Reid Spotlight: James Gunn and the Center for the Study of Science Fiction

Do you know who James Gunn is? Have you ever heard of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction? If you don't, not to worry; I'm going to put Gunn and the center in the spotlight and give you some background.

Gunn is the director of the center at the University of Kansas and professor emeritus of English at the university. He's the editor of the The Road to Science Fiction series and has a Hugo award for Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction, a nonfiction book published in 1983.

James Gunn (photo from Wikipedia)

His science fiction includes The Immortals and almost a hundred other stories. Plus, he was named Grand Master of Science Fiction in 2007 by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Now that you know who Gunn is if you didn't already, what is the Center for the Study of Science Fiction? Basically, it's a not-for-profit organization created in 1982 with the goals to educate people in science fiction and garner more interest in the genre. It's known for presenting the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for the best science-fiction novel and has an intensive writer's workshop. On its website, you'll find links to several resources. You also can earn college-credit taking science fiction courses it offers through the University of Kansas.

I recommend you read some of Gunn's works and check out the Center for the Study of Science Fiction website at www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter. It's always good to learn something new.

Star Wars Meets Grocery Aisle: The Grocery Wars and Chad Vader Videos

First, I'd like to thank Vicki Rocho at Rambles and Randomness blog for hosting the Eye Candy Blogfest and picking my favorite picture as the winner.

As I was looking at everyone's entries, I notice a Death Melon picture at the Willy Wonka Experience blog. basically, it's a melon designed like the Death Star from Star Wars. It reminded me of a video from YouTube called Grocery Store Wars, which you can watch below.

And since I'm on the subject of produce, there's another good fan-made Star Wars video called Chad Vader, in which Vader works at a grocery store. As a side note, Matt Sloan who does the voice of Vader in the video was so good at it that he did the voice of Vader for the "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" video games.

Enjoy!

A Funny Science Fiction Picture for Eye Candy Blogfest on New Year's Day

It's a new year, which means new goals. I thought about blogging about my goals for the year, but I can sum that up by saying I want to read, write, watch and listen to more science fiction stories and share it with others.

Alternatively, I could have written a book review of an old, little-known novel I read (which I still may blog about).

Or I could have shared a 300-word story I wrote (my first attempt at writing flash fiction).

Ultimately, I decided to participate in Vicki Rocho's Eye Candy Blogfest from her Rambles & Randomness blog.

I found out about it from Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog.

Basically, participants are asked to post a picture that makes them smile. So here's my pick:

Reid Review: 'Tron: Legacy' Movie

Merry Christmas! This week, Santa came early to give me tickets to watch Disney's "Tron: Legacy" in theaters. I went to see it without reading any movie reviews beforehand so I wouldn't have any preconceived ideas about it.

If you haven't watched it, the Internet Movie Database describes the storyline as follows: "Sam Flynn, the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn, looks into his father's disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 20 years. Along with Kevin's loyal confidant, father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous."

This movie is a sequel to the 1982 movie "Tron," and it's good to see that Jeff Bridges returned as Kevin Flynn. I broke the review down into five aspects:

Long List of Science Fiction Magazines

There are plenty of science fiction magazines (online and/or print) that you have yet to discover. I wanted to list all of the magazines I'm familiar with, but I found a list online that was much greater than mine. So I'll link to the website, instead.

WikiLeaks vs. Pirated Books

Whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, which has been disclosing classified U.S. information, has been in the news lately, and a comment from Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, caught my attention.

According to The Associated Press article written by Raphael G. Satter and Jill Lawless and published on TIME.com on Thursday, Dec. 9, under the headline "WikiLeaks Supporters Wage Cyber Wars", "The U.N.'s top human rights official raised the alarm Thursday over officials' and corporations' moves to cut off WikiLeaks' funding and starve it of server space — something she described as 'potentially violating WikiLeaks' right to freedom of expression.'"

By this logic, if companies are not allowed to sever ties with individuals and companies that are using their service for illegal activity, than that causes quite a few problems.

Doctor Who: 'A Christmas Carol' Preview

In full disclosure, I'm not a huge fan of Doctor Who, possibly because I haven't watched enough episodes, but the show deserves praise, nonetheless, for being the longest running science fiction TV show in the world. Its 47th anniversary passed Nov. 23.

Since Christmas is near, I thought it would be fitting to show a trailer for the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas special, "A Christmas Carol," which can be seen below. Perhaps I should watch the episode when it comes out since I've been out of the Doctor Who loop for quite some time.

What are your opinions of the show?