Photo Challenge 2013
The beautiful city of Vancouver inspired me to do another photo challenge.
My view today
Musings from a solo traveler
Vancouver has always been on my list of must see cities. I’ve heard wonderful things about the city for years. Now, that I am finally here, all I want to do is camp out in my hotel room, read magazines and watch television.
When I arrived the weather the sun was shining and the weather was beautiful. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, I walked along the sea wall in English Bay.
How did I sleep on Commander Hadfield
What an amazing sending off!
Quick Movie Review – Trance
Trance tried really hard to be as complex and intellectual as Inception (2010), but only succeeded in making less sense than Memento (2000) or The Butterfly Effect (2004). Famous paintings have hit the auction block in England and somebody’s wants to steal one. Despite the training the employees have received on how to protect the artwork, James McAvoy’s character Simon drops the ball and gets suffers a head injury during the robbery.
Once the criminal mastermind behind the scheme (Vincent Cassel from Black Swan) realizes that Simon hid the painting without detection, he makes it his mission to pick up where he left off once Simon is released from the hospital. Rosario Dawson’s (Unstoppable) character Elizabeth Lamb is a hypnotherapist whose skills are employed to help Simon remember where he hid the painting. Unfortunately, her inability to keep her clothes on throughout the film discredits her clinical contribution, weakens the strength of her character and feels like a desperate attempt to make a simple story racy.
5 out of 9
Guest Blogger from Seattle
Quick Movie Review – Oblivion
I haven’t been this disappointed by a Tom Cruise movie since War of the Worlds (2005). In 2017 an alien race turns the moon into chalk dust irreversibly disrupting the balance of nature. With half of planet Earth rendered uninhabitable, the only scattered life forms remaining are the Scavs who waged the war for planet Earth after they destroyed the moon. In an effort to gather vital resources which sustain the lives of survivors who have relocated in space, Jack Harper and Victoria are left behind to repair the drones which guard the water rigs. With just 2 weeks to go before they are reunited with the rest of the human population in outer space, Jack makes a discovery that changes the future forever.
This sci-fi story sounds great on paper but its poorly executed. Once you figure out what’s going on early in the film, it’s anti-climatic and you can pretty much guess how it ends. Science fiction should always be about out-of-the-box creativity, creating a future with unlimited possibilities and stimulating the audience’s imagination. Oblivion played it too safe.
5 out of 9
Guest Blogger from Seattle
Twitter I love thee
I have stumbled across random and fabulous blogs, factoids and pictures that keep me engaged and interested while I sit in a cubicle all day.
Recent discoveries:
Spelman’s Octavia Butler Celebration – an day of appreciation for an underrated American author
Mission Log Podcast – a discussion of every episode of every Star Trek series!
#Scifichat – a weekly online discussion of science fiction
@Earth_Pics – breathtaking images of our beautiful planet and all its inhabitants.
News from around the world to broaden my horizons
All the ratchet comments that make me giggle
I can’t wait for the next find…
A new discovery – Cooperwire
I love twitter because you know what you’ll discover. I ran across the following tweet:
“If you haven’t heard –> Ethiopian-American science fiction hip-hop album: Cooperwire’s Earthbound” via @Nnedi
How tantalizing does that sound.
Here is bit of their story to peak your interest
“The story started here. In the spacecraft stolen from our planet. When there is a will there is a way. Ask Professor Askala Bilaq a.k.a. Scholar Black, for it was his idea to steal the spacecraft. “You can’t get anywhere without a vehicle,” he once told a friend outside a music shop. If you encounter him, do not look him in the eye. It is not clear what will set him off. The choice of destination was Getazia’s. “I have my reasons,” was all he said to Scholar Black outside an oxygen shop not long before they stole the CopperWire spacecraft. Reports describe Getazia as “one with many faces”. And it was Ko Ai who hacked into CopperWire’s mainframe and reprogrammed it to fly to the planet earth. All recordings of anything she’s publicly spoken have been mysteriously deleted from inter-planetary government files.”
To learn more about Cooperwire click here
Flickering Lights
I Lurve Podcasts
As a nerd sitting in a cubicle all day, I like to listen to podcasts to pass the time. I have two new favorites:
I know that Aisha Tyler is the Queen of the Nerds but I just started listening to her podcast Girl on Guy. Fabulous. The eclectic selection of guest is off the charts: Rupaul, Baratunde Thurston and Wayne Brady. You find deep discussions on a wide range of topics: childhoods, breaking into the business and hustling. Hands down the best feature of the podcasts is “Self Inflicted Wounds.” The honesty and vulnerability found in this segment is deep and moving. I have found insight in each story.
As a follower of Black Girl Nerds on Twitter, I’m thrilled that they branched out into podcast land. It’s brand spanking new but shows a lot of promise. The first episode contains a thought provoking discussion on Blerds – BTW a term I hate – featuring points of view on both sides of the black nerd debate. I look forward to future discussions. The panelists showed balls by having callers on their first show. I tip my hat to them.
Check them out if you can.
http://www.girlonguy.net
http://www.blackgirlnerdy.blogspot.com
Sci Fi Maven 