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Saturday Special from the Vaults: Close Encounters of the Science Centre Kind
Here's a blast from the past: my 1993 script for a half-hour science-fiction-flavored promotional TV show for the Saskatchewan Science Centre, which aired on Cable Regina (now Access Communications). I was communications officer of the Science Centre at the time. Since I voiced the alien, large portions of this consisted essentially of me talking to myself. An actor's dream come true! (Hmmm....since none of the staff members mentioned in here are still with the Science Centre, maybe I should contact the Science Centre and see if they want to film a remake. Or a sequel: Close Encounters of the Science Centre Kind II: The Exhibits Strike Back!) CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF ...Out with the old, in with the new: digital TV
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2011/08/Analog-and-Digital-TV.mp3[/podcast] Technology changes, new ways of doing things driving out the old. Take digital television. In fact, you’ll have to: by August 31, over-the-air television stations in most major Canadian cities are being required to stop broadcasting in analog and start broadcasting in digital. Merriam-Webster defines analog as “of, relating to, or being a mechanism in which data is represented by continuously variable physical quantities.” Digital, on the other hand, is defined as, “of or relating to the fingers or toes.” Wait a second, that can’t be right...oh, here we go: “of, relating to, or being data in the form of especially binary digits.” A phonograph record is analog, the continuous, wriggly groove representing the ...Like, wow, man: "White Rabbit" Star Trek
Classic Trek scenes set to Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit". Jimi and Janis would both approve. (Via SF Signal.)Hey, that’s me on Newsworld!
My interview on Newsworld regarding the science of soccer did indeed air today at 11:15 a.m. I captured it and YouTubed it for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!Me on Newsworld
Yesterday CBC Newsworld contacted me about doing a short segment on the science of soccer, in honour of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup now being played in Canada. (If you google "The Science of Soccer," the column I wrote in 2002 is the first hit.)I did the interview this morning on the lawn outside CBC Regina. I couldn't see the interviewer (Susan Pedlar) and she couldn't see me, but everything went fairly smoothly. At least, I don't think I said anything stupid. (I hope not. I really don't want soccer fans mad at me...) And I didn't drop the soccer ball I was holding, either, so that's a plus.I don't know when the segment ...A musical version of The Addams Family?
Well, why not?Furryvision!
Phillips says it can build a video display that would consist of a piece of fabric covered with fur:Here's how it works: imagine the fabric is red and the hair is blue. With the hairs lying flat obscuring the fabric beneath, the pixel looks blue. But applying an electrostatic charge causes the hairs to repel each other and stand on end.This reveals the fabric underneath and changes the pixel from blue to red. With an array of pixels, Philips says it should be possible to build a furry display that can show complete images.What they haven't said is why.Scientists watch black hole munch star
Did anyone besides me see this story about scientists catching a black hole in the act of munching a star and think of "The Beast Shall Rise from the Pit," the two-part Dr. Who episode (the first half of which just aired in Canada on Monday night)?Speaking of which, I just learned from The Dr. Who Blog that that cliffhanger does not get resolved until January--not that the CBC bothered to inform anyone watching of that fact.And while we're on the subject of the unprofessional way CBC handles Dr. Who, don't they have anyone on staff who could actually, like, watch the show and ensure that commercials are not (as they appear to be) ...Old sci-fi movies got it right!
It used to be a staple of B-movie science fiction involving travel in outer space or landing on another planet: the meteor shower, rocks flying through space and threatening our heroes with explosive decompression (see yesterday's post!) or worse.Turns out, they may have been on to something.A recent episode of The Backyardigans (our TV is locked on the preschool Treehouse channel, since we have a five-year-old) had our singing kid-whatever-they-ares threatened by a meteor shower. Fortunately, they had a meteor umbrella on their rover.Maybe NASA should watch more kid-TV!Trading places
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to trade places with another family, living a completely different life from yours in some completely different part of the country? If you have, you should get in touch with Heather Kaisler at Partners in Motion, a Regina-based television production company. She’s the producer of their popular program Trading Places, which airs on the Life Network and will soon go into the production of its second season. The show’s concept is simple. A family from one part of the country travels trades places with a family from another part of a country. For three days, the two families live in each other’s houses, go to each others’ ...
