Sci Fi Media

Set Your Goals To Infuse Enthusiasm In Life

2009-11-05T12:26:36Z

As children we all have uncountable dreams and belief level so high that we see nothing as impossible in life. As we grow up and face challenges and defeats, our belief level tends to die. Some people compromise on living mundane lives with no hopes, dreams and goals while others do remember their dreams but choose to do nothing about them. While the fact remains that nothing is impossible for the one who believes, it becomes hard to do so. The people who have no goals in life are definitely missing out the best parts of their lives and not living it to the fullest.

A dream becomes a goal when you put a date to it. Setting your goals fills your life with enthusiasm as you have something to chase, a direction to move towards and put your energies into. Once you set reachable goals, you also need to monitor your progress. You can divide your main goal into sub-goals, daily and weekly goals and see that you meet them. Make a list of things that you need to do in order to reach the goals you have defined. Acknowledge yourself when you reach the milestones to keep yourself motivated and in expectation of more success.

The author of this post is a webmaster at SynapseIndia, an offshore web development company from India.

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Mainers Repeal Gay Marriage Law...

2009-11-04T17:37:33Z

Maine-Yes-on-One

Bangor Daily News - our newspaper for Downeast Maine - is reporting that Mainers voted to reject the law passed by the State Legislature earlier this year yesterday. It seems Mainers have decided they won't move into the 21st Century yet.

With 87% of the votes in, 53% voted "Yes" on Question One, while only 47% voted "No". A very close vote, to say the least. Which, to me, shows that not all Mainers are against equality for all Maine Citizens.

No doubt we will have to rehash this again in another couple of years. As those who believe in equality here in Maine won't rest until Gay Couples are given the same equality under the law as Straight Couples.

The rest of the Initiatives on the ballot were as follows:

Question's Two(excise tax) and Four(Taxpayer Bill of Rights - TABOR) were defeated.

Question Three(repeal of the school consolidation law) rejected.

Question Five(Medical Marijuana Law) passed.

Question Six(Transportation Bond) passed.

Question Seven(to change the State Constitution) defeated.

And there we go. That is how Maine voted this year. Some of the results I'm happy about, others I'm not, but that's how it works. The people of Maine spoke with their votes, and that is the end of it - at least until the next Election.

Until next time...

-Wil

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PR: Batman The Brave & The Bold featuring Neil Patrick Harris

2009-10-30T16:47:34Z

To view a clip from the episode visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHY9USNC_Fk

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HEROES AND VILLAINS WILL BE SINGING A NEW TUNE IN GOTHAM CITY!

Guest Star and Emmy® Nominee Neil Patrick Harris Lends his Voice and Singing Talents to a Special Musical Episode of Batman: The Brave & The Bold Aired October 23 on the Cartoon Network

New Line Records to Digitally Release Batman: The Brave & The Bold: Mayhem of the Music Meister! – Soundtrack from the Animated Television Show on October 24

BURBANK, CA (October 6, 2009) – The Caped Crusader faces a new villain in the upcoming Batman: The Brave & The Bold episode, “Mayhem of the Music Meister!” The episode, from Warner Bros Animation, features the voice of Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) as the Music Meister, a menacing villain who is able to exert powerful mind-control through song. Producers and cast members received a standing ovation following a sneak-preview at Comic-Con this past July and, after much anticipation, the episode aired Friday, October 23 on Cartoon Network.

On Saturday, October 24, New Line Records will release Batman: The Brave & The Bold: Mayhem of the Music Meister! – Soundtrack from the Animated Television Show digitally on iTunes and other digital music outlets. Amazon.com will offer fans the exclusive option of purchasing either a hard or digital copy of the soundtrack. The soundtrack will feature all original songs from the episode as well as the highly sought Batman: The Brave & The Bold theme.

"Being approached by the producers to do a 'Batman Musical' was a complete surprise and total thrill," said composers Michael McCuistion, Lolita Ritmanis and Kristopher Carter. The phenomenal cast and musicians brought each song to life and we are so happy New Line Records has agreed to release a soundtrack so that this music can be enjoyed by Batman fans worldwide."

