Category: Entertainment

Ethan Hawke on Good Sci-Fi

And for that matter, look at the moral conundrums that GATTACA asked – which are right here. To what extent do we really want to homogenize ourselves, when it’s our uniqueness that makes us special – when so many of us, when given the option, would eliminate that? For example – if they can discover dyslexia in the embryo, and get rid of it, many people would choose to do that. And we’d lose Albert Einstein, John Lennon, and my daughter.

Actor Ethan Hawke always puts on a good AMA.

O Human Star

After Nimona ended I’ve been looking for another interesting web comics series. I’m rather picky. The art has to be solid and consistent and the writing the same. I love sci-fi elements and anything that approaches the genre with a fresh voice. I think I’ve found my next obsession – O Human Star by Blue Delliquanti.

From the description on the recently successful Kickstarter,

Alastair Sterling was the inventor who sparked the robot revolution, and because of his sudden death he didn’t see any of it. That is, until he unexpectedly wakes up in a robot body that matches his old one exactly and finds out that 16 years have passed. Brendan Pinsky, Al’s former research partner and secret lover, now runs one of the largest robot manufacturers in the country. And Brendan’s dearest project, Sulla – a highly advanced robot with a mind copied from Al’s – is now living as a teenage girl.

Whaaaat? It’s as amazing as it sounds. Questions about gender, identity, mystery, what it means to be human – all great hooks for a story on their own – wrapped up into one beautifully written and illustrated story.

My only gripe is that I binged on every page and am now caught up. I have to wait to read the rest! Join me and be sure to start at the beginning!1

Tom Hanks’ Short Story – “Alan Bean Plus Four”

Our brains could take in only so much, so our iPhones did the recording, and I stopped calling out the sights, though I did recognize Campbell and D’Alembert, large craters linked by the smaller Slipher, just as we were about to head home over the moon’s north pole. Steve Wong had cued up a certain musical track for what would be Earthrise but had to reboot the Bluetooth on Anna’s Jambox and was nearly late for his cue. MDash yelled, “Hit Play, hit Play!” just as a blue-and-white patch of life—a slice of all that we have made of ourselves, all that we have ever been—pierced the black cosmos above the sawtooth horizon.

A great short story by entertainer Tom Hanks.

Viva la Indie Revolution

“I don’t pass on five million, and it’s inconceivable that someone would, but that’s not what a large company is designed to do. They are not oriented around snacking. They want to fill their baleen with seawater and strain out four and a half tons of krill per day. “

Tycho (aka Jerry) from Penny Arcade pens exactly what’s happening with the recent renaissance of gaming that’s taking place. Big companies can’t sustain themselves with smaller titles, yet a large number of the best games to come out in recent years are just that – small indie titles. He thinks the tides are turning and don’t look good for big publishers, but I think that there’s plenty of room at the table. Regardless, it’s a great time to be a video game fan.

P.S. You’re playing Shovel Knight, right?