"Fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science fiction is the improbable made possible." - Rod Serling, creator, The Twilight Zone

I created this alternate science fiction and fantasy space as I've been a SF&F fan since Day 1 (well, Star Wars did come out when I was born ;) and have missed my weekly TV fixes and trips to the Forbidden Planet comics store in Union Square since we left for Asia in 2006. I never fully appreciated how easy it is to be a fan in the USA what with all those special previews, board game and DVD releases, online transactions and conventions (!) Still, I'm thankful for kindred souls among friends, at work and home, fansites like GateWorld and Winchester Bros, and virtual communities like LiveJournal - to help fill the void here.

Feel free to visit my profile for more info. Meanwhile, thanks for stopping by and drop a note when you can. Journey on! -lis aka lostinspace aka balikpulang.

 

It's been a while since I caught up with Battlestar Galactica. I remember being so involved with the reimagining until S3 where things moved more sideways than forwards for me. That said, The Plan - the new ~2 hour DVD movie - seems like a decent attempt to leverage the BSG legacy, depict a different perspective with a deep dive into the Cylon psyche, and of course tie up all major loose ends.

Anyone seen this yet?

Here's the trailer:


... and a sneak peak:

What to do in the countdown to V?

Read up what others have to say e.g. 6 reasons fans of the old V should watch the new one and catch up on all those sneak previews out there (there's at least 10 clips!), especially the ones with our Firefly alumni ....

Here's Inara

and Wash aka FBI guy:

Celebrating a virtual Halloween with my favourite SF&F classics:







See Fantasy Pumpkins for carving tips and more ideas. X-posted here.

Forget vampires, bring on the lizards-masquerading-as-humans instead! Speaking of which, maybe I should revisit these alien visitors while we wait for Nov 2....

Heh. Just caught the SGU premiere. Not bad! Haven't been following the SGU news as much, so was pleasantly surprised by the blend of new/changed situations, familiar Stargate/Ancient backstory and SG1 cameos - tho I missed Teal'c and the whole SGA gang. Hopefully the movies can help bridge the gap between SGA's season finale and SGU, and link in more of our favourite crew and storylines as appropriate. Overall, there's definitely potential with this more extreme situation and varied cast. Here's hoping the writers can balance out both plot and character development; and learn from some of the past SG1 and Atlantis mistakes.

Fall season is serving up great stuff this year, folks! Really enjoying Flash Forward, S5 of Supernatural, S2 of Merlin, and even Glee for its musical lightness :) Looking forward to the reimagined V and S2's of Star Wars: The Clone Wars as well as Legend of the Seeker.... Anything else you guys are digging?

Flash Forward is inspired from the book by Hugo and Nebula award winning author - Robert J. Sawyer. It features a solid cast including Joseph Fiennes, John Cho, Sonya Walgher, Christine Woods and Dominic Monaghan, with a similar serial+character development arc as Heroes and Firefly, and the promise of a more rewarding run, Lost style. Behind the "what do you see" premise, it toys with the classic "can you change the future" question of free will vs fate. (Hmm, also what happens after we resolve this 6 month mystery at the end of season 1?) There's also a viral website linked to the show, appropriately called the Mosaic Collective. Lastly, here's a decent Flash Forward fan spoiler site for those of us want to "flash forward" to next week now!

Flash Forward trailer


V sneak peek! Premiers November 2

Not sure what the catalyst was but I developed a sudden urge to revisit Star Trek XI (aka the Alternate Original Series) this week. Sadly, the DVD won't be out till November 16, but there are thankfully awesome interviews, behind the scenes and (of course) fanvids out there. I particularly liked this one by butterfly

So until Amazon sends me my DVD, Star Trek AOS novels get published or XII movie spoilers leak, anyone have good fic or fan community recs?

Hmm... meanwhile, time to get me a "young" Kirk/Spock user pic :)

This is how I feel at the end of this week. Everything is one big mush inside my brain :o

Guess what?! Legend of the Seeker will be showing in Singapore @ SCIFI soon!  Caught a few trailers tonight, but somehow can't seem to find the NBC Universal / SyFy channel schedule in Asia ;?

Meanwhile, lucky folks at the San Diego Comic Con got a sneak preview of season 2 at the LOTS panel. Read more here. Looking good (and hawt as ever!). Time to dig out that Sword of Tears book.... miss_izzles also put together this great picspam if you didn't catch all those frames.

Legend of the Seeker is the latest TV fantasy romp - somewhat based on Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth novels, executive produced by Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert - the men responsible for Xena and Hercules. If you're curious and don't mind some spoilers, check out this site, these reviews and watch the 5 min catch up here:

I admit, it's far from the best TV out there, but the story and acting, mixed with humour, angst and the fantastic New Zealand backdrop, just grew on me over season one. The adorkable Craig Horner and Bridget Regan (two of the co-stars) also bring great chemistry to their Seeker/Confessor relationship - reminiscent of Robin/Marian (let's ignore S3 for now....) and Arthur/Merlin. I'm glad I didn't stop after the rather corny pilot and that I hadn't read the books first, as some parts come across as really horrific fanfic. Bring on season two!

Every summer, I look forward to a "real" holiday = quality time with the hubby and family, stress relief from work, updates on the latest family dramas, and of course, a chance to (finally!) indulge in the latest fandom buzz. 

