Results tagged “sciencefiction”

FACT: The Seattle Cinerama is not Seattle's original Cinerama. That'd be the Paramount, which sacrificed 1600 seats to fit the screen and three projection booths required. They screened Cinerama films from September 1, 1956, to January 26, 1958. The Cinerama we know and love today opened January 24, 1963, as the Martin Cinerama. (The Paramount twice installed and removed CineMiracle, a rival technology that never took off.)

SEATTLEST BOOK CLUB PICK: For March, we're reading Jonathan Raban's Surveillance, set in a not-so-distant future, when everyone's actions are highly monitored. Get a head start on the conversation by hearing from Raban himself. (We'll know if you went or not.)

Expect the usual: geography, movies, pictures, 3 tacos for $2, and mass chaos.

BOOKS: Like mysteries? The 17th Annual Western Mystery Fan convention continues through the 4th. For a group focused on clues and figuring things out, they spell things out incredibly well on their website. Where's the fun in that?

25 teams! Free ashtrays for the taking! Controversy about whether or not Bangor is a "city" or just part of Bremerton! And a geeky white boy dance-off to close the evening!

We're pleased as punch to report that noted local filmmaker (and friend of ours) Brian McDonald was just down at the Austin Film Festival becoming an "award-winning screenwriter." Saturday, October 21, he won the Science Fiction category of the AFF 2006 Screenplay Competition with his screenplay "Graverobbers."

That Old Nerd™ we told you about the other day who filed a lawsuit against the publisher of the world's greatest cartoonists, claiming defamation and violation of his right of publicity (apparently over some alleged stories of the man's past recounted in one Fanta book and a lack of the requisite "TM" next to his trademarked name on the cover of yet another), recently made the legally dubious decision to grab the breast of an author and award presenter at last month's 2006 World Science Fiction Convention in Anaheim, CA.

Nalo Hopkinson, author of delightful Caribbean-themed speculative fiction, spoke last night at the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame as part of Clarion West's summer reading series. Hopkinson is one of the few people of color working in the mostly ivory SF tower. She's Canadian but spent her childhood in the Caribbean. Attendees were lucky enough to hear her read from her not-yet-released book Book of the Year in 2002) partially read by the author, in which Leonie Forbes reads a 'hot little red riding hood' erotica story.

Clarion West is a renowned Seattle writing workshop for science fiction that takes place every summer. This year they're sponsoring a series of six summer readings at the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame featuring some of the instructors who come through the program.

To be fair, you didn't expect the Ray Harryhausen talk at the Science Fiction Museum last night to sell out either, did you? But it did, and even though we hinted that we were from a globe-spanning blog empire, they refused to let us in. "You know, Mr. Seattlest golfs with Mr. Allen frequently," we lied pathetically. But no soap.

As noted here and elsewhere, author Octavia Butler died last weekend.

The insanely prolific folks at Make magazine are teaming up with a heady group of co-conspirators this April for Maker Faire in San Mateo California. Seattlest is seventeen different shades of green with envy for our cousin SFist, because this event will be in their side yard, and the guest hosts are front-lined by the folks from Myth Busters. Myth Busters, sweet Jesus! That is our favorite show. Our dream job. It would be the end of us if we had Tivo, we'd just watch it over and over again. (Note to Myth Busters producers, please call us back. Please?)

Monday Nov. 28

The set and special effects are more richly rendered than anything Dreamworks has ever produced. The well-designed ensemble cast overshadows your old favorites from the original Star Wars. The story is both more believable and more fantastic than The Matrix. Of course, in RL it’s just one man on a bare stage in the dark cellar of the Capitol Hill Arts Center, but Virtual Solitaire is so fully imagined and so strongly performed that Dawson Nichols is able to pull an entire electronic world seemingly out of thin air.

Halloween isn't until Monday, but everyone's going out to celebrate this weekend. So after you put the final touches on the ultimate scary costume (be it a Katrina victim, avian flu, or even *shudder* Harriet Miers), hit the town for one of the many Halloween-themed movies showing on the big screen.

When's the last time you attended a reading by a genuine, MacArthur-certified genius? Tonight's your chance -- local author and Science Fiction Museum board member Octavia Butler will read from Fledgling, her first novel in 7 years, at 7:30 at Elliott Bay Book Co.

A post-apocalyptic short film will be shot in Seattle this coming Sunday and they're looking for extras in the future goth vein. Where does one shoot a post-apocalyptic short film? Microsoft Campus? Seattle Center? Lower Madison? No, no, no. Rainier Brewery!

You never know who your neighbors are until something tragic happens. Yesterday we discovered the sad news that actor James Doohan, Scotty from TOS, has died of pneumonia and Alzheimer's complications, but also that he was a Washington State resident, making his home across the puddle in Redmond. He originally hailed from Vancouver, B.C.

Alright, first things first: The 31st annual Seattle International Film Festival is nearly upon us. Opening night is May 19th, and SIFF runs for nearly a month after that. During that time, more than 230 feature-length films will screen, including a whole bunch of goodies which have already won awards at Sundance and other film fests. The box office opens today for SIFF members, but the general public (i.e., the commoners) will have to wait to get their seats until May 8th. Ticket prices range from $5 for 2pm weekday matinees to $10 for regular screenings, though you can pony up $150 for VIP tix to the Opening Night Gala. Check out the full catalog and schedule here.

David Brin and Cory Doctorow will be reading and signing tonight at the JBL theater from 7-9pm. We had to look up the exact location of the JBL Theater and that exhaustive research has uncovered the shadowy near-certainty of its geographic placement, but not a street address. It is adjacent to the Science Fiction Museum in the EMP.