About Batman: The Brave & The Bold
Extremely popular on Cartoon Network with its combination of fast-paced action and humor, Batman: The Brave and the Bold is executive produced by Sam Register, with James Tucker and Linda M. Steiner as producers. The voice cast includes Diedrich Bader as Batman, James Arnold Taylor as Green Arrow, Will Friedle as Blue Beetle, Tom Kenny as Plastic Man, John DiMaggio as Aquaman and Corey Burton as Red Tornado.

About Warner Bros. Animation:
Warner Bros. Animation has been producing award-winning original animation since 1930, when it released its first cartoon, “Sinkin' in the Bathtub.” Since then, Warner Bros. Animation’s characters have set the standard for innovative, quality animation. Producing for network and cable television, online, home entertainment and feature films both domestically and internationally, Warner Bros. Animation is highly respected for its creative and technical excellence, as well as maintaining the studio’s rich cartoon heritage. Warner Bros. Animation also oversees the creative use of, and production of animated programming based on classic animated characters from the Hanna-Barbera and DC Comics libraries. Warner Bros. Animation is one of the most honored animation studios in history, garnering a grand total of six Academy Awards®, 35 Emmy® Awards, the George Foster Peabody Award, an Environmental Media Award, a Parents’ Choice Award, a Humanitas Award, two Prism Awards and 20 Annie Awards (honoring excellence in animation).

About New Line Records:
NEW LINE RECORDS a division of New Line Productions Inc., has been releasing recorded music since 2002. Distributed through Warner Music Group’s independent arm ADA, NLR has released over 60 titles, including the film soundtracks to Hairspray, Sex and the City, Elf, The Notebook, He’s Just Not That Into You, The Departed, Love and Basketball and Wedding Crashers, among others. Its 2009 schedule includes The Hangover, ROCK OF AGES Broadway Cast Recording, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Sherlock Holmes.

For more information contact: cinemediapromo@yahoo.com

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What Did I Miss?

2009-10-29T03:49:30Z

About a year ago a friend of mine that loved Buffy, let me borrow season 1 after finding out that I had never watched the show. Yeah, I, the geek, had never seen Buffy. It was obviously love at first sight. I watched the entire series in less than 6 months. This made me wonder what other shows that I missed that I should reconsider in the age of Hulu.

Babylon 5 was the next show I have started on. Seasons 1 and 2 are on Hulu and my friends had all raved about how good the show was. It was harder to get into because the entire show seems to be one huge story arc. I haven’t finished the show yet. I am only midway through the third season. The show is truly good and I am glad that I am watching it now as I think I am at a better place to understand and appreciate this show.

If you missed B5 the first time around, check out the first two seasons on Hulu. Power through the bad CG and the first couple of episodes. They are developing characters and creating an intricate plot. I don’t say this lightly, but what I have seen, blows Buffy away. Seriously, check it out.

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Destroyermen - Into the Storm...

2009-09-23T21:32:01Z

Into the Storm: Destroyermen, Book I

Taylor Anderson

This is another novel I read during the Vox-Amazon problem. It was the last one I read before they repaired it, I believe.

Anyway, I had been looking at this novel on and off for the better part of two years, wondering if I should take the chance and just buy it. Unfortunately(or Fortunately, I suppose), novels from my favorite authors were released and I bought those instead. As I was already following those series, and wanted to read the new novels badly.

I finally bought this novel - the first of a series - about a month ago. I started reading it the very day it arrived, and I couldn't put it down. I read it in less than 24hrs. It was an amazing read. A mixture of World War 2 naval history, alternate universe/timeline, and fiction.

It takes place aboard an old "four-stacker" destroyer - a left-over from World War One. The name is derived from the four smoke stacks(and the engines) they carry. They were light, fast, and rolled like a dead whale in rough seas, but the brave men who served aboard them fought them well when it counted.

This story takes place near the beginning of America's involvement in World War Two. The United States is woefully unprepared for the war, having to use older mothballed ships - like the four-stacker destroyers of World War One. The United States even sent quite a few to Great Britain during the Lend-Lease Program under orders from President Roosevelt. They weren't much, but that was all that could be done at the time.

