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The Offworld Report: May 2003

Jeff VanderMeer looks at Robert Freeman Wexler, just about everyone looks at The Matrix Reloaded, the Andromeda season three finale slaps into the small screen, Ted Chiang is interviewed, and President Bush cites the film The Last Starfighter as his inspiration for entering politics (or does he?).


Last month's content roundup of all that's fit to print offworld the 'Nest finds an unhealthy media fixation with the new Matrix movie, and uncovers President Bush's hidden past as a science fiction nerd ... in a tongue in cheek way. Actually, we suspect he was more influenced by movies like The Halls of Montezuma, but there we go.

Media

Matrix Secrets
Special-effects supervisors Dan Glass and DJD Jardin chat about what it took to make The Matrix Reloaded.

Not Much Neo
A review which argues that The Matrix Reloaded lacks the mythic resonance of its predecessor.

The Religious Matrix
You might think the new Matrix movie is about stylish violence, but many think this is a movie about religion.

Andromeda Season Three Finale
The crew of the Andromeda come across a group of nasty Nietzcheans ... is there any other kind?

The Matrix Unloaded
Rather clever article on the dilemma humanity would face shutting down The Matrix.


Literature

Robert Freeman Wexler
Jeff VanderMeer on a book which he reckons is the literary equivalent of a David Lynch movie.

Oryx and Crake
Various notables post their thoughts on Margaret Atwood's terrible new dystopian novel Oryx and Crake.

The Wit in Witpunk
Claude Lalumière Interviewed.

An Afternoon With Robert Sheckley
Robert Sheckley interviewed by Bob Urell.

Softly, With A Big Stick
Short fiction from the driving force behind Small Beer Press, Gavin J. Grant.

The Change in Chiang
Ted Chiang interviewed by Jeremy Smith.

Phil Rickman Interviewed
Phil Rickman interviewed about his ongoing Merrily Watkins series of novels.

Lost Shepard
Author Lucius Shepard interviewed.

Being Bradbury
Why Ray Bradbury's more than a science fiction writer.

Hunt me a Vampire
Author Laurell K. Hamilton on her novels featuring Anita Blake, vampire hunter.


Weird Science & Real Science

Plumbing the Earth's depths
A scientist has a scheme to use a nuclear weapon and millions of tonnes of iron to drive a probe into the Earth's core.

New Jacket is a Shocker
Researchers have developed a protective jacket for women that fights off would-be attackers with an 80,000-volt shock.

Hubble Bubble
Observations made with the Hubble Space Telescope indicate the first stars formed as little as 200 million years after the Big Bang - much earlier than previously thought.

Space on a Shoestring
After selling PayPal to eBay for $1.5 billion, Elon Musk wants to remake the satellite-launching business with his new company, SpaceX.

Astronauts Descend
U.S. astronauts return to from their space-station stint, carried by the Russian space capsule Soyuz.


News

Bush Cites The Last Starfighter As Inspiration For Entering Politics
President Bush talks about the role the 1984 science-fiction adventure film The Last Starfighter played in his decision to enter politics.

Four charged over Potter book
A worker at the firm printing the unreleased Harry Potter novel has been charged with stealing chapters of the Order of the Phoenix.

Going Gollancz
Review of the recent Gollancz SF evening at Waterstone's Deangsate branch.


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OTHER CONTENT - June 2003

Oasis Star Trek

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Going to Jael
At last, the queen of SFF illustration, Jael, comes under the interviewer's spotlight. She explains how she put her personal and inner ambition on hold through most of her extremely busy child-rearing years, and why she just loves Batman, Green Hornet, Captain Marvel and Superman.
(INTERVIEWS)

An Allen Key for Science Fiction?
Why philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen has announced plans for a new cultural project dedicated to science fiction and the ways it captures our imagination.
(NEWS)

Adamantium or cement? Shall I count the ways for the Hugo.
The World SF con - Noreascon Four - would like your creative insights and otherworldly engineering proposals for the perfect base on which to mount their treasured silver rocket denoting excellence in SFF ... the Hugo awards. How about moon rock, guys?
(NEWS)

Who will arrange my Separation from this troublesome Priest?
Christopher Priest scoops the 2003 Arthur C Clarke Award for his novel 'The Separation', featuring a parallel reality where Britain made peace with Hitler in 1941. Pulp SF it ain't ... but it's a rather good read all the same.
(NEWS)

A little Huth and Puff
Interview with the author Joe Huth - co-editor of the non-fiction work the 'Knight Rider Legacy'. Joe talks about why, with society's ongoing love affair with the automobile, you can make that car indestructible, sentient and able to perform incredible feats and you've got every young boy's (and many man's) dream.
(AUTHOR INTERVIEWS)

The Offworld Report: May 2003
Jeff VanderMeer looks at Robert Freeman Wexler, just about everyone looks at The Matrix Reloaded, the Andromeda season three finale slaps into the small screen, Ted Chiang is interviewed, and President Bush cites the film 'The Last Starfighter' as his inspiration for entering politics (or does he?).
(NEW ROUNDUP)

Riverworld: The TV Series
A frank appraisal of the TV series of the Riverworld by Shelby Peck, who finds a hodge-podge of things that can and can't be found in the books.
(TV REVIEWS)

The Matrix Reloaded: Frank's Take
Frank finds the whimsical Wachowski tandem are at it again with the second installment of this frothy film series in the form of the visually vigorous and devoutly exhilarating The Matrix Reloaded.
(FILM REVIEWS)

The Matrix Reloaded: Mark's Take
The war to release humanity from computer-generated non-reality continues in a pretentious and violent film that nonetheless has a lot of style.
(FILM REVIEWS)

More Priestly Mischief
Is there no stopping the man? The winners of the British Science Fiction Association Awards were announced on Easter Sunday, at he 54th UK National Science Fiction Convention. The Winner for Best Novel of 2002? None other than Christopher Priest for his 'The Separation', published by Scribner.
(NEWS)

Canamar (Star Trek Enterprise)
Archer and Trip, falsely accused of smuggling, find themselves on an Enolian prison ship headed for the dreaded penal colony of Canamar.
(TV REVIEWS)

Future Tense (Star Trek Enterprise)
The discovery of a wrecked ship, apparently from the future, thrusts Archer and the Enterprise right in the middle of the Temporal Cold War.
(TV REVIEWS)

Horizon (Star Trek Enterprise)
Travis Mayweather returns home to his parents' ship, the Horizon, only to find that things have changed in his absence.
(TV REVIEWS)

Judgment (Star Trek Enterprise)
Archer is accused of crimes against the Klingon Empire and brought before a tribunal.
(TV REVIEWS)

X2: Frank's Thoughts
Is everybody ready for a second helping of a particular mutant recipe known as the X-Men? Apparently so since the first taste of this action-packed delicacy mustered up an incredible $157 million at the U.S. box office.
(FILM REVIEWS)

X2: Mark's Thoughts
This second film based on the X-Men comic book is a better story and a more atmospheric production. I am told it is a better adaptation of the comic book. One does not come to this sort of film for a deep statement of the human condition, but for a summer action film, it is not too bad.
(FILM REVIEWS)

2001 and All That
Scottish SF author Ken MacLeod argues that much history, including the End of it, has happened since 2001, and he thinks it is rather important that they should not be remembered.
(COMMENT)

Why Some Things Don't Need To Be Resurrected
Geoff asks can, indeed should, Battlestar Galactica be revived in the same way Star Trek was resurrected with the Next Generation?
(COMMENT)


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