Fantasist's Scroll

Wheee!

Today is not only the birthday of the Science Fiction Channel, but also Space: Above and Beyond! The SciFi Channel launched today in 1992 and started a revolution in television.
But, just as important my favorite science-fiction show of ALL time launched today in 1995. There wasn’t anything quite like Space: Above and Beyond, and there hasn’t been anything like it since, either. Imagine all the best things about Star Trek combined with the grit from Heinlein’s Starship Troopers (the book, not the movie!) and you start to get an idea. It was military science-fiction at its finest! The story, in a nutshell, is that Earth colonies get attacked by an unknown alien invasion force and we’re suddenly off to war. The series focused on a group of Marine pilots who fly off to space, each for their own reasons, to fight the enemy. And then it started to get really interesting. In my opinion, there hasn’t been writing this good in either science-fiction or television in years. I was really sorry to see it go. Maybe I’ll get lucky and the SciFi Channel will bring it back again! Or, maybe you would like to see it on DVD? Well, so would all the fans, but it’s not out yet. If you’d like to see this show released on DVD, why not sign the Space: Above and Beyond DVD Petition?

Oh, my stars, yes, loads of fun!

I first saw the Ghyll Encyclopedia, then the blog post that inspired it. So, I came to understand this glory in a ’round about fashion. Still, it seems like loads of fun. I have no idea how many readers this sad blog draws, but I hope they all go to discover the joys of this game. In fact, I like it so much, I may just set up one of my own! Yes, it’s that inventive.

Oh, for Heaven’s sake, it’s Friday, go see!
(And, yes, I am, in fact, the alter ego of “Doctor” Phineas Crank.)

Freshly added to the conlang word generator.

Yep, that’s right, now you can generate words, and names, based on languge files torn from the pages of Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melnibone series. I’ve very carefully entered in loads of words and proper names from the series by hand from several different sources. The beauty of it is, no one could tell if I’d made any spelling errors! These are some seriously crazy names.
Oh, that reminds me, they’re also available in the proper name generator, too. And, just because it strikes me as funny, I’ve also added Melnibonean combined with Latin to both of these. And, I have to admit, it really works fairly well! (Though, the straight Melnibonean occasionally coughs up a little too much data in the name generator. There must be a hidden character somewhere in the file that’s messing things up. Oh, well, no one’s perfect!)

So, go have fun with them!

Okay, mainly it’s just planets….

But, it’s still cool! Last week, I mentioned several articles about habitable planets outside our solar system, so it’s been on my mind. Well, today, my Friday Fun Link is to a site called Extrasolar Visions, which is the home of the artist who did the amazing graphics that are on the Space.com site. He has a gallery there, but the work is mainly small stuff with links to where you can buy prints of the work. But, he also has something called Extrasolar Skies, which makes starmaps on the fly. As the name implies, it also lets you choose your viewing location. Very cool. And fun, too!

So, hey, it’s Friday, go dream a little!

For pity’s sake, READ THE POST!

Okay, now I’ve gotten a whole bunch of people asking me to help them write out Elvish words or phrases in one of Tolkien’s various Elvish scripts. I’m going to say this one more time for you all: I do not know how to write in any elvish script whatsoever! I only care about Tolkien’s languages for the fact that he made them himself and used them to create an amazing world about which he wrote wonderful stories. I do not know how to speak or write in any form of Sindarin, Quenya, Tengwar or any other of his langauges. What’s more, I have no desire to do so. I will not write them in a box. I will not speak them for a fox!

However, if you do want help, the fine purveyor of many things Elvish at Gildor’s Page seems fairly willing to help. You can see some of the work done already at this page: Tengwar in Reality. So, go ask them!

And, that’s all I’m going to mention on that subject again. (I hope!)

Everyone knows there’s only 36 plots.

Now you can learn them at Calihoo Writing Idea Generators! This mildly interactive page brings you through all 36(+1) plots, highlighting the characters, tensions and motivations involved in each one. So, if you’re like me and have problems with simple things, like plot, you may just find that this little gem of a site helps you get started on that story you’ve always wanted to write. Go check it out!

I’ve always been fascinated with Japanese.

Mainly due to a fascination with the martial arts, but that’s a whole other kettle of fish. In any case, I have several links for you fellow Japanophiles. First, there’s Japanese for the Western Mind. It looks like a good place to start. Of course, I’m biased, I have a Western Mind! And, also there’s The Japanese Language, which is not quite as comprehesnive as it sounds! Though it does look like an excellent second stop for the amateur linguist.
And, lastly, I have a vocabulary builder: the Philippi Martial Arts Glossary page. It’s actually got more than Japanese terms on it, so it might be usefull to conlangers, as well.

In any case, these looked like fun sites to me, but then I’ve been sick, so, what the hell, it’s Friday! Go check them out!

Been a lot of talk about extrasolar planets lately…

In the past week, Space.com has reported about both a “giant Earth” and two Neptune-sized planets being found. So, there’s been a lot of talk about voyages to other planets and finding other Earths lately. I think we’ll eventually go, but it’ll be in generation ships and things on Earth will have to get really desperate first. After all, that would be a “one-way” trip.
That’s nice and all, but I think they’re missing the boat in some ways. I mean, why not inhabitable moons? According to Space.com, they could very well exist. In fact, I speculated on that quite some time ago and I even got a physist to back me up! A very nice man by the name of Sheridan Simon, who’s also done work for Lawrence Watt-Evans, did up a whole planetary system for me. I actually based it around Tau Ceti, which he said was a good choice, actually, since it’s very similar to our own star. Anyway, he did up a whole system for me. I ought to scan it and make it available on-line… Well, we’ll see about that, but it is an interesting line of thought for science-fiction, isn’t it?
Read the articles, think, then write! Go on!