SFSurplus-2008-08-12 #063 [51:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Topics: Firefly/Serenity, The Dark Knight, Star Trek Online, The Hugo Awards, Mur Lafferty, Playing for Keeps.

Thank you for taking your valuable time to listen to us. This is show number 063 on the feed August 13, 2008. SciFi Surplus is News, Talk, Geeks and Fun! The topic in the Council of Great Relevence is Firefly and Serenity. In the news is The Dark Knight, Star Trek Online, The Hugo Awards, and a real life invisibility cloak. We’re also talk about Mur Lafferty’s Playing For Keeps available at Amazon on August 25th.

SciFi Surplus is presented by GoToMeeting. For a FREE trial, visit GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts!

Casey: You can make contact with SciFi Surplus using the Temporal Temps Hotline by calling 801-938-5525. Our Skype username is “scifisurplus.” For all of this information again or send and email go to scifisurplus.com and click “talk to us.”

I’m Casey and joining me on the show today is

Randy… our big damn producer
Jeromy… a leaf on the wind
Vince… has been smuggling little Geisha dolls with big heads that wobble.
Jess… the Hero of Canton

Mention of Norbert Bearded Dragon

Now that the introductions are out of the way, Let’s get our geek on!

Anti-witness News

The Dark Knight continues to top the U.S. box office for the 4th week in a row. The last movie to do this was Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. With the receipts totaling 441 Point 5 Million dollars, this puts The Dark Knight just $20 Million behind Star Wars on the all time gross list.

Star Trek Online, a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game is being developed by Cryptic Studios. Players will buy and modify starships, create new alien species and engage in space battles. Cryptic Studios is best known for developing City of Heroes and City of Villains.

The 2008 Hugo Awards are now a matter of record. The ceremony was held in Denver over the weekend at the 66th World Science Fiction Convention. The awards are named for Hugo Gernsback, founder of “Amazing Stories,” the first all-scifi magazine.

• Best Novel: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon
• Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Stardust, directed by Matthew Vaughn
• Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Dr. Who: “Blink,” directed by Hettie Macdonald
• Best Fan Writer: John Scalzi
• John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer: Mary Robinette Kowal
• Best Novella: “All Seated on the Ground” by Connie Willis
• Best Novelette: “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” by Ted Chiang
• Best Short Story: “Tideline” by Elizabeth Bear
• Best Related Book: Brave New Words: the Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction by Jeff Prucher
• Best Professional Editor, Short Form: Gordon Van Gelder
• Best Professional Editor, Long Form: David G. Hartwell
• Best Professional Artist: Stephan Martiniere
• Best Semiprozine: Locus
• Best Fanzine: File 770
• Best Fan Artist: Brad Foster

Researchers at the University of California are close to unveiling an invisibility shield. One researcher said: “In the case of invisibility cloaks or shields, the material would need to curve light waves completely around the object like a river flowing around a rock.”

Council of Great Relevance: Firefly and Serenity

• Brief Synopsis of the show
• Why was such a short lived show so popular?
• Why the cult following? How much of it is leftovers from Buffy fandom, and how much of it is truly new fans?
• Everyone always talks about cast chemistry, and Firefly is one of the best examples.
• Did the movie Serenity detract from the legacy of Firefly or was it a good continuation of the story?
• What questions have been unanswered that you would like answered… what do you think are the missing pieces.

Stunt: Sid the Cylon
Spot: Shatner Life Implantation
Spot: GrokSnacks 2

We want you to support Mur Lafferty and her superhero novel, Playing for Keeps. It’s going to be at Amazon on August 25th and there is a button on on SciFiSurplus.com that will get you right to it. She wants everyone to buy their copy on the same day because it will give her a boost and added exposure. She deserves it for her hard work on this super story!

We made a station called “Super 107″ and you can hear it at PlayingForKeepsNovel.com. Look for the post called “Stories of the Third Wave #3.

We also encourage you to subscribe to the feed. The entire novel is there in podcast format.

SciFi Wire’s Top 10 Canceled Shows

1. Firefly
2. Wonderfalls
3. Now and Again
4. Alien Nation
5. Space: Above and Beyond
6. The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.
7. American Gothic
8. Jake 2.0
9. Nowhere Man
10. Eerie, Indiana

Vince: Space Above and Beyond shouldn’t be that high on the list.

Thanks to Bob for writing some fantastic stuff for us. Thanks also goes out to our Producer Randy, Jess, Jeromy and Vince. Great job everyone! If you like SciFi Surplus and you’d like to help out, please take the time to make a donation at SciFi Surplus dot com. Even a dollar or two helps. We want to keep this ‘cast on the feed as long as possible and we need your support. Just find “Support SciFi Surplus” on our website. For everyone here, I’m Casey and we’ll talk to you next time!