Anyway, this story takes place in the Java Sea. The Allied Forces in the area are almost all older warships, the Pacific being the dumping ground for many of the older ships and 'bad eggs'. The actions of many of the battles mentioned at the beginning of the book are almost all factually correct, however, the author took a creative license to write his story - as many fiction authors do.

The ships our main characters are aboard are the USS WALKER and USS MAHAN - both being the four-stackers I mentioned in the previous paragraphs. However, the USS WALKER and USS MAHAN(both ships were indeed real) never served in World War Two. The USS WALKER was scuttled(sunk) seventeen days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the USS MAHAN was scrapped in 1931.

Another ship that was mentioned as being in the battle in and around the Java Sea was the Imperial Japanese Ship AMAGI. She also, never saw action in World War Two. She was scrapped by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1922 after an earthquake badly damaged her during construction. If she had been completed, as some of her sister ships were, then she would have been about the same size as the IOWA-class battleship - very powerful ship. The AMAGI's sister ships were converted to carriers before the war, just incase you were wondering.

Now, in this story, all three ships are in use by their respective governments. The American four-stackers are escorting the British cruiser HMS EXETER - along with several other destroyers - to Australia(eventually), however, they are being followed by a Japanese force(including the AMAGI) that is hell-bent on stopping them. A series of attacks by the force behind(a combined attack from the air and sea) are able to slow the EXETER down enough for the force behind them to get closer.

With that, the Japanese ships are able to use more of their guns to attack the beliegered fleet. The destroyers turn to make a smoke screen between the EXETER and the Japanese force. Now the Japanese are firing blind at the Allied Fleet. Eventually, the enemy closes and wounds the EXETER badly. The commander of the EXETER orders the rest of the destroyers to make a run for it while the EXETER fights it out with the Japanese. But the gesture is futile. Eventually the four-stackers find a squall - a bad patch of weather that they hope to hide in, and lose the Japanese. But the AMAGI and a Japanese destroyer stand in the way.

The American destroyers can think of only one thing to do. It's dangerous, and they most likely won't survive, but they do it anyway. They attack, firing everything they have, and then firing torpedoes at close range at the Japanese ships. The Japanese destroyer is hit by torpedoes meant for the AMAGI - the commander of the destroyer having ordered his ship to take the hits instead - and is destroyed. Both American destroyers are damaged now, the MAHAN severely - her bridge destroyed and much of her forward section useless junk and is now commanded by the ship's engineer(all other officers having been killed).

The WALKER orders another attack, the ships splitting up and moving along either side of the AMAGI, firing away. Soon after, they are into the squall, but it's unlike any squall they had ever been in. The wind and rain begin to act funny, and then there is a falling sensation. Then bam, they aren't in Kansas anymore Toto. =P

Takes them a bit to figure out they aren't in their world any longer, but they figure it out when they see dinosaurs on an island that once held humans.

This story was fantastic. I will be reading it again shortly, as I read it so fast the first time. I highly recommend it for those who like alternate history, alternate universe, fiction-type novels.

Until next time...

-Wil

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Aries 1-X Rocket Test Flight...

2009-10-29T01:54:09Z

Ares 1-X Rocket Test Flight Launch

Today on NASA-TV I watched the successful launch of the Aries 1-X Rocket's test flight. It went beautifully. Future versions of this rocket will help send our astronauts back to the Moon and onto Mars(and points beyond). Thought others of you interested in Space Flight and the on-goings of NASA would like to see this as well, if you missed it earlier today.

Here's the link to the official site at the NASA home page: Click me. And an excerpt:

Outstanding teamwork was the theme of the Ares I-X postlaunch news conference as the successful flight test was discussed.

"I can't say enough about this team," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "They've been together probably a little over three years now, and they went from a concept to flying this vehicle in that period of time, which is the first time this has been done by a human spaceflight team in a long time."

Referring to the weather, which was the only issue of the day, Constellation Program Manager Jeff Hanley said, "We were ready when Mother Nature was ready, and we took our opportunity and what a great outcome. We're very proud of the result."

