Just a Little Bit Longer... (again)

Review is taking longer than expected. In the meantime, check out this post at The B-Movie Catechism, which Snuffles is planning to comment on in a few days.

Update

Okay, I actually meant tomorrow I'll get the next review out.

Update

New review coming tomorrow.

Incidentally, don't ever go to bed right after watching Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Man, I had some messed up dystopian dreams.

Just a Little Bit Longer...

Goodness. It's been so long since I've written a movie review, I do believe I've forgotten how. We'll come back tomorrow with some substantial content. Sorry for the wait.

Error Corrected

Sometimes we get linky love from people we don't know how to love back; this is a blog about Catholics, science fiction, and Catholics who like science fiction. Like most blogs, we maintain blogrolls (to your right) for sf and RC blogs (that's science fiction and Roman Catholic for you fellow acronym-haters, and I really need to go design that Acronym Haters Anonymous logo). Sometimes, when we get luv from those who aren't RC or sf, we give them a little post and then have no idea where to stick their blogs permanently on the site, so we don't.

Sometime back, TJIC from TJICistan linked us, and because we have a Persian emperor's record for showing magnanimity to those who benefit us, we promptly forgot to link him back. And as it turns out, TJIC over there is Catholic, so you'll now find his blog in our blogroll, listed as Dispatches from TJICistan. TJIC is insightful and also funny. See how he describes his blog:

TJICistan is an autonomous anarchic zone landlocked inside Arlington, MA, USA.

TJICistan covers approximately 7,000 square feet of space.

TJICistan has a permanent population of one humans and two dogs.

TJICistan seceeded from Arlington, Massachusetts, and the United States on 26 December, 1995.

After extensive utility computations, the non-government of TJICistan has chosen to pay foreign aid, to all three levels of government in the adjacent territories, as the alternative of armed confrontation, while certainly exciting and entertaining, sums to a lower total level of utility over time.

That's classic.

Aaagh! It's the 25th Already!

Sorry all, this is a Josephus catch-up, so no post today.

Oh yeah...

Other projects press. Will be back with more tomorrow.

Not Today

Sorry for the absence of posting these last couple of days; as for the review I mentioned yesterday, it's been delayed because it turns out we had to order some stuff, and might have to order more stuff. I'll try to give you a good post tomorrow, but I just spent the whole day editing something important, and so am in no shape for writing anything of substance now. I'll try to get you something worthwhile tomorrow.

A Tantalizing (?) Notice

No post today. Snuffles and I are preparing a joint review we hope you will find intriguing, if we can pull together the source material we need and make anything worthwhile out of it. Check in again tomorrow. HINT: It involves cities.

Discipline Update

Twelve and a half down, two and a half to go. You'll learn all about it soon.

And goodness gracious, I forgot to finish my post for the B-Movie Catechist's monthly film club. I better get it in gear on that one, too.

Oh, the Agony...

Seven down and eight to go. *Sigh.* In case you haven't heard, Snuffles is, as he puts it, "punishing" me. That's not really accurate, but...well okay, it is. Man, I've really gone and done it this time; I've never seen him so angry. You'll learn all about it in a day or two.

Problem is, the whole family's on his side. Lucky won't even speak to me, Frederick's standing over me with a horsewhip, and Phenny can't stop sniggering. Let's see, at a little over an hour each, if I go all night, I can be finished in...*sigh*...nine or ten hours. Man, and I hardly slept the last couple of nights.

A Brief Notice

In case you're wondering about the whereabouts of the young nitwit who usually posts to this blog, I am, shall we say, punishing him. You'll learn all about it in a couple of days. In the meanwhile, I will probably have a post for you late tomorrow to make up for the recent dearth, and one of my posts should be equal to a dozen of that idiot's.

Blogrolls

I've begun the process of performing some much-needed blog maintenance. You'll see that our Sci Fi Blogroll is now divided into three categories: author, news, and fan blogs. There may be some objections to the placement of certain blogs, as the boundary between these three categories is sometimes blurry. Nonetheless, I feel this will improve the blogroll's utility, and future tweaking is always possible. I may divide up the Catholic Blogroll as well if I can come up with a useful way to do so.

I've also added a feature so that the word UPDATED! will appear next to a blog when it's been updated within the last three hours. At the time of this writing, a number of the Catholic blogs have update notifications but none of the sci-fi blogs do. I assume that's because all the sci-fi fans are in church.

Current Reading List

Now is the time of making New Year's Resolutions, and one of my resolutions is to finally, at last, for a change, keep the "Current Reading List" updated. In case you've never seen our Current Reading List, it's over on the right, down at the bottom of the sidebar. This blog is supposed to be mostly about books, though we've been reviewing a lot of movies of late, so I like to let you all see what books we're in.

I've convinced Snuffles to add his own books to the list and keep them updated, too, though considering the unholy rate at which he can chew through manga, I won't guarantee his list will be up-to-the-minute.

Up and Coming

Very soon now, we're headed home. After we have access to all our resources again, we'll start delivering some of the things we have planned. While in the Denver airport, Snuffles read Neil Gaiman's Coraline (you may forget that Snuffles is not only an otaku but a kid lit enthusiast). I'm just about finished with William Gibson's Count Zero, which will also get a discussion.

A lot of sf/f movies have come out lately, but we simply can't hit all of them. I was getting exhausted from constantly running out to the theater before I slapped myself in the head and remembered this isn't a movie blog. Anyway, I will review National Treasure: Book of Secrets in the near future, and it's likely I'll see Alien vs. Predator: Requiem. Though I intended to review it, I missed Enchanted and don't think I'm likely to make it.

