The selection election for the GWC Book Club November Book of the Month is in full swing over on the forum. Don’t forget to stop by and cast your vote. Currently the four leaders are:
- Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
- The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
- Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
- Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Of course, that could all change based on your vote. This month’s selection process yielded 20 possible books ranging from hard-core sci-fi to philosophy.
Update: 1984 and Ender’s Game are now separated by only a single vote. It’s getting to be a real horse race.Â
November Book Selection Poll [GWC Forum]
Join us as we rewatch and discuss the live-action Transformers movie the same day it released to DVD and HD-DVD. Highlights: we review the history and various story lines of Transformers, geek out over slow-motion battles, question the meaning of life and the concept of DNA-based computers (and Furbys), love on Michael Bay, enjoy the embarrassment of Sam’s special time, speculate about sequel plots, and hear about Sean’s Transformer-inspired bike.
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I’m normally not a fan of marketing schemes like this — but this one is easily the coolest thing I’ve run across in many days. Once I heard, “Chuck, this is Optimus Prime…” I didn’t give a damn what they do with my information. I’ve already bought the DVD anyway. It’s just totally worth it.
The link below takes you to the Transformers movie site where you can create a custom message to a friend or relative from Optimus Prime himself. You can select various options to personalize the message, and the final result is, well, sweet. Trust me — check it out. You’ll love it.
Create Your Message [TransformersMovie.com]
So I ran across this posting from The Lonely Toaster on the forum about Transformers costumes. I was super stoked about it, but I after I saw it I realized that I’m really not as imaginative as some of the folks in this video. In fact, I’m not even in the running.
Take a look at these Transformers inspired costumes and tell me that the giant robots from Cybertron haven’t sneaked into our collective souls.
Transformers Costumes [YouTube]
As you’ve probably heard, we’re big fan’s of Michael Bay’s live-action Transformers movie. We’ve seen it a few times in the theaters, but tonight we get to check it out in the comfort of the GWC lair, firing up the theater (and subwoofer) for some ground-pounding robot-saving-the-world action. That’s right: the movie hits shelves for consumers today in DVD and HD-DVD formats.
It looks like we’ll find two versions — a no-extras single-disc version and a two-disc “special edition” when we straggle into our local shop at lunch today. Personally, I’m going to spring for the SE set, because I’m betting the “making of” material will be incredible. Amazon currently lists the plain-jane version for $15, the SE DVD for $23, and the SE HD-DVD for $28.
Anyway, get thee to the store (or rental center if you’re not loaded right now) to get another look at this great flick — this time with the freeze-frame remote in hand.
Update: Sean and I are on our way out the door to pick up our copies at lunch, and we’re going to rewatch it tonight. We added a rewatch thread over on the forum if you want to get in on the fun.
SE DVD Via Amazon
SE HD-DVD Via Amazon
Welcome to the new GWC direct-to-archive podcast! This ‘cast operates in conjunction with the Galactica Watercooler ‘cast, offering us an opportunity to dish at length about science fiction, fantasy, comic, and videogame subject matter. In this first ‘cast, we discuss the GWC rewatch of The Last Starfighter — a flick that has a special place in our hearts, even though Centauri never showed up to take us away from our trailer park. One can only wish.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
If you’re a Halo 3 player looking for some multi-player action, come join other GWCers tonight for a frakkin’ frag fest on XBox Live. It’s an informal meetup, so you don’t need to dress up — or make any special plans. Just look for any of your GWC friends and invite them into your game or join theirs. You’ll find gamertags listed in the posts and profiles on GWC’s Forum.
Officially the fragging runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. tonight, but feel free to come and go as you’re able and the mood strikes you. See you online!
It’s week twenty-nine of our planned off-season re-watch of the entire “re-imagined” BSG canon, and it’s time to move on to the season 2.5 episode “Downloaded.” So why not join us here for the GWC online frak party? There’s room for everyone, though you’ll have to bring your own snacks…
Feel free to jump in at any point with your comments on this week’s episode as the re-watch is by definition spoiler free. We’ll be in and out, but we’ll definitely take a look at your comments before we start next week’s podcast.
Note: Though a lot of the frak party will likely take place in the GWC Forum — click [here] to enter and join the fun — we’re going to leave comments open here as well as some listeners and readers have asked us to do so. Enjoy!
Here’s the new weekly presidential approval poll. Remember — even if you voted last week, you’ll want to vote again on this poll as this is a weekly feature and the results will vary from week to week. Let your opinion be heard (for free)!
Remember: This approval poll applies to the current GWC re-watch schedule, which means you should be voting for your feelings circa Episode 218: “Downloaded.”
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Laura Roslin is handling her job as president?
- Approve: 30% (19 votes)
- Disapprove: 66% (42 votes)
- Unsure: 5% (3 votes)
Total Votes: 64
This week we cover Razor Flashback #2, the current rewatch episode The Captain’s Hand, and (as always) lots, lots more. Highlights: We discuss the flashbacks vs. the pre-season-three webisodes and their classification as “episodes” (and therefore spoilers), enjoy seeing a Viper in a whatever-isode, question the heritage of young Adama’s blue eyes, wonder what derogatory term “toasters” call humans when we’re not around, debate the existance of non-combatant Cylons, disagree with the ever-popular “Battlestar Iraqtica” moniker, hypothesize that Roslin’s “don’t interfere with the birth of a child” order might outlaw contraceptives as well, lament Adama’s instant willingness to muck about in civilian affairs, issue a less-rant-more-sense follow up on our Starship Troopers bash in response to a caller, talk Klingon western shirts and the safety of DS9 promenade merchants, and veer off topic to Firefly, Casino Royale, and the Queen’s love of Daniel Craig. Note: Next week’s podcast will post on Tuesday instead of Sunday because of scheduling constraints.
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Full disclosure: I’m a huge Halo fan. Though I’ve only recently begun to fully enjoy the FPS experience, Halo’s story was enough to pull me in from the beginning. The Halo story is epic, covering a huge volume of time and space. Spread over thousands of years and dozens of parsecs? As Jayne would say, “I’m in.”
The Halo Uprising comic series represents Marvel’s comic closing of the small story gap between Halo 2 and Halo 3. Written by Brian Michael Bendis — who’s responsible for an incredible volume of work from Ultimate Spiderman to Alias – Uprising will consist of four issues chronicling the covenant’s invasion of Earth and temporary capture of John 117, the Master Chief.
In this first issue we meet a yet-unnamed hotel concierge from Cleveland and Myras Tyle (a musician) who represent the human element of the story. Of course, we also get to see the ‘Chief brrrrrt and fshammm his way through a pile of Covenant forces — brilliant, artful interpretations of a situation any Halo player will instantly recognize.
It’s week twenty-eight of our planned off-season re-watch of the entire “re-imagined” BSG canon, and it’s time to move on to the season 2.5 episode “The Captain’s Hand.” So why not join us here for the GWC online frak party? There’s room for everyone, though you’ll have to bring your own snacks…
Feel free to jump in at any point with your comments on this week’s episode as the re-watch is by definition spoiler free. We’ll be in and out, but we’ll definitely take a look at your comments before we start next week’s podcast.
Note: Though a lot of the frak party will likely take place in the GWC Forum — click [here] to enter and join the fun — we’re going to leave comments open here as well as some listeners and readers have asked us to do so. Enjoy!
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