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Magebane
“Spectacular” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Evil wizards, multi-level conspiracies, hidden kingdoms…Lee Arthur Chane…has done a marvelous job…Magebane is a very entertaining book and well worth the time.” – A.M. Donovan, Night Owl Reviews
I happily recommend Magebane and I’ll certainly give Chane’s next novel a try based on this one.” —Bill Capossere, Fantasy Literature
“…an original and delightful tale of epic fantasy and magic, steampunk science, adventure, tragedy, and love…” – Errant Dreams Reviews
Eight centuries ago, the world changed. A devastating war swept the lands, and the MageLords, who had long ruled by virtue of their spell powers, were driven to a distant place, separated from those they had ruled by a magical Barrier. With magic banished from the rest of the world, the MageLords became mere legend and people turned to science to improve their lives. But if one man has his way, all that is about to change….
Written as Lee Arthur Chane (the middle names of my older brothers, Jimmy Lee and Dwight Arthur, and myself, Edward Chane Willett).
Marseguro
Winner of the 2009 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English
Water world Marseguro is home to the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from human DNA. When an unmodified human seeks revenge on a Selkie by activating a distress beacon taken from the remains of the original colony ship, a strikeforce is sent from Earth to eradicate the genetic abomination. Yet Marseguro will not prove as easy to conquer as the Earth force anticipates…
Terra Insegura
Finalist for the 2010 Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel in English
Marseguro, a water world far from Earth, is home to a colony of humans and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from modified human DNA. For seventy years the colony has lived in peace. Then Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force is sent to eradicate this “abomination.” But Marseguro has created a genetically tailored plague to use against Earth’s Holy Warriors. With the enemy defeated, the people of Marseguro feel they are safe. But Chris Keating, the traitor who signaled Marseguro’s location to the Holy Warriors, has fled to Earth, unknowingly carrying the deadly plague within him. The people of Marseguro feel they must send a ship to Earth with a life-saving vaccine. Only time will tell what awaits them when they reach their destination.
Lost in Translation
Kathryn was a human empath whose world and life had been destroyed when the alien S’sinn slaughtered her parents before her very eyes. Jarrikk was a young S’sinn, an unproven warrior who’d seen his flight mates slaughtered by the humans who’d sought to colonize his world.
As humans and S’sinn found themselves on the brink of war, these two Translators had to work together to find a common ground and avert catastrophe. But whether their Translators’ oath and training could overcome the enemies leagued against them was very much in doubt…
Archives
Song of the Sword
My new YA fantasy novel from Lobster Press
Before the Lady called her, Ariane’s life was a mess. Two years ago, her mother disappeared. She bounced around different foster homes until her aunt finally took her in. The meanest clique at her new high school has decided to make Ariane their prime target. And to top it all off, she is having frightening premonitions, and they are becoming more intense. The moment water touches her skin, she sees visions of a lake, a lady, and a sword. When a staircase opens up in the middle of Wascana Lake and the water begins singing to her, she has no choice but to answer the call….
Historic Walks of Regina and Moose Jaw
Ten walks to points of historic and architectural interest in the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw (eight walks for Regina, two for Moose Jaw).
Johnny Cash: The Man in Black
When country music legend Johnny Cash took the stage at Folsom State Prison in 1968, he solidified the public’s perception of him as a rebel who followed his own path. Born in Arkansas during the Great Depression, Cash endured poverty, the death of his older brother, and a difficult relationship with his father. He turned to gospel and country music to express the pain, and after many years of struggling, his songs of hardship and hope would finally reach the ears of those waiting for an artist who represented them, ordinary people fighting to survive.
Andy Warhol: Everyone Will Be Famous for 15 Minutes
“Paintings are too hard. Machines have less problems…” In the 1960s, Andy Warhol became the most famous creator of a new style of art called pop art, which transformed mass-produced items of popular culture into fine works of art. From Campbell’s Soup cans to photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Warhol’s willingness to use anything and everything from the mass media in his work expanded the range of subject matter available to artists. His avant-garde films, artistic usage of American icons, and unconventional social life made him a controversial figure, both greatly admired and deeply reviled. A trendsetter rather than a trend-follower, a dispassionate observer of both the seamy and celebrity sides of life, Warhol was a true American rebel.
Disease-Hunting Scientist
The true stories of six real disease hunters. Epidemiologists travel the world trying to keep us safe from deadly diseases—from high-tech labs in Canada to remote villages in Africa. Learn how these “disease detectives” are coming up with new ways to fight disease, and find out if you have what it takes to become an epidemiologist, too!
The Bounty Mutiny
The Bounty was a British ship visiting Tahiti in 1789 when some of the crew overthrew the captain, William Bligh, and set him adrift in a tiny boat with sailors loyal to him. The mutiny resulted in a number of trials–both of the men who mutinied and of Bligh for losing command of his ship. These fascinating events have been the source for numerous Hollywood movies, most recently The Bounty. The Bounty Mutiny: From the Court Case to the Movie explores the famous case and the movies it inspired.
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