppet master himself, Gerry Andersen, that ran for a single season of 23 episodes back in 1970.
Great actors, dark thoughtful scripts that always didn’t have a happy ending, sharp miniature work, and a late 60s sense of style and fashion made this show really stand out. Oh and the purple haired moon chicks in silver miniskirts. The cast included Michael Billington, who, according his wikipedia entry, was screen tested for the role of James Bond more than any other actor.
The show also other cool eye candy, including the gull wing door cars, nuclear submarines with a jet fighter mounted on their bow, space interceptors and S.I.D. (Space Intruder Detector). What really made the show was the dark, thought provoking scripts, complex characters and some fine acting by Billington, Ed Biship and Gabrielle Drake.
There is a UFO movie, based on the series in the works. Currently scheduled for a Summer 2013 release.
Sunday SciFi: Classic Star Wars Poster
Ah yes, the original 1977 Star Wars, not episode IV, not “A New Hope”, just a low budget SciFi film with a bunch of relatively unknown actors as stars and a director who’s last movie was about hot rods in the early sixties. The version where Han shot first because he was a rogue, a smuggler, one who operated outside the law.
Star Wars was a B movie, complete with the Wilhelm scream, and we loved it.
Sunday SciFi: Castle/Firefly Crossover
Yup, that is Molly Quinn, who plays Alexis Castle, dressed up as Mal Reynolds, Nathan Fillion’s character on Firefly.