dashPunk

• Hancock:  another great movie that came out this year definitely an owner.  Read my full review at Exploring Hancock
• Space Chimps:  an animated comedy fantasy tale.  I was not interested in this when it came out but I heard some good things about it and now I think I might rent it.  Our Netflix rating was a 3.0 which is for us right on the fence.
• A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!:  I have to put this one on the list just to make Eric’s head pop.  I love Steven Colbert and his continual quest for Truthiness
• George Carlin: It’s Bad For Ya:  His last performance, I loved his comedy and so will definitely see this.
• Meet Dave:  This is a renter for me. I enjoy Eddie Murphy’s work but some times he misses the mark.  For more read Theater or Renter: July 2008
• Crimson Force:  no rating
• Merlin and the War of the Dragons:  no rating
• Conjurer:  no rating

Don’t wait. Guarantee your seat before you go and  avoid a sold out show. Skip the box office lines and buy movie tickets at Fandango.com.

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Don’t ask yourself, “Can I do this?” Ask, “Should I do this?” If the answer is yes, then find a way.

It is as simple and complex as that. I have been spending a lot of time lately trying to figure out what to do, and how I should go about doing it. Years ago, I became a part of an active and vibrant subculture founded on our love for a particular genre that taught us to look forward with hope in our eyes, working hard to create the future we want to live in.

Over the years, I have become cynical, and the furious flames for hop in my heart have died down to mere embers of their former glory, but I have not lost that ethic.

It doesn’t matter if the future we want to see is possible, or if my actions will in reality do anything to bring it into being. If I do not take action. If I don’t live in accordance with the ideals, hopes, and aspirations I have for myself, my tribe, my culture and my world, then I am responsible for that world never coming into being.

If I am not able to live according to the hopes I have for the future, then I cannot expect anyone else to.

My hero, Joseph Campbell said:

“We’re not on our journey to save the world but to save ourselves. But in doing that you save the world. The influence of a vital person vitalizes.”

That is the point. If you want to make the world a better place, you have to make yourself a better person, and more fully human human being.

I believe in IDIC:

Infinite
Diversity in
Infinite
Combination

I believe you get back from life what you put into it. I believe that the most important question anyone can ask is, “What if?” The question opens us to all of the possibilities of an infinite possibilities.

So long as I live these ideals, and champion them when I see them challenged, then I vitalize myself. Others may listen, and fewer may join in, but the purpose and point is, I live in the world that I want to see, even if it is only in my own home.

We have to dream about the future. The future is open, and with the aid and support of like-minded individuals, we can live that future now. What more could I ask from life than that?

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He has a lot of good points about how media will was, is, and will be. If you are a media producer like me or just a consumer, this is a very interesting talk.

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“Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” will be released on Dec 19th!! It is available for Pre-order now. I might have to buy the DVD even though I bought it through iTunes just to get the special features.

The run time for the DVD is listed at 100 minutes, and since the actual show is only around 45 minutes, then that would leave room for about 55 minutes of special features. I know they are going to put in fan submitted applications for the Evil League of Evil, and they recorded a commentary track, but that leaves room for a behind the scenes or something like it.

My main curiosity whether they drop any hints for a Dr Horrible 2. Rumors have been circulating for a while, but there are no real details about it. this would be the perfect place to secret them away.

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After a couple days scrambling around after the site crashed on Monday, I am proud to say that all of the dashPunk Media sites are up and running better than ever.

What happened?

An error in our caching software at Project: Shadow caused the sites to at first become unreachable, then the databases were corrupted.  I won’t bore you with all the details, but it took some time to diagnose the problem and work out a solution.

What did we do?

Since the sites were down, we postponed the podcast and all other work to focus our efforts.

We relocated dashPunk.com to its own grid of servers.  This marks the end of the technical relationship between Project: Shadow and dashPunk.

• Project: Shadow will become a resource site, with links, primers, and information about Speculative Fiction.
• Project: Shadow Informant will continue on December 1st.
• Project: Shadow HQ will continue as the social network for all of the dashPunk Media sites.
• dashPunk will continue to as the blog you have come to know and love.

You should notice an improvement in the sites’ response time and performance.

I apologize for any inconvenience, but in the end, this was a growth pain.  The future looks bright.

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Panther | Actors Strike | New Star Trek Posters | Star Trek parody Trailers | Harry Potter Leet Speak | Astro Boy | Punisher | Road Problems | Iron Maden Cover | The Damned | Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine | Nirvana | Shine Like Thunder  Special Surprise Today on the Project: Shadow Informant.

