The Magic Echo Chamber

Yes, what a way to end the year. Got up early and saw that Mother Nature had dumped two-plus inches of snow on us during the night, with light flurries still falling. Kel had a doctor’s appointment in Lancaster and afterward was going to take Anthony to play with some of his cousins so she [...]

Yeah, I thought you did. The longer trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Inception just hit the net and it’s a doozy. I really have no idea what the movie is about, though with “your mind is the scene of the crime” as the tagline and some of DiCaprio’s dialog, I’m guessing in involves the ability to [...]

I finally saw Avatar today, and while I’m still processing the experience, I thought I would share my thoughts on this long-in-the-making bit of cinema. I’m going to be talking in detail about important plot and character points, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet, you shouldn’t read this unless you want to be [...]

I hope everyone had a wonderful day, whatever you celebrated and with whomever you spent it. Enjoy this photo of a meteor streaking across the Mojave Desert. Photographer Wally Pacholka captured this incredible shot, which I found over at Astronomy Picture of the Day.

Click the picture for a larger image.

In a recent post I pondered what current books may serve as “gateway” books into science fiction and fantasy, the way the books by Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, etc., did for my generation. I’ve been thinking about that a little more, and in light of the release of Avatar (which I have not seen yet but [...]

Yes, the movie is ten years old. Yes, the movie, overall, still sucks monkey balls. (I was more put off by Midicholorians and the idea that Darth Freakin’ Vader built C-3PO than I was by the idiotic and painfully unfunny Jar-Jar Binks.)

But this review is still genius.

Yes, it’s long. Yes, he has a (deliberately) weird [...]

For an astronomy buff like me, this is akin to a religious experience. Glorious, and yes, moving. A tour of the known universe. Not a dramatization, but an actual map based on positioning data from Hayden Planetarium’s Digital Universe Atlas.

Watch it in full screen HD if your computer has the chops for it. This is [...]

I caught this yesterday after Jon Favreau tweeted to keep an eye on the movie trailer section at Apple.com. I got in just before the rush and watched it a couple of times. I really liked the first movie and love the tone of this one. The senate hearing and Stark Expo (love love love [...]

My sister-in-law Alice has a Kindle that she likes a lot. I’m intrigued by the idea of not having to lug around pounds of books (Under the Dome, anyone? I’m reading it and loving it but goddamn is the thing big and unwieldly!), especially when traveling. I read a lot over my lunch breaks at [...]

The 2010 Clash of the Titans. Yeah, it’s a remake. Yeah, I have fond memories of the Harryhausen original. But this still looks cool to me. Liam Neeson as Zeus? Hell yes! Bring it on!