In 2008 and 2009 I wrote for io9.com (when it was still part of Gawker and run by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders), first as their first intern and then as a contributor who got to cover events like New York Comic Con. Some highlights I’ve linked to from this website are Did Star Trek or Doctor Who Mold Your Brain? and The Day the Earth Stood Still Remake Is Pure Sucky Evil, but there’s a lot more where they came from!
“Firefly and Serenity fans know Sean Maher as Dr. Simon Tam, the most devoted brother and best-dressed surgeon in hundreds of worlds. Next week, Maher will premiere his performance of Don John in Joss Whedon’s adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. Grinning and freshly caffeinated for his second Dragon*Con, Maher sat down with the Daily Dragon to chat about siblings, Shakespeare, storytelling, and the con experience.”
Four years ago, Felicia Day stood handing out bookmarks at Comic-Con International, hoping that the promotion for her tiny new web series The Guild wouldn’t get lost in the shuffle of the many scraps of paper thrust at every con-goer. This Saturday, she and her Guild costars Amy Okuda and Robin Thorsen stepped onstage in the Sheraton Grand Ballroom to wild cheers from hundreds of their fans. The excitement of Nathan Fillion’s guest appearance in the show’s current season (its fifth) had not yet worn off, and the ladies eagerly shared hints about more upcoming surprises, favorite moments of past seasons, and who could kick Day’s butt playing Halo.
A speaker in the Science, Skeptics, and Writer’s Track, Jennifer Ouellette has authored fun and fascinating books The Physics of the Buffyverse, Quantum Cats: Tales from the Annals of Physics, and most recently The Calculus Diaries: How Math Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse. For two years she has been the director of the Science and Entertainment Exchange, a National Academy of Sciences program that pairs technical experts with Hollywood creators. She took time on Sunday to chat with the Daily Dragon about her work in the glorious world of geeks.
You’ve heard about the death of print sf, but could online outlets for stories of the imagination be just as doomed? Fantasy Magazine has a reality check on the future of speculative fiction.
The best part of falling for a show is discovering that the actors in it are just as shamelessly fannish as you are. Lo and behold, there are a lot more actor geeks than you think!
For years I got blank stares when I told people that The Day the Earth Stood Still was my favorite movie. “It’s this black-and-white science-fiction film from the 1950s,” I’d say, and when they just gazed back at me, I’d finish with “look, just watch it, okay?” Little did I know that something far more sinister was in my future — now when I talk about The Day the Earth Stood Still, people will think I’m lauding the performance of one Keanu Reeves. The very thought makes me want to hurl the contents of my stomach all over my keyboard.
A few weeks ago, we asked you to take a survey about whether Star Trek or Doctor Who had molded your brain. We wanted to know whether there was any connection between being a fan of one of these shows and what your career aspirations might be – as well as what career you wind up having. Over 1600 people responded, and it turns out Doctor Who and Star Trek fans aren’t very differently-brained. Both shows inspire fans to have similar dream jobs, though not all of them manage to get those jobs when they grow up. We also learned what fans want most from the shows. Find out more, and check out our amazing data charts, below.