It is also almost time to begin a multi-part criticism of Michael O'Brien's A Landscape With Dragons, to which both Snuffles and I look forward with relish.

Christmas Update

Well, another Christmas has come and gone. As I had suspected I would, I've had little time to post, but I thought I should pop in and tell you how we're doing.

As you may have guessed, I've taken the whole family to visit Snuffles's parents (by adoption), Harman and Nattie T. Dragon. They've never met Phenny, Frederick, or Lucky before, but they're getting along splendidly. My fairy godmother showed up yesterday as well.

If you're wondering what we all got for Christmas, I can tell you that Snuffles's manga collection and my science fiction collection have both expanded considerably. Frederick got a neat horn-polisher and Phenny got a new incense burner. Lucky didn't get the oxygenator she wanted because I forgot to buy her anything until the last minute and then couldn't find one, but I figure that doesn't matter because she doesn't really need it and because, hey, it's the thought that counts. And I did think about buying her an oxygenator.

But here's the big news: we got another letter from Rocky the Space Mouse! Rocky can only write infrequently because he's hiding in the ventilation system of a secret Martian base, but he usually tries to send a letter out for Christmas, and he always includes a special note for Lucky. Here's his letter in full:

Dear Deej, Snuffles, Frederick, Phenny, and of course Lucky,

Things have eased up here. The astronauts are relaxing because of the holiday. As I write, they are in the mess hall enjoying, as well as they are able, a reconstituted freeze-dried turkey dinner. They are laughing a good deal.

I have done the best I can with my meager provisions to make a suitably festive repast. I managed to steal a large block of cheese and have been making merry with it.

I am almost certain now that the base was built to contact the Prosipians, a race that has conquered a number of other solar systems in the Orion Arm. At first, I believed the astronauts were planning to sell us out to the Prosipians, but they are constructing weapons in the shop, so I may have been wrong. In fact, this secret base may be our first line of defense against the inevitable invasion. That's something of a relief, though I'm still in danger, as is the Earth. I will do what I can on this end, but tell my compatriots in the wall behind the fridge to begin Plan C. They'll know what you mean.

And Lucky--how are you, Princess? I hope that clod Deej has been treating you well for a change. I renew now the vow I made to you a year ago that somehow, in my travels, I will find a cure for your curse and return you to human form. When I do, I will make you a space suit of your own and take you to the Moon and to Mars and to Venus and show you all the places I've written about in my letters. Take heart, and don't let Snuffles's needling or Deej's oafishness upset you. I hope to return to Earth in a few months. If I'm able, I'll visit you then.

All my love,

Rocky the Space Mouse

So, there you have it. I'm not able with my present shaky access to the Internet to give you regular posts, but both Snuffles and I have a backlog of reviews to present, so as soon as we get back home, we'll start going again at full speed. Hope everyone is having a good time with family and friends this Christmas season!

Holiday Madness!

This isn't exactly the announcement of a hiatus or anything like that, but it is that crazy time of year. Among other things, that means I have to move my person--along with a goldfish, a unicorn, a dragon, and a phoenix--from here to somewhere else far away where the Internet connections are sketchy.

As you can imagine, the logistical issues involved in transporting that many fictional beasts on an airplane during the holiday rush are an absolute nightmare. Imagine me trying to book a flight: "I need to reserve three seats, a stable, and a dragon pen." I get funny looks from a lot of ticket agents. And the red tape is insane--what with the new security measures, transporting two creatures who can create spontaneous fires is ridiculously hard. Last time, they told me I had to chop Snuffles into pieces and carry him onto the plane in clear plastic bags no larger than six ounces. That wouldn't work, so he had to stay home. Fortunately, things have eased up since then.

Having said all that, I should remark that airport security really isn't the hassle people make it out to be. I find I don't really need to arrive at the airport three hours early: a quick strip search by three giggling female guards in a really cold room, and presto, I'm through security and waiting for my flight. I think our safety is worth that kind of humiliation. At first, I couldn't tolerate it, but I got more comfortable after I learned that "window" out to the concourse is really a mirror on the other side. I admit, though, I would have been a lot less uncomfortable if they told me that at the beginning.

Sick Day

The whole cast and crew's come down with a cold, but we should drag ourselves out of bed tomorrow to offer up a new book review, so stay tuned.

Today

Sorry there's no new content today, but the weather's cleared and we're back in the field, and I have pressing business I must attend to this evening, much as I'd like to write to you all. But in my defense, I think yesterday's post was kind of long, wasn't it?

Up In the Air...with Santa

I'm headed to the field tomorrow, so that means the blog may get dicey for a little while. I'm not sure what the situation is this time around, but I'll post when I can.

In the meanwhile, because I don't know what my near future plans are, I invite you to check out Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, a classic of bad science fiction and our theme for this upcoming holiday season. I'm unveiling it early because I don't know my schedule for the immediate future, but I'll talk about it when I get the chance.

The movie is public domain, so you can watch it on Google Video here.

And don't forget the quirky and highly enjoyable novelization, coincidentally entitled Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, by Lou Harry. The novel comes with a DVD of the movie so you can share the badness with the whole family. Looooong-time readers of the blog will remember that I reviewed the novel back when the blog was still ugly and had a different title, and Lou Harry even dropped by to comment!

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is also one of the most famous episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000. We'll be discussing this send-up and talking about the dreamy possibilities of a remake of this great film.

And as always, don't forget to--

Keep Mass in Christmas!