My Afflation

I'll try not to give away any spoilers. I went into this movie a little skeptical because as much as I adore Matthew McConaughey's accent, I wasn't sure I could take him seriously as a father and the hero of a serious sci-fi movie. I wasn't sure that I could take Interstellar as a serious movie for that part either, but OMG! Did it ever deliver! Disclaimer up front, I took Physics for Dummies in college. The topic fascinates me, but the math is entirely over my head, so I won't be addressing any of that below. First off, I was stunned and impressed by the score , and lack of it. The silence was used perfectly. By the way, the IMAX theater I saw it in had no issues with the sound mix. I wasn't taken out of the movie at any point due to sound issues. The score did exactly what it was supposed to and then some. The Hunk was with me (and he's an A/V nut) was so stunned by the visuals of the gargantuan and I quote "What music?" He did notice ...

Derelict by L.J. Cohen My rating: 3 of 5 stars Overall I enjoyed most of the characters, the science and tech of the story. There was one plot point/character interaction that just struck cognitive dissonance for me, made my internal creeper alarm go off, and caused me to stop reading for a few days, but, I had to find out if the main characters made it back home safe and sound, or were left adrift in space, ready for a sequel. Hopefully without giving too much away, you have a crew of misfit teenagers with more angst and abuse (physical, emotional, and mental) in their lives than should be crammed into one story, but it makes sense the more you read, the requisite missing parent for two of the main characters, and under-developed peripheral characters. I'm not sure if this is an accepted trend in YA literature or if it's because the writers have been raised on too many Disney movies. Yes, I am currently dis-enchanted with Disney, but that has nothing to do with _Derelic...

Yesterday, my mom was on the hunt for an Android app that would tell her what unusual (and usually hilarious) holiday each day was. The closest we came was the Hallmark  Ultimate Holiday Site  (which only has the app for iDevices. MEH!).   Just for $#!+$ and giggles, I checked it out today and discovered that it's National Science Fiction Day . Of course I had to share that and got this in response: @ dananner my Dad taught me the ABC"s of sci-fi: Asimov, Bradbury, Clark :) — Daniel (@danniboi07) January 2, 2013 So ... here's my  personal ABC of Sci-fi (and fantasy): A - Asimov (Happy Birthday, Isaac!) - I still subscribe to Asimov's magazine. You should read I, Robot ( short stories COMPLETELY different from the movie ) , Foundation Series , The Caves of Steel (trilogy) and Nightfall for a taste. He also wrote across genres (my first Asimov book was probably one of his "How Did We Find Out About" books, but I loved his style so much I b...