Culture

• Panther Photographed in NY (via Cryptomundo)
• Screen Actors Guild to seek strike authorization (via AP)

Movie

• New Star Trek Posters- Nero, Uhura, and a Treat (dashPunk)
  • Star Trek Trailer Parody (A-Team) (P:S HQ)
  • Star Trek Trailer Parody (Shatner Reacts) (P:S HQ)
  • Star Trek Trailer Parody (90210) (P:S HQ)
  • Star Trek Trailer Parody (Smallville) (P:S HQ)
  • Star Trek Trailer Parody (Star Wars) (P:S HQ)
• Harry Potter 5 Leet Speak (P:S HQ)
• ‘Astro Boy’ – Trailer No. 1 (P:S HQ)
• Punisher: War Zone Trailer (P:S HQ)
• Road detour for Depp movie shoot costs county (via AP)

Music

• Young rock group covers Iron Maiden (thanks Bill Bittner)(P:S HQ)
• The Damned: Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde (thanks Emerian Rich)(P:S HQ)

Books

• Update your link (via Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine)
• 12 Day of Tales (Secret Dot)
• Lake Of Fire- Oldy but Goody? (thanks Emerian Rich) (P:S HQ)

Subscribe

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Don’t wait. Guarantee your seat before you go and  avoid a sold out show. Skip the box office lines and buy movie tickets at Fandango.com.

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Marvel released the Young X-men with two, count them two gay characters: Anole and a newish character, Jonas Greymalkin.

Jonas Greymalkin, a character whose history was revealed with a story in X-Men: Manifest Destiny #3. It turns out that Greymalkin is over 200 years old and his powers were activated soon after his father realized that Jonas was gay. Furious, Jonas was beaten unconscious by his father and buried alive. Fortunately for Jonas, his powers (which include invulnerability) work best in darkness and, therefore, were well suited to surviving being buried alive. Jonas spent the last 200 years in a state of suspended animation, a time that ended when Jonas’ grave was disturbed and he was thrown back into the modern world (After Elton).

Given the history of GLBT characters in speculative fiction, I have to ask the question: “Which one will die first?”

My money is on Anole because Jonas is invulnerable, but who knows, maybe he will be buried alive again. I hate to be a downer, but that is usually what happens to GLBT characters, and Marvel has done a good job keeping the streak going.

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There is a movement to get all GLBT people to take December 10th off, and spend it volunteering in a way to make an impact against the hate and homophobia that swept the elections.

The worldwide media attention surrounding our massive grassweb efforts for gay rights has been tremendous. Join the Impact was a HUGE success and will continue to thrive because of our efforts.

We’ve reacted to anti-gay ballot initiatives in California, Arizona Florida, and Arkansas with anger, with resolve, and with courage. NOW, it’s time to show America and the world how we love.

Gay people and our allies are compassionate, sensitive, caring, mobilized, and programmed for success. A day without gays would be tragic because it would be a day without love.

On December 10, 2008 the gay community will take a historic stance against hatred by donating love to a variety of different causes.

On December 10, you are encouraged not to call in sick to work. You are encouraged to call in “gay”–and donate your time to service!

December 10, 2008 is International Human Rights Day. CLICK HERE to join us, and search or add to the list of human rights organizations that need our help RIGHT NOW (Day without a Gay).

Hmmm… It is an interesting idea, but I don’t think it is the best idea to call in. Maybe just take the day off if you want to be involved.

For me, I think it would be best if I should up for work, and posted about equal rights that day. Spread the word. Besides, I know my readers are allies or in the community.

How do you think we should protest and raise awareness?

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Here are the new teaser posters from the upcoming Star Trek movie.  Poster #1 features Darth Nero, the lost love child of Darth Maul after a late night drinking on Romulus, and stripper, sexy, sexy Uhura.

Just because I can, I thought I would make my own Kirk/Spock teaser poster.  I might have to make a Darth Nero/Spock one too.  Let me know what you think.

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My vote for Best Mainstream & Large Scale Social Network is easy: Twitter.

Of the other nominated sites, I also use: Facebook, FriendFeed, MySpace (I have to, they make me), and Squidoo, but Twitter is the only one I use everyday, continuously akin to a junkie with heroine. I cannot stop! I have tried, but I just can’t.

I have tried the alternatives:

Plurk was too gimmicky.

Jaiku was too complex and no fun.

Pownce made me fear the wrath of the RIAA (Mike makes a good argument for it though)

Indenti.ca didn’t have the community I wanted.

So every time I left, I had to crawl back to Twitter. Twitter has developed a community that is unmatched for their resourcefulness and willingness to lend a hand.

Whenever there is an event, I just load up Twitter (like I turn it off) and join in the conversation. It is fun, and easy. The 140 character limit keeps it readable. As my number of followers grow and the number I follow, the brevity becomes an asset.

The apps make Twitter work.

• Twirl for posting and reading.
• TweetDeck for tracking opinion.
• Twellow for finding people.
• Twitterific for mobile tweeting.

I highly recommend that you give twitter a try and vote for it in the Open Web Awards. While you are there, follow me

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