Origami Unicorn

Badly Drawn Roy Part One

A cartoon baby is born to a family in Ireland.

Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

From the producer and with much of the cast of Serenity, a venture into for-web-only productions. The first three acts are available free, although not embeddable—Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog—and it will be for sale with extras from iTunes. I found the beginning slow but after that super-hero insanity takes wing. Captain Hammer, arch-nemesis of Dr. Horrible, has the girl and the glory, but will it last? Stay tuned. "There's no happy ending, so they say..."

The Danish Poet

This one is delightful and beautifully done.

The Dark Knight

It's been showing since midnight in many places, and may well set a record for first three day weekend. It's heavy on the violence and with a terrifying—and scene-stealing—Joker by Heath Ledger. The squeamish may prefer to wait for the DVD, with its fast-forward.

Harry Harrison Named Grand Master

Harry Harrison has been named a Damon Knight Grand Master. Harrison will be honored at the Nebula Awards Weekend in 2009.

Batman Comics

Batman started out as a comic, of course, and the first book in which he made an appearance is nearly priceless: comics were not much valued and original art seldom kept. Here's a selection of book covers from the thirties and forties, which mostly show he's come a long way, stylistically, at least:

Meanwhile, new Batman comics are due to appear online using limited animation, voiceovers, and sound effects.

Sue Stewart Speaks Out

Sue Stewart responds to an Associated Press news story about the ongoing litigation of Andre Norton's will. Norton's books are currently being reissued in hardcover by Baen.

Viacom v. YouTube

YouTube stated on its blog, Monday, July 14th, that an agreement has been reached that the data it is required to produce in its dispute with Viacom shall be stripped of the identifying features, with other values substituted for the real IPSs and so forth. The court document sets forth the precise to-ing and fro-ing at much greater length, but that is the essence of the thing. At issue is how vigilant the online video service is in policing what is posted and how responsible it can he held to be.

Genre Goodies Raffle

The KGB readings are pretty much a staple of the genre scene in NYC, and this year, starting today, they are holding an online raffle to cover expenses. Among the prizes: story critiques by famous editors, sundry Tuckerizations, signed manuscripts, signed books, and art. Tickets are a dollar.

2001: A Space Odyssey

The way the future was.

One of the few science fiction movies that is solidly sf, 2001 has aged well, although we now know that people swim in zero-gravity, making some of the special effects dated—at least for moment. The long-term effects of living in a gravity-free environment mean we may yet see wheeling space stations and ships with artifical gravity sections. We're still waiting for that space plane, too. Hopefully that's soon to come.