Shatner Sings 'Bohemian Rhapsody'?

Halloween seems the most appropriate time to release a new album from iconic actor William Shatner. It's called Seeking Major Tom and includes an also appropriate line-up of iconic musicians - Zakk Wylde, Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore & Ian Paice, The Strokes' Nick Valensi,  Scorpions' Michael Schenker, country star Brad Paisley, funk legend Bootsy Collins, '70s rock god Peter Frampton, folkster Sheryl Crow, Tangerine Dream founder Edgar Froese, The Kinks' Dave Davies, and Yes guitarist Steve Howe

More on the ... um, musical enterprise ... from FearNet.

This 2 disc collection arrives with a video for Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". And yes, Shatner's face is made of stars.

King Abdullah II Plans 'Star Trek' Resort

Not too many kings make guest appearances on science fiction shows. But Jordan's King Abdullah II did, for "Star Trek: Voyager" and now he's investing in a sprawling $1.5 billion Trek-themed resort in Jordan on the banks of the Red Sea.

"At its core, Star Trek is about bringing worlds together and about a profound hope for the future," Liz Kalodner, executive vice president and general manager of CBS Consumer Products, said in a statement. "We are proud to bring such a unique, interactive Star Trek property to this part of the world to be a part of Jordan's future."

Aqaba will soon become a science fiction landmark.

In Celebration of Philip Jose Farmer

One of the most imaginative American writers of science fiction, Philip Jose Farmer, passed away yesterday at the age of 91 and I gladly write today to celebrate his life and his work.

Sly and witty, dangerous and ambitious, fearless and playful, he was a most notable influence on the genre and was certainly a major influence for me as well. He might be best known to many readers as the author of the Riverworld series, but he was quite prolific, penning novels, short stories, essays, fictional biographies and much more. He won several Hugo awards and earned Lifetime Achievement awards too.

He could concoct astonishing worlds and galaxies, such as in the World of Tiers series of novels, or quirky futures, as in his award-winning short story "Riders of the Purple Wage", which surely forecast many of the elements and issues our society experiences today -- as WikiPedia notes of that story, it is:

"... an extrapolation of today's tendency towards state supervision and consumer-oriented economic planning. In the story, all citizens receive a salary (the purple wage) from the government, to which everyone is entitled just by being born. The population is self-segregated into relatively small communities, with a controlled environment, and keeps in contact with the rest of the world through the Fido, a combination television and videophone."

Sounds like our economically lost and internet-addicted world today.

His characters were often participants in unbridled sexual behavior, and he also wrote numerous books about famous fictional heroes which proclaimed they were all real - Tarzan, Doc Savage, Phineas Fogg, the Shadow, Sherlock Holmes and many more. He gained some infamy for publishing a book under the name of Kilgore Trout, the

fictional science-fiction scribe featured in several books by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. The book, "Venus on the Half-Shell", was rude and raunchy and hilarious, much as Vonnegut described that author, though Vonnegut did indeed tell Farmer to not create any more books by Trout. Too real perhaps?

In his Riverworld series, he brought out famous and infamous figures from throughout human history, from Mark Twain to Jack London and Tom Mix, together for a raucous adventure in the afterlife.

Another element of his storytelling I always enjoyed was how he placed himself in his stories. In the World of Tiers series, for example, he included the character of Paul Janus Finnegan (initials are PJF), aka Kickaha.

(Also see this novel for more.)

While his work was always immensely detailed and creative, he made sure his work also created a tremendously fun time for the reader.

Thanks for all the fine times, Phil. You made the journey fun and stoked the fires of imagination for many of us. Rest In Peace -- or better perhaps to say, "Hope the next adventure never ends."

R.I.P. Uncle Forry - Thanks For Everything

It is no exaggeration to say that Forrest J Ackerman made my life better. He also made it possible for so many science fiction, horror and fantasy stories and movies and television to be created, and for today's online world of fans of all those genres exist thanks to him.

Ackerman passed away Thursday at the age of 92 and there will be many remembrances and salutes and some sadness for weeks to come. He was the First Fan, the man who created the very worlds of Fandom. The Uber Fan Boy. His life's work, his home, his influence stretches across decades. There was simply no one like him - he was more than just a fan, he knew everyone from Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi to Stephen King and Steven Spielberg, from Ed Wood and Ray Harryhausen to Rick Baker and George Lucas.

He made a welcome and hearty home for the odd folks like me who are fascinated with tales of the fantastic and the mysteries of monsters. He wasn't just a name - he was Uncle Forry to me (and many others around the world.)

Says Stephen King:

"When you think of the size of the business, the dollar amount, that has sprung up out of fantasy, the people who made everything from ‘Star Wars’ to ‘Jaws,’ ” Mr. King said, “well, Forry was a part of their growing up. The first time I met Steven Spielberg, we didn’t talk about movies. We talked about monsters and Forry Ackerman."

I was about 9 or 10 years old the first time I saw a copy of Ackerman's magazine "Famous Monsters of Filmland", and I bought every issue thereafter I could find. The magazine didn't print Fan Mail, it printed Fang Mail. Living in Los Angeles, he called it Horrorwood, Karloffornia. His humor and his deep admiration for all things fantastic made him an astonishing collector and curator and turned his home, the Ackermansion, into the biggest and most celebrated museum of the fantasy and horror genres ever.

He housed items from the silent film "Metropolis" to Spock's pointy ears, and tens of thousands of books and magazines long since out of print.


He earned the prestigious Hugo Award for Number One Fan in 1953, long before he began to publish Famous Monsters of Filmland in 1958. The magazine celebrated the movies of Dracula and Frankenstein, and anything science fiction (he is credited with coining the abbreviation "sci-fi"). Not only was his magazine the only guide to fantastic films, it showed me how to create the make-up and effects used.

As I was growing up in a small town in middle Tennessee, there was no one who liked this stuff as much as I did - except for Uncle Forry. He let me know my curiosity and fascination was part of a huge world. My room soon became a place for Aurora models of The Creature From the Black Lagoon, life-sized posters of Karloff's Frankenstein, models of rocketships and creatures from the stars, and even today I proudly own movie posters and action figures of all kinds.

He also was literary agent for hundreds of now-famous writers, selling the first Ray Bradbury story in 1938, and was, as he called it, "illiterary agent" for director Ed Wood. He was a prolific writer of the fantastic as well and has appeared in over 200 movies.

And his home, which sadly he was forced to sell, along with over many hundreds of thousands of items he had collected from the movies in order to pay escalating medical bills earlier in this decade, that home was always open to visitors. For years and years, he would open his doors on Saturdays and give any and all comers a personal tour. Here is Forry being interviewed in his home:




And here is one fellow fan's video of a trip to the Ackermansion:




Another interview with Uncle Forry includes another comment from Stephen King which I love: "Forry was the first; he was best and he is the best. He stood up for a generation of kids who realised that if it was junk, it was magic junk."

Thanks Unc, for all you did and for your endless enthusiasm. You will always be the best that ever was.

SEE ALSO:
Remembrances from fans and celebrities at
Ain't It Cool News.
A Flickr photo set.
His movie credits.