I got an email today from Borderlands Press - they are having a holiday sale: 50% (or more) or off ALL books!

That includes FPW's Virgin, Black Wind and the entire special edition Advesary Cycle! Plus free shipping in the continental U.S.!


I did not see this sale advertised on their web site, only in the email I received which says to call 410.877.1781 or email sales at borderlandspress.com to order.

If you were going to buy books this holiday season, check out Borderlands Press. They have some beautiful editions available and they're great folks to do business with.

Hey guys!

I just thought I have to open a thread about the series "How I Met Your Mother". Anyone knows this series? It is legend - wait for it - dary! (Series insider ^^)

It is so funny, you MUST see this.
At the moment the 4th Season is on television in the US.
I watch the series in english, because the german voices and translations are SO bad :-D
Btw: Does anyone know why there is no new episode this evening? You don't have any special day today, do you?

Greetings,
Jamo

ordered it off the Amazon link on the main page here. got it today, almost done already. Just like all the others I can't put it down until I'm finished. heh

So, reading the newsletter today, I noticed FPW mentioning that they were working on turning Masque, the second book he wrote with Matthew J. Costello, into a game. As I just finished reading Masque last night, this piqued my interest.

As much as I want to know about the game (is it a sequel? A direct continuation? A retelling? TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME!), I wanted to ask more generally about the Wilson-Costello books. There were only two, as far as I can tell - Mirage and Masque - my copy of Mirage mentions an upcoming book called DNA Wars, but I'm assuming that became Masque.

First off, why are these so neglected, even around here? Do they have a bad reputation or something? I read both recently and really enjoyed them both. Sure, they have a couple of flaws (more Mirage than Masque), but they're very minor, and few books don't have some flaw. Besides, we can just assume those are Costello's faults, since he's not here to defend himself .

Also, I was wondering how that partnership came about, and whether it will ever resume. Masque definitely feels like the two styles meshed a lot better, and the result is pretty satisfying - why no more? Does anyone know? Or is the game a return to that?

In FILMS IN REVIEW (where I review dvds from time to time), it is reported that FORREST J ACKERMAN, creator of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND Magazine, 91, is dying and has been brought home from the hospital at his request.
His death will be a passing for many of us who grew up reading his magazine that was 'a sense of wonder' to lovers of fantastic films and kept the memory of classic horror/scifi alive for future generations (FP Wilson dedicated "NIGHTWORLD" to him). He will be missed....

I am a fan of all things British. I love BBC America, some of my favorite shows being Little Britain, Catherine Tate, Doctor Who, Wire in the Blood and an assortment of other comedies. When it comes to humor the Brits trump anything on our good shores.

This weekend I watched the horror comedy "Severance" about a group of corporate types that go on a team building retreat in the woods where they are systematically slaughtered one by one.

It is over the top violent and laugh out loud funny. The comedy surrenders to the survival/horror themes midway through the film and it becomes a traditional horror yarn...similar to how Shaun of the Dead toned down the yuks in the final reel of the film.

What a fun ride though...it is available through Netflix and can be viewed instantly through their Instant Queue.

Severance is well worth the watch!

I'm planning to see this if only for the sheer coolness of seeing Titus Pullo with machine guns.

I mean, a place that is populated primarily by monsters? Thats....too trite for FPW. Remember in Conspiracies (the most underrated of the RJ series), Melanie said the Otherness contained all the answers to the various conspiracies alive in the world. A grand unification of all theories. When the UFO guy and the Militia guy went down the ladder into the Otherness, they could see....well, something (as opposed to the pure darkness) and were exclaiming that Melanie was right in her theory. So I find it hard to believe that the Otherness is simply a place populated by monsters. Thats just way too pedestrian for someone like FPW.

There have been hints about the Otherness in all the books... and entity, a place where chew wasps reside, a place with answers, where the Q'qer and Rakoshi were created...

But I just cannot believe its a 'monster inhabitated' place.

Okay, what's the funniest scene you've ever watched in a) a movie and b) a TV series? I mean laugh-out-loud funny.

For me:

1) YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, when Gene Wilder orders his assistants to lock him in a room with a monster and not open the door no matter how much he screams or begs them. They do so, and when the monster begins to awaken on the slab, Wilder completely loses it, hysterically begging and threatening them to no avail before coming up with a novel solution.

2) THE SIMPSONS: Bart is sitting on the living room floor smashing little packages of mustard with a hammer, squirting mustard everywhere, while rhythmically singing, "I've - been - working - on - the - railroad!" with every smash of the hammer. Homer barges in and bellows, "BART! Why did you do that?" Bart stares down at his handwork and says quietly, "I dunno."

OK, let me give a disclaimer up front. The new love of my life is an Aussie, so I'm partial to all things Australian now. That being said, I very much enjoyed "Australia," as did my nephews and their assorted girlfriends, all in their early 20's. Australia is a long, sprawling movie, shot in the distinctive Baz Luhrman style of overblown colors, enforced artificiality and sweeping overhead pans.

It is a big story with about 3 different endings before it really ends. The little boy narrates it and while I'm not a fan of narration in general, it worked for me here.

I could take or leave Nicole Kidman; I'm no fan of hers, but she didn't kill the movie. Of course, why wouldn't I love Hugh Jackman. What warm blooded woman wouldn't?

It was interesting to see how Baz can take a natural location and make it appear artificial, which is off putting but somehow he makes it work. There are about 7 different stories going in the film and it's all over the place, but if you want a modernist epic movie about the land down under, this is the one to see.