Around this time last year, we "discovered" Supernatural (solid four season run, tho the S4 arc and ending were somewhat disappointing). We've since watched Legend of the Seeker (surprisingly fun fantasy romp that just grows on you), Merlin and Robin Hood (decent modern takes on two classic stories, occasionally plagued by inconsistent writing), and the Star Wars: Clone Wars animation series (infinitely better than the prequel movies). 

With these shows on (or soon to be on) hiatus, Stargate and BSG over, Doctor Who only showing via telefilms, and my inability to watch Heroes after S2, I was thinking of trying Dollhouse and Castle next, thanks to Joss Whedon's Firefly legacy.

What are y'all watching these days? 

BTW, wouldn't the Star Trek movie make an awesome (prequel/AU) TV series? 

Watching the latest Star Trek movie felt like falling in love all over again....  Star Trek was after all, my first scifi fandom, and I look forward to many more installments (movies, novels or perhaps, episodes?!) with this new yet "old" crew of the Enterprise. 

Don't think too hard about the alternate reality/parallel universe implications, occasional plot devices and technobabble, and you'll be in for a great ride.... with green aliens, red shirts and many other tips of the hat to Star Trek fans. You'll also (maybe) get an answer to the most important question in the movie:  What's Uhura's first name?  :)

Shocking! This is my first post of the year.  Real life has taken over and stifled the geek in me.... until now!  Since reading the Star Trek world premiere reports from Sydney and Austin (lucky bastards, err I mean fellow Trekkies), I've started to hunt for more Trek morsels to tide me over during this one month wait.  Beam me up, Scotty!

Here's some of the good stuff:

One of my favourite modern poems written by Neil Gaiman is now illustrated by Jouni Koponen. Flash version here.  Imaginative allegory about keeping perspective on "the bigger picture" and how our own short-sighted fixations cause us to miss the amazing world beyond ourselves.

While we anxiously wait the conclusion of SPN's mid-season two parter this Thursday, check out these SPN 414 casting sides - MAJOR spoiler warning. There's a section that's almost dedicated to you fans of Win-cest and brotherly conflict! I wonder if Sera Gamble wrote this... ;)

Wow, this is way different -- and better than I expected for the next Star Trek movie due early May 2009. Live long and prosper, JJ Abrams!

Hehehehe. My Bloody Valentine (3D) premieres January 16, 2009 in the US, coming to a screen near you in time for your "Horror in 3D" date. Want more? Set report here and the writer's journal here.

I'd originally planned to post on ways to salvage my waning 3 year relationship with Heroes. So I started a list of "what's dysfunctional" with the show thus far in S3: over-used apocalyptic visions, alter-egos, time travel and good vs evil showdowns, and ultimately, the character abuse with Hiro and sidekick Ando, Tracy/Niki/Jessica/XXX, Mohinder/Maya (WTF!), Matt and Isaac's African replacement, Claire, and yes, even Sylar, Nathan and Peter (whose Petrelli family dynamic and angst quotient pales in light of SPN's Winchesters). Pretty soon, I came to a simpler conclusion - one that I've been in denial about so far - which is, my love affair with Heroes is over. O how far we've fallen from those good old, up close and personal, fangal-gushing days.

I'll even go one step further and make a prediction: I'll be amazed (and frankly, upset) if Heroes doesn't get cancelled this season, esp. if the show continues along this same dreary path. NBC and the 8 million or so faithful Nielsen viewers in the US have clung to the hope that Heroes would regain its glorious season 1 days but I'm not convinced that (1) Even all this goodwill can last so long in these ad-starved, budget-constrained times and that (2) Kring and co actually know what they're doing anymore. Stop making things up as you go! It's frustrating for us and embarassing for you.

A side ratings note, there's not much to watch on Mondays and I think NBC has lucked out with Heroes because of that (and Fox with Terminator). Conversely, I wonder if the CW could switch its programming around, and say air Smallville/Supernatural on Monday nights instead of Thursdays? Yes, I know the CW has been talking up its recent "successes" with Monday's Gossip Girl/One Tree Hill, but why should the network settle for 3-4 million viewers as their "best effort"? If I recall, SPN used to generate ~5 million viewers under the WB's original (Tues, post Gilmore Girls?) schedule. Why not give good shows an even better chance, esp. those with the highest emotional attachment where scheduling changes will not matter as much, even if they don't necessarily fit into the self-imposed "tween girl" demographic? Why not be bolder, smarter and at least assess their weekly line up now that they've seen the competition? Or at least figure out how to sell internet ad space (online streaming, mobile, VOD) when you take into account the youthful target audience and their viewing/consumption habits?

I first came across Ben Edlund as the writer of Jaynestown ("The hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne!") - one of my favourite Firefly episodes. He's since gone on to co-executive produce Supernatural and is responsible for an array of episodes, ranging from good (e.g. Nightshifter) to ones with mixed fan reactions (e.g. Bad Day at Black Rock, Ghostfacers and Hollywood Babylon).

With Monster Movie, Edlund served up one classic treat for SPN fans - and in particular, one very special fangirl, whose story makes me appreciate the episode (esp. a certain major guest star and her lines) and generally, Kripke and team, even more - if that's even possible! ( Amusing spoilery observations )

I did miss the building intensity from the first four episodes but after the constant negative news in the market these days, this was a welcome relief. Besides, judging from next episode's trailer and preview clip, we'll be picking up on that in no time!