Female sci-fi writers at Sydney futurian event #geekgirl #outhere #goddesscyborgs

The Topic for March will be – SF by Women Writers that differs from Mainstream SF writing:

Friday night Sydney Futurian SF discussion meeting Dates and Topics are;

March 19 – SF by Women Writers that differs from Mainstream SF writing (as close to Int. Woman’s day as could be organised)

April 16 – Mythological and Religion inspired creatures in SF Stories

(Saturday May 1 – the Katoomba SF&F Gathering of Sydney and Blue Mountains SF&F fans, Writers and Artists)

May 21 – Second Life and other virtual world adventures in SF stories

June 18 – SF stories of Doom, Gloom, Despair, Hopelessness and any other really Bad things

Other 2010 meeting dates include;
July 18, August 20, Sept. 17, October 15, November 19 and December 17

UTS Sydney, under the light sabres / Perspex Deathstar globes.  Meet in the Broadway entrance of the University of Technology Tower Building’s lobby, Sydney, (Australia) at or before 6.30 pm.

More info “Garry Dalrymple” <Garry.Dalrymple@det.nsw.edu.au>

Tweet This Post 

The Liminal. Universes in transition part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival

THE LIMINAL, Universes in transition
MELBOURNE FRINGE ART EXHIBITION in Book Affair windows (3 new locations)
161 Elgin St, CARLTON  *  287 Smith St, FITZROY  * 149 Sydney Rd, BRUNSWICK

Thursday 24 Sept. – Sunday 11 Oct., 10am to 8pm (& 24/7 from the street)

Opening Parade: 200 Elgin St – Wednesday 23 September 6pm for 6.30pm

ALL FREE

A record, three-day heat wave peaked on January 30 last summer in Melbourne, when the mercury hit 45. Suddenly Book Affair, that rambling and greatly loved second hand bookshop at 200 Elgin St, near the corner of Lygon, seemed to spontaneously combust.

Sparked in an air conditioner, flames soon billowed high above Carlton and the roof of the iconic 25-year-old business was gone. This led to flooding and a mammoth relocation of over 100,000 books. Finally, after hard work, understanding bridging support from staff and vital help and solace from the local community, a three-headed phoenix of three marvelous, specialist second hand Book Affair shops has arisen.

To celebrate this, the Book Affair – perhaps the only bookshop in Melbourne with a permanent Arts Projects Coordinator (Susan Bamford Caleo) and several practicing artists-cum-booksellers on staff – presents The Liminal, a delightful Melbourne Fringe Festival exhibition. Works are sculpted primarily from recycled book paper and bindings, but also incorporating other things such as barbed wire, silk, hemp, ash, cotton, wool, string and wood. It is the second time the Book Affair have appeared in the Fringe Festival; their exhibition last year ‘Bookish’ was very well received (“delightfully playful yet very thoughtful” – Buzzcuts; “drenched in the same sort of charm that one finds in any great bookshop” – Beat).

Led by owner Kaya Prpic, the staff of Book Affair is working with a group of consulting artists (including Shirley Cass, Katherine Connolly, Eliza Donald, Ute Leiner and Waltraud Reiner) on the exhibition, to be displayed in the windows of the three new shops. Sculptured forms and costumes will capture moments of transformation and disorientation, reflecting their experience over the last six months.

The Liminal (from the Latin word līmen, meaning “a threshold”) is inherently unstable, alive with possibility. The myth of Daphne, who morphed from a nymph into a tree and the infinite possibilities of the liminal space that readers enter when they open a book, are some of the early ideas inspiring artworks that incorporate an element that can be worn.

This is a community project for Book Affair staff and friends and is important for morale as well as a marking a tremendous new chapter in the Book Affair story. Hence, a mad and joyous parade of staff and friends will proceed on Wednesday 23rd September at 6.30pm from the old shop (200 Elgin Street) to the seductively new wood-fragranced and sculpture-draped Book Affair HQ at 161 Elgin, to launch the exhibition and celebrate the three new shops. There will be fun, colour and an opportunity to shake off the last of the ash.

The new Book Affair second hand shops are at 161 Elgin St, Carlton (academic), 287 Smith St, Fitzroy (sci-fi, occult, graphic novels) and149 Sydney Rd, Brunswick (military, sport, transport).

