200 years ago this month, a 20 year old Mary Shelley would see the 1st publication of her story about a scientist who had unlocked the door to our universe’ greatest mystery. Life.
Life he would give to his creation, who, misunderstood and full of angst and anger at a life never asked for, would pursue him to the end of his days.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus would become not only one of the single most famous and prolifically copied books of all time, it also is widely considered to be the very first Continue reading →
In an interesting move, the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special has had it’s first tug into canon.
In the new Star Wars anthology book, From a Certain Point of View, there are 40 fun stories highlighting the ancillary characters in our favorite galaxy far, far away. The love and attention given to background characters in the Star Wars universe has long been a linchpin of its popularity starting with the release of the toys from the very first movie. Characters that had no lines and sometimes barely a second of screen time got a name, a figure and a back story. These would lay the foundation for some of the best Star Wars literature ever released. Although now cast to the “Legends” pile, the great “Tales of the Bounty Hunters” was one of my favorite examples of this. The story of Dengar and his wife saving Boba Fett is a classic… But I digress.
One of the stories contained in From a Certain Point of View is called, We Don’t Serve Their Kind Here by Chuck Wendig and is a fun little tale of Mos Eisley Cantina’s bartender, Wuher who mentions two characters by name, Ackmena and her wife Sorschi.
Why is this important?
BECAUSE IT MEANS THAT BEA ARTHUR’S CHARACTER ACKMENA FROM THE FLIPPIN’ STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL IS NOW CANON AND THAT IS BOTH AWESOME AND HILARIOUS!!
Of all the social media “challenges” I’ve seen over the years, this is perhaps my favorite, and it’s happening now, in the month of April, but you can feel free to continue it as long as you like.
Reading Without Walls is happening now, and anyone can participate — teachers, librarians, book-sellers, and readers. Just find something new and different to read — and let books open up the world around you.
Thanks to books series that have been made popular through movies and TV series like Harry Potter, Hunger Games, A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones), Twilight, and I’m sure upcoming, American Gods, the hobby of reading books has retained a love and following that I once feared becoming extinct.
This year, however, the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Gene Luen Yang, has issued a challenge to the world. #ReadingWithoutWalls
The challenge goes like this:
It’s that simple! Once you’ve finished (or heck, before you even start!) don’t forget to challenge your friends as well. Also, make sure to use the hashtag #ReadingWithoutWalls on your posts to join the community and spread the word.
Reading Without Walls aims to promote diversity and learning through exposing people to ideas, cultures, experiences and concepts outside of their normal circles and/or comfort zones. To help us all better understand one another at a time when we couldn’t feel or seem more divided.
READING WITHOUT WALLS is an inclusive way to spread appreciation and understanding for others — and to learn new and exciting things.
There’s two things I will say before beginning this review. First, I’m going to keep it as spoiler-free as possible. Second, I’m going to out myself…I have never read a Neil Gaiman book before.
In 2014, I reported that both the Rhode Island Comic Con organizers and convention center have some growing up to do as they were entirely unprepared for the new cohort of nerds that were quickly expanding (click here for original article). This past 2015 con demonstrated that they had indeed adapted to that demand. More articles discussing the events, costumes, and general other fun things will be published soon. For now, I am focusing on the con’s logistics, improvements, and a few questionable choices for both the attendees and the vendors.
Where the con was before undersized, using just the RI Convention Center, it was now rectified with the expansion to also include the Dunkin Donuts Center. Lines were better organized into the event; waits were not unreasonable for the volume of people at the peak times. And of course, no one was turned away this time.
Life he would give to his creation, who, misunderstood and full of angst and anger at a life never asked for, would pursue him to the end of his days.
There’s two things I will say before beginning this review. First, I’m going to keep it as spoiler-free as possible. Second, I’m going to out myself…I have never read a Neil Gaiman book before.
Nerd-Base 