|
Week of November 22, 2004
Harry Lampert, 1916-2004.
The comic book artist who created the look of the original version of The Flash
has died. Harry Lampert lost a long battle with cancer on November 13th,
after a lifelong career as an artist. At the age of 16, Lampert had already
found work with the Fleischer Brothers' animation studio, and when he was 22 he
drew the first Flash comics, written by Gardner Fox, for DC Comics. Though he
also crew comics and cartoons for the Saturday Evening Post, the New York Times,
and several other publications, he always obliged fan requests for original
artwork of his most famous creation. After his comics career, he also taught at
the New York School of Visual Arts and wrote several instructional books on
playing bridge. Mr. Lampert was 88, and is survived by his wife, daughter and
two grandsons.
Source: Associated Press
The journey that begins where everything ends.
NASA successfully launched the Swift unmanned deep space observatory on
Saturday after a small delay. Carrying three different instrument packages,
Swift's mission is specifically to observe, categorize and study the
aftereffects of gamma ray bursts. The satellite is designed to aim itself at
any such bursts that it detects within mere seconds so it can catch the
short-lived aftereffects and relay its findings to ground controllers. It is
believed that some of the bursts are caused by the dying collapse of stars, and
possibly the formation of black holes, and as such may be some of the most
powerful energy releases known in nature. Swift is expected to observe as many
as 100 gamma ray bursts per year.
Source: NASA
Unmanned NASA "scramjet" tops Mach 9.
An unmanned test of a NASA-built X-43A "scramjet" on Tuesday reached
nearly ten times the speed of sound, or in simpler terms, 7,000 miles per hour.
The air-breathing engine of the X-43A was designed to prove the feasibility of
an alternative to rocket-powered flight; once boosted to Mach 4 by a traditional
booster rocket, the scramjet compresses the air passing through its intakes and
uses it to ignite the fuel, eliminating the need for additional oxygen tanks.
After exhausting its onboard supply of fuel, the X-43A was allowed to crash into
the Pacific Ocean. At the moment, despite this successful (and record-setting)
test flight, there is no follow-up to the X-43A program in NASA's budget.
Source: NASA
Keeping the gate open for another year.
Sci-Fi Channel has confirmed that it is renewing both Stargate SG-1 and
its spinoff/sequel, Stargate Atlantis, for the next season. The renewal
marks the ninth year for SG-1, tying it with The X-Files as the
longest-running science fiction series on American TV. The full cast of
Atlantis will be returning for that show's second year, while MGM is in
negotiations with the SG-1 cast and has yet to announce who will be returning
(or if anyone will be departing). Production on new episodes of both shows will
pick up in March, with the new seasons beginning in the summer of 2005. Before
that, however, Stargate SG-1 will be moving to a 7pm (central) Friday time slot
on January 21st, making room for the new Battlestar Galactica on Friday nights - and
going head-to-head with Star Trek: Enterprise.
Source: Sci-Fi Wire
 
Auberjonois to become regular on Shatner series.
Well here's a Star Trek crossover nobody saw coming. Rene
Auberjonois has been so well received by both viewers and the show's
producers in his recurring role on the ABC series Boston Legal that he'll become
a full-time regular alongtime William Shatner and James Spader. The
former Deep Space Nine co-star has made
quite an impression as the only lawyer in a powerful Boston legal firm who
routinely stands up to the ego of Shatner's character. Though it hasn't made
ABC a runaway winner in Sunday night ratings, thus far Boston Legal has improved
on the ratings over the final season of the series from which it was spun off,
The Practice, and seems a likely prospect for renewal.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
How's this for a home version?
Those little battery powered joystick games are pretty cool, aren't they? But
if they're not quite authentic enough for you (and hey, some of 'em
are pretty darn good), theLogBook.com is offering a first for this
holiday season: real live arcade games. These are the official,
authorized-by-the-original-manufacturers real deal, reproduced in authentic
arcade cabinets in a variety of sizes. They can be set for free play or they
can actually take real live quarters (the way God intended for us to play arcade
games, if you ask this site's webmaster). And best of all, they can be sitting
in your living room or game room. They may not be cheap, but if playing classic
video games on a console isn't cutting it for you, you can get the real thing
from theLogBook.com.
Sounds of the seventies (sci-fi style).
Two series whose excellent music has only been previously available in pricey
limited editions are finally getting general release soundtracks. Battle Of
The Planets (see our review of the original limited release here) combines the memorable music of
Bob Sakuma's original Gatchaman animè score with the late Hoyt Curtin's
outstanding main theme and supplemental music cues for the American translation
of the show. Additionally, an eagerly awaited CD finally brings Barry Gray's
classic music from the first season of Space: 1999 to the general public. (We would've
reviewed the original release by now, except that it's such a hotly-sought-after
item that we've never been able to afford a copy.) You can get both of
these long-awaited soundtracks now from theLogBook.com.
Battle Of The Planets
|
Space: 1999
|
That's a mighty mound of Matrix.
If you're a fan of The Matrix, Warner Bros. doesn't have a DVD for
you...it has ten. The Ultimate Matrix Collection box set
features new two-disc sets of each movie, as well as the Animatrix animated
shorts, The Matrix Revisited, and other new documentary features. Each
film includes new commentaries not included on the previous releases, even
featuring movie critics who didn't care for the trilogy. You can
pre-order The Ultimate Matrix Collection from theLogBook.com.
The Ultimate Matrix Collection Box Set
And another round of the Rings.
If ten discs of the Matrix trilogy aren't your cup of tea, there's
always Middle Earth. The complete Lord Of The Rings trilogy, with
each film presented in its extended form, is now available in a 12-disc
box set. The dozen discs collect the deluxe four-disc extended editions of each
movie previously available, and can be pre-ordered now from theLogBook.com in
time for Christmas.
The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy Box Set
The Doctor who never was.
Big Finish Productions' hugely successful Doctor Who Unbound series
continues with a one-off audio adventure starring one of the most popular
Doctors from that 40th anniversary "alternate universe" series.
Geoffrey Bayldon returns as an alternate version of the first (?) Doctor in A
Storm Of Angels, co-starring Carole Ann Ford (who continues the role of
Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter, that she originated on TV in 1963).
Doctor Who Unbound: A Storm Of Angels is now available
from theLogBook.com.
Doctor Who Unbound: A Storm Of Angels
|