For interviews with key personnel and further information, contact:
Publicist:
Jen Jewel Brown
Phone 0408 898 338
email jenjewelbrown@fastmail.fm

Tweet This Post 

Star Trek Slash Videos

Kirk/Spock Fiction, a world in which the deep bond between James Kirk and Spok, goes deeper than friendship, way deeper.

Watch all 7 videos

Tweet This Post 

Fantastic Planet Film Festival extended deadline

Fantastic Planet: Sydney’s Sci-Fi and Fantasy Film Festival reminds filmmakers and screenwriters to submit their film or script soon.

ENTRY DEADLINE: 14/08/2009

The mission of Fantastic Planet Film Festival is to seek out and encourage bold speculative films that explore other imagined worlds, universes, and realities – new celluloid glimpses of alternative futures, pasts, and presents – and to showcase this fantastic cargo of cinema to audiences in Sydney, Australia. The festival was founded by the team behind A Night of Horror International Film Festival (Sydney, Australia’s leading horror film event).

The Withoutabox extended deadline is August 14, 2009.

More details are available at the festival’s official website: www.fantasticplanetfilmfestival.com

Tweet This Post 

Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto the legacy of Gundam

The legacy of ‘Gundam,’ a 30-year-old science-fiction automaton
by Euan McKirdy for The Wall Street Journal

Like something out of a science-fiction movie, the robot stands 18 meters tall and towers above the tree line. But to the thousands of visitors who have come by Odaiba’s Shiokaze Park just outside Tokyo, it is a familiar sight. It’s Gundam.

Excerpt:
The statue, a “life-size” replica of the television anime (Japanese slang for animated series) character created in 1979, was erected this month and will stand in the park through August. It was built by Bandai, the parent company of Sunrise, the animation studio that created the original series, “Mobile Suit Gundam,” to celebrate the iconic cartoon’s 30th anniversary and acknowledge the $528 million franchise of spin-offs, toys and books it has spawned in that time. Some fans even say the fictional robot has played a part in Japan’s rise in the world of robotics engineering and technology.

Set 100 years in the future on extraterrestrial mining colonies (colonies established on other planets or moons for the purpose of extracting minerals) as well as on Earth, “Mobile Suit Gundam” imagines a radical future, where robots are commonplace. A renegade faction, the principality of Zeon (an extraterrestrial colony), has declared war on Earth Federation (a global government of the future) in a bid to become independent. The weapon of choice (created by Zeon but quickly replicated by Earth) is a “mobile suit,” a robot driven by a human pilot who sits inside. The RX-78 Gundam — named for the fictional alloy, Gundanium, from which it is made — is used by a young pilot in defense of Earth. more…

Tweet This Post 

Ursula K. Le Guin – Powers On.

Scott Timberg’s – LA Times story celebrates the work of  Ursula K. Le Guin.

Excerpt:
“The seminal science fiction writer just won another Nebula award, and her themes about the environment, politics and feminism are still fresh.

(sic)

It’s hard to find a literary career as varied as Le Guin’s. At 79, she’s worked for half a century on the ever-shifting frontier between literary and genre writing, a line she has helped redraw with her elegant prose.

Le Guin has long been celebrated as a pioneer of young adult literature. Just two weeks ago she won a sixth Nebula Award for her YA novel “Powers.” With last year’s death of Arthur C. Clarke, she is also arguably the most acclaimed science fiction writer on the planet. But she’s more.”

Tweet This Post 

Trek Spring Collection Preview: First Look At Genki Star Trek Fragrances

Genki Wear, known for its licensed science fiction jewelry and perfumes, has produced what might be the most unusual Star Trek product ever: Star Trek colognes and perfume based on the original 1960s television show. In our latest look at Trek’s big Spring Collection, TrekMovie has all the exclusive first details and images on this unique addition to the pantheon of Star Trek merchandise.

Genki Wear Star Trek Perfume  – A trio of scents from the final frontier There are three fragrances planned for 2009 with the monikers “Tiberius” “Red Shirt” and “Ponn Farr.”

Tiberius
The Tiberius cologne, named in honor of the Mirror Universe James T. Kirk’s challenges users to “Boldly Go” with a perfume described as being spiked with “notes of freshness and sensuality.”

Red Shirt
Genki’s “Red Shirt” cologne (whose tag line “Because Tomorrow May Never Come” is priceless) celebrates the sacrifices of those often nameless crew of the USS Enterprise.

Pon Farr
The most risqué titled of the new Star Trek fragrances is “Ponn Farr” which is a perfume designed to “drive him wild.” It should only be used once every seven years (okay, that isn’t true). Named for the Vulcan mating ritual first introduced in the episode “Amok Time,” this perfume is one of the newly designed products meant to appeal to female fans.