"It was a spectacular day," said Bob Ess, Ares I-X mission manager. "The vehicle flew even better than we expected."

"It is just a fantastic day," said Launch Director Ed Mango. "The team really excelled. I can't say enough about the folks who worked together to go make this thing happen. It was a great team, and as you can tell, it was a great vehicle."

NASA's Ares I-X test rocket lifted off at 11:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a two-minute powered flight. The flight test lasted about six minutes from its launch from the newly modified Launch Pad 39B until splashdown of the rocket's booster stage nearly 150 miles downrange.

You can find more information at the link I gave you.

Until next time...

-Wil

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Senate Dems Short Votes for Health Bill

2009-10-27T21:35:20Z

Senator-Snow-001

Was browsing through Yahoo News today and saw an article saying that the Senate Democrats may not have the votes to pass their Healthcare Bill after all. It seems that several Democratic Senators and Senator Olympia Snow - of Maine - have witheld their support of the bill now that it is before the full Senate. And I'm happy about that, to be honest.

Some of you will ask why, and the answer is quite simple, this needs to be debated more. Much more. Once they've hammed out some details, make sure there is a stipulation that they won't force insurance companies in any way to up their prices or force them out of business, and allow all American Citizens to choose their own insurance. Whether it be from an insurance company within their State, outside their State, or from a government option.

Personally, I'm still not 100% sure that a government option should even be considered. A part of me finds it appalling that my government would grow so large as to do this, but another part wants those Citizens who cannot afford healthcare to have an option - even if it's a government one. But there is a problem, there is potential that the Healthcare option could be used on illegal immigrants, and I don't believe it should be used for them. They should be give first aid and then sent back to the nation they came from to receive proper health care.

I know what some of you are thinking, that when I said "illegal immigrants" I mean all immigrants, and that simply isn't the case. Those that came here legally? Got their green cards, visa's, or have become naturalized citizens, I don't mind them receiving it at all. They've at least done it legally. But those who haven't, shouldn't benefit from such a program. Period.

Until next time...

-Wil

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Strange Troop Movement in Southern California...

2009-10-27T21:04:03Z

Strange Troop Movement in Southern California

Saw a tweet about this on Twitter and figured someone was pulling peoples legs. Figured, hey, it's just a deployment drill, and I'm still willing to believe that until proven otherwise. But, I figured I would post it for those of you who might be interested and would like to speculate.

Until next time...

-Wil

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Zombies for Halloween

2009-10-23T19:00:25Z

http://www.zazzle.com/budd921/zombie+gifts

Thank you,

Budd Black

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Indie Sci Fi anyone?

2009-10-26T17:10:03Z

Flowers hepatica cc

So here it is, almost Halloween and I don't have any underground sci fi to watch. There's no District 9 seqel. Do you feel sorry for me yet? I used to be hooked into the coolest indie stuff because I hung out with artists. But since grad school I've become boring and I lost my connecitons.

Most of the sci fi I like is pretty pop-culture. Lexx, The Cell and Kingdom Hospital are among my favorites. Semi-obscure but hardly indie.

I was planning to apologize for talking about District 9 again, but hey I wouldn't be the first person to obsessively blog about one topic. Just call me a Trekkie! To be honest I wish there were more people making such controversial films. I love cheesy sci fi. But hey, D9 has been banned in Nigeria. Sci fi with substance. How cool is that?

Do most of us really know what goes in places like this? One BBC article talks about the controversy. The filmmakers used the actual District 9 "slum" and hired some of the locals to help build the set. Residents were paid and fed. Some were happy, some were not. Leave it to BBC to show both sides of the story. Wouldn't it be nice if American networks still did the same? **Ahem, Fox "News...."

I'm not always in search of "meaningful" films. I just want creative and high-quality. Peter Jackson was not afraid to tackle the topic of social justice and racism. And it was a blast to watch. Oh and ps, I heard that Sharlto Copley might be nominated for an Oscar.

Any recommendations for indie films?

'District 9' Trailer 2 HD

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