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This week is harboring all kinds of of juicy sci-fi delights - at least by my measure of what constitutes "juicy sci-fi". And refreshingly none of them have to do with big Hollywood blockbusters (tm)(R)(c). First I'll start with Trek. More specifically a great dose of that "Gimme the Olde Thyme Trek". The fan production, "Star Trek Continues" www.startrekcontinues.com/ , recently released their first full episode. If I'd just looked at the episode synopsis, I would have yawned (a sequel to "Who Mourns for Adonis?"... did we really need that?), but they really made lemonade from lemons on this. The show is exceptionally well-written, interwoven with drama, humor, and wraps up in a very refreshingly Roddenberry style. But wait, potenial Ginsu buyer, there's MORE!
The production has all kinds of interesting cast and cameos. Regulars include Grant Imahara ("Mythbusters") as Sulu and Chris Doohan (the product of James Doohan's wild oats...) as Scotty. Honestly, name aside, Chris Doohan's Scotty totally sells you on the character. It can be argued he's better at the role than his Dad was. On the cameo side, Jamie Bamber (BSG) drops in and dies as red shirt, Marina Sirtis provides the computer voice, and Doug Drexler sticks his mug on the screen.
And my final endorsement of the effirt, but hardly least important, is the production values. The aim to make it feel like a season four video of the period and succeed spectacularly, even mimicking run time and commercial breaks. The CG effects don't scream "high tech wonder", they just try to evoke the better FX of the period. So if you're a TOS fan (as opposed to someone who will just pursues anything with the Trek name attached), indulge and enjoy! www.startrekcontinues.com/epis…
:thumb359278106:
OK, next up - the newest batch of "Space Battleship Yamato 2199" episodes (15-18) just rolled out on the Interweb. Personally I feel this may be the coolest batch of four to date in the 26 episode series. It sorta has its own little arc story and each episode is vital - no filler here. It answers many questions that have been building, and in quite satisfying ways. I won't say much more as I thoroughly raved the hell out of this series in a previous blog arcas-art.deviantart.com/art/A… . But suffice to say, they only improve on the fine standards they've already set. You can try these sites to get the full series feeds for free:
Gogoanime: www.gogoanime.com/category/uch…
Pinoy Anime: www.pinoyanime.tv/space-battle…
Anime Flavor: animeflavor.com/index.php?q=no…
Also just released is the Japanese trailer for episodes 19-22. Clearly it's crunch time for the astrofleets: www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8N1pq…
And finally we switch gears to the literary side with the release of the third full novel in the James S.A. Corey's (aka Ty Frank and Daniel Abraham) www.amazon.com/James-S.-A.-Cor… solar-system-based Expanse series, "Abaddon's Gate" www.amazon.com/Abaddons-Gate-T… . This is my favorite currently running series of SF books, delivering a perfect balance of fun space-operatic adventure and real physics. It's proof in the pudding that good science doesn't get in the way of great SF storytelling, it enhances potential drama. Top it all off with well-rounded characters and snappy dialog (fairly Whedonesque) and this series is just a freakin' uber-blast! IO9 recently nominated the series as one of the literary SF creations that's more action packed than the current crop of Hollywood blockbusters (tm)(R)(c) io9.com/10-novels-that-are-mor… . So give it a go (new book comes out this Tuesday, June 4) and I suspect you'll find yourself similarly addicted in no time.
'K. That's it for the nerdgasm.... maybe. Still, here's some inspiring stuff from right here at DA that you might have missed. Share the luv and click the thumbnails below to experience their full glory!
:thumb367993346: :thumb357252253: :thumb307762698: :thumb374015582: :thumb373389682:
The production has all kinds of interesting cast and cameos. Regulars include Grant Imahara ("Mythbusters") as Sulu and Chris Doohan (the product of James Doohan's wild oats...) as Scotty. Honestly, name aside, Chris Doohan's Scotty totally sells you on the character. It can be argued he's better at the role than his Dad was. On the cameo side, Jamie Bamber (BSG) drops in and dies as red shirt, Marina Sirtis provides the computer voice, and Doug Drexler sticks his mug on the screen.
