The first time I saw Star Wars I was really freaking scared.
I was 7 in the spring of 1977, and I had already been traumatized by Young Frankenstein. Yeah, I ended that one out in the lobby. So uppermost in my mind, as we drove out to the Burlington (Mass.) Mall Cinema, where Star Wars was playing, was whether or not I could gut out …
Perhaps you, like me, did not know that there were champions of these things. Well you knew wrong. Dead wrong.
Over the weekend the Professional/Amateur Pinball Association held its world championship in Scott Township, Pennyslvania. 406 players entered. They played Cheetah, Johnny Mnemonic (‘better than the movie!’ <tm>), Creature …
I was in San Francisco this past weekend, covering the Singularity Summit.
You probably know what the Singularity is. If I was 100% sure that you knew, I wouldn’t try to explain what it is. But a sliver of doubt remains, so here goes.
Every once in a while human civilization reaches a moment when the rate of social and …
Closing arguments please.
#1. A major test is coming up for Comic-Con. It will happen on August 13. The test is how Scott Pilgrim does at the box office.
This time last year Kick-Ass was riding high. An edgy adaptation of an indie comic that basically won Comic-Con! (I know I was raving about it.) Can’t miss, right? But Kick-Ass …
I gotta go. Comic-Con will have to find some way to get by without me.
The appropriate way to leave Comic-Con would be gripping the skid of a Huey as it lifts off from the roof of the San Diego convention center, Saigon-style. That option wasn’t available, though give it a few years. By then it’ll be a corporate-sponsored promotion, …
I saw Scott Pilgrim last night.
Full disclosure, this took place in the context of some major-league cosseting. I mean, pampering on the level that makes you feel like you’re some kind of evil ancient god-emperor.
First of all the Scott Pilgrim screening was a surprise screening, so just to begin with you get this climate of …
I’ve spent the entire day so far in panels. I present to you my scattered impressions:
The Power of Myth
On it: Amber Benson, Esther Friesner, Thomas Greanias, me, Les Klinger, Seanan McGuire, Michael Scott, and Thomas Sniegoski
The take-away: Michael Scott, the Nicholas Flamel guy, knows a lot about myth. And has a dreamy Oirish …
It’s Thursday morning, the morning of the first day of actual programming at Comic-Con, and the atmosphere is approximately the same as right before the fiesta starts in Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises.
At least nobody’s getting their genitals shot off here. As far as we know.
The preview night last night was really nice for about …
Just landed in San Diego. Comic-Con opens tonight — you can get into the show floor for a couple of hours for a kind of warm-up look-around deal.
It’s probably the best part of the entire show: a brief moment during which Comic-Con actually looks sort of like the show it should be. The halls are merely crowded, not actually packed …
All this week you’re going to be seeing news stories about how great Comic-Con is. So before all that starts I just have to say something.
Comic-Con is not great. Comic-Con is awful.
(More on Techland: A Guide to Having a Good Time at Comic-Con)
No, I mean, God knows, there are good things at Comic-Con. You can walk up to a …
Here’s my pet peeve about video games set in Russia. So you know that letter they always use as an R, to make things look all Russian? This one — Я?
That is not an R. It is pronounced “ya.” So if you know any Russian, and you’re playing a game like Singulaяity, set on the secret island of Katoяga, it starts to get on your …
I mostly associate air shows with sad headlines about Blue Angels crashes. No such accidents bedevil the Sci-Fi Air Show, a lovely Photoshop project with the following mission statement:
The SCI-FI AIR SHOW’s purpose is to preserve and promote the rich and varied history of Sci-Fi/fantasy vehicles. Through display and education we
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