More at Trekmovie…

Tweet This Post 

Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination

The science and fantasy behind the Star Wars phenomenon will take centre stage in a new exhibition opening at Scienceworks on 3 June 2009. Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination features more than 80 costumes, interactive exhibits, models and props from all six Star Wars films.

Developed by the Museum of Science, Boston, in collaboration with Lucasfilm Ltd., Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination is the first exhibition to showcase costumes and props from all six Star Wars movies while exploring cutting-edge research and modern technologies that could one day make the fantasy world of Star Wars a reality.

Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination will offer an immersive exhibition that gives visitors a hands-on look at the ways in which the seemingly fantastic ideas seen in the films have or can become real-life technologies. The exhibition reveals the important roles that imagination and science play in the creation of increasingly sophisticated machines. Visitors will be able to investigate concepts like robotics,magnetic levitation, artificial intelligence and medical technology, and can try their hands at building and testing their own high-tech creations – all while reliving the magic of the Star Wars story.

“Our visitors are really going to love this exhibition. Star Wars is a wonderful platform to provide insight and experience of some of the real technologies that have parallels with the wonderfully imaginative movie series.” said Genevieve Fahey, Manager Scienceworks.

Exhibition highlights include:

• Luke Skywalker’s landspeeder from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.
• Authentic costumes and props from the entire Star Wars Saga, such as Princess Leia’s famous white dress, Darth Vader’s menacing black armour, a full-size R2-D2, and a stormtrooper uniform.
• More than 20 hands-on interactive components that will appeal to everyone from the biggest Star Wars
enthusiasts to those who wouldn’t know Chewbacca from Yoda.

Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination, presented by Bose Corporation, was developed by the Museum of Science, Boston and Lucasfilm Ltd. The exhibition is based upon work supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, USA. ©

Date: 4 June -3 November 2009
Time: Daily 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Price: Adults $18, Concession $8 and Children (3 -16 years) $6. Includes general entry to

Scienceworks. Tickets on sale April 2009. Gift vouchers now available. Phone 13 11 02 or visit museumvictoria.com.au/starwars

Scienceworks
2 Booker Street Spotswood Victoria 3015 Melway: 56 B1
Phone: (03) 9392 4800

Tweet This Post 

CyBorg Film Festival

Competition of short films and new territories:

Luisella Chiribini art director
+ 39 347 5635174
info@cyborgproduzioni.org
www.cyborgproduzioni.org

patronage
Provincia di Arezzo – Assessorato Politiche Giovanili…in progress

Art. 1 The fourth edition of Cyborg Film Festival is opening. A competition of short films and new territories – an international manifestation that will take place in Anghiari from the 03th of June to the 07th of June 2009. The project that is in progress proposes promoting, informing, spreading and educating the cinematographic image by creating a window to exchange and compare the creative and productive differences of audio–visual languages.

Art. 2 Films of any type and style are admitted to the competition. Only works produced from the 1st of January 2007 are admitted. The competition is international and there are no restrictions as to nationality, age or profession. (every author can send more works)

Art. 3 The short film competition is divided in 2 competitive sections .
1) sci-fi: reserved for short films inspired by the theme: “science fiction” and variations of the theme.
2) anime: reserved for animated works made with any free theme technique.

Deadline: March 31
More info (http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=454)

Tweet This Post 

Has the future been cancelled? – h+ magazine

Rising up out of the gloom of early 2009, the second edition of h+  magazine sends a message of hope to weary changesurfers.

With articles like:

“Space Solar: Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun ” by Howard Bloom

“The Global Financial Crisis: A Hiccup on the Path to Superintelligent Financial Markets?”  by Ben Goertzel

“Singularity 101 with Vernor Vinge”

“First Steps Toward Post Scarcity or Why It’s the End of the World as  We Know it and You Should Feel Fine”  by Jason Stoddard.

h+ #2 takes on the mess in front of us and then catapults us further on and further out.

And for those of you who prefer your futurism gritty,  John  Shirley on Cyberpunk for the 21st Century and Paul McEnery talking to “Bio Gunk” SF writer Peter Watts.

http://hplusmagazine.com/

Spring 2009 Issue of H+ magazine
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?HplusMagazine/53fa5f81d2/7f821f53a8/005a7398e0

Tweet This Post