And my final endorsement of the effirt, but hardly least important, is the production values. The aim to make it feel like a season four video of the period and succeed spectacularly, even mimicking run time and commercial breaks. The CG effects don't scream "high tech wonder", they just try to evoke the better FX of the period. So if you're a TOS fan (as opposed to someone who will just pursues anything with the Trek name attached), indulge and enjoy! www.startrekcontinues.com/epis…
:thumb359278106:
OK, next up - the newest batch of "Space Battleship Yamato 2199" episodes (15-18) just rolled out on the Interweb. Personally I feel this may be the coolest batch of four to date in the 26 episode series. It sorta has its own little arc story and each episode is vital - no filler here. It answers many questions that have been building, and in quite satisfying ways. I won't say much more as I thoroughly raved the hell out of this series in a previous blog arcas-art.deviantart.com/art/A… . But suffice to say, they only improve on the fine standards they've already set. You can try these sites to get the full series feeds for free:
Gogoanime: www.gogoanime.com/category/uch…
Pinoy Anime: www.pinoyanime.tv/space-battle…
Anime Flavor: animeflavor.com/index.php?q=no…
Also just released is the Japanese trailer for episodes 19-22. Clearly it's crunch time for the astrofleets: www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8N1pq…
And finally we switch gears to the literary side with the release of the third full novel in the James S.A. Corey's (aka Ty Frank and Daniel Abraham) www.amazon.com/James-S.-A.-Cor… solar-system-based Expanse series, "Abaddon's Gate" www.amazon.com/Abaddons-Gate-T… . This is my favorite currently running series of SF books, delivering a perfect balance of fun space-operatic adventure and real physics. It's proof in the pudding that good science doesn't get in the way of great SF storytelling, it enhances potential drama. Top it all off with well-rounded characters and snappy dialog (fairly Whedonesque) and this series is just a freakin' uber-blast! IO9 recently nominated the series as one of the literary SF creations that's more action packed than the current crop of Hollywood blockbusters (tm)(R)(c) io9.com/10-novels-that-are-mor… . So give it a go (new book comes out this Tuesday, June 4) and I suspect you'll find yourself similarly addicted in no time.
'K. That's it for the nerdgasm.... maybe. Still, here's some inspiring stuff from right here at DA that you might have missed. Share the luv and click the thumbnails below to experience their full glory!
:thumb367993346: :thumb357252253: :thumb307762698: :thumb374015582: :thumb373389682:
Simmering
While I haven’t been leaving much of a visible art foot print, these last few weeks, I haven’t been slacking off. First, I’m working on both building up my digital resources and trying to get my 3D-skills updated after about a three-year absence. There’s quite a few image ideas swimming in my head, I’m just building to the point where I can tackle them in my “new ways”.
Second, I’m taking an online natural illustration course out of Australia so that’s not only going to be taking some of my art time, but also (hopefully) giving me a refresher with my old skills in physical art media. So l
2020: The Year I Make Recontact
Well it’s been only about a month (give or take) since my last blog update so maybe I’m having success in retraining myself back to the DA habit. I’ve made really good progress on migrating my old arting materials to my new machine and getting up to speed with DAZ Studio 4.12. I may have only pumped out three finished pieces, but behind each one is a number of experiments and trials. With each one my “render legs” have regained a bit more strength. It feels kinda nice being back at the digital drawing board… if only to provide some distraction from our nation’s dumpster fire du jour.
I’m also r
From the shadows shuffles the unspeakable horror..
Well hey there! Long time no chat. I’m still alive and kickin’… I’ve just been kickin’ it elsewhere: in my reading nook, on my modeling bench, and in my kayak. So I’ve very much NOT been here… due to the fact I didn’t have much new to show anyone. But that may change in the coming months.
The biggest thing that’d been keeping me away from making art was my aging machine (as I work mostly digital, these days). The ole box just could keep up with the state of the tech. Like a (too) old car, it can still get me from point A to point B – most of the time – but not without great ag
We here I am again… after another loooooooong absence. For whatever reason I just haven’t felt driven to create much art this year, and something in me feels guilty about coming to DA purely as a spectator. All I can say is that I sure hope this lull passes because I’m much happier when I’m creating!
I’d be lying if I said political anxiety here in the U.S. wasn’t part of the problem and with the outcome of the last election I find myself driven to become even more politically engaged to preserve the progress made over the last couple of decades. But I’ll attempt to minimize bringing my political bag
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Finally got subtitled 1080p copies of Yamato 2199 eps 19-22. Bit of a mixed bag - character animation in the latter two eps seemed a bit sketchy, and I think the whole "Captain's Log" segment could easily have filled another episode (when did Admiral Ditz get arrested?? I don't remember that...) Run-up to the big battle in the Rainbow Nebula and all the Gamilas politics/Iscandaran religion stuff was great though!