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SFFTV: The 9 Lives (Episode 2) of Teen Wolf (Episode 4)

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You’ll have to excuse us, we’re going through some growing pains and trying to figure out how much space we actually want to dedicate to tv.  So that means you get two quick reviews in one post!  How exciting is that?  We’ll be grouping similar programs so it shouldn’t be too jarring.   A mashup of The 9 Lives of Chloe King and Teen Wolf really does make sense, if you think about it (but don’t think about it too long or you’ll get a headache). This week’s episodes have almost changed my mind about which show is better.  They’re both working off a standard Romeo & Juliet, puberty analogy, storyline about kids with claws, and aimed at a teen audience, so this is a valid comparison to make.  Teen Wolf *might* actually be better.  I know, I know, I was all kinds of slamming Teen Wolf when I reviewed the first episode of 9 Lives, but it’s really growing on me.  Perhaps that will change over time, but head to head it’s a tough call. Spoilers Ahead! 

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Feed the Machine: Love Me True

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    Read me. What is this world coming to?  Jesse Schell interviews Bob Bates, game designer and former chair of the IGDA.  In it, Bates predicts a few future changes in video games, but the one that is really interesting has to do with player-character interaction.  He believes that soon, players will build real emotional conversations with avatars and other NPCs.  This goes beyond being scared that your character is going to die, or feeling bad that they had a tragic past.  These are real emotion bonds. What sort of societal changes would this bring on?  Video game addiction is well on its way to becoming a recognized mental illness.  I’m sure most readers out there can think of at least one person they know who spends a majority of their waking hours playing WoW.  If avatar interactions become more real, more visceral, and draw the player into the game that much more, what will happen to our cozy little society?  Will game boxes come with Surgeon General’s warnings and photos of obese, Cheetoh stained teens with “This could happen to you” written above it?  Going further in time, will some sort of legal unions between players and NPCs come into the fold? How bout we look in the opposite direction, towards optimism.  Will something like Ted Chiang’s “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” be our future?  Can digital “beings” have any sort of legal status?  Will the sun be tried for genocide should it knock out our power grids with a flare? I’m hesitant to muse any more because this is such a rich idea and I would much prefer to see what you all come up with.  Go forth, and tell your pixelwife that you love her.        

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SFFTV: Teen Wolf Episode 1.3: Pack Mentality

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Yes, I realize this is a week late and episode 1.4 actually aired last night, but give me a break!  This is a teen urban fantasy and I’m a 33 year old mother of two.  Not exactly the target demographic!  In fact, I actually have to check myself when I start thinking how hot the actors are – then I rush to IMDB and make sure they’re over 18.  Yes, I know that’s a little bit sad, but the guy playing Derek really is hot.  I also realize I haven’t done recaps of the first two episodes.  Well, get over it.  When I finally start doing Sanctuary reviews, I’m not going to go back and review the first 3 seasons of it for you either!  For now, you’ll just have to content yourself with episode three and on.  You people can be so demanding, I swear. What I have to admit is that now that I’ve finally watched episode 1.3 (I watched the first two a couple of weeks ago, but UGHed my way through them), Teen Wolf is a surprisingly good (but definitely not great) show.  The writing is generally intelligent, most of the acting is bordering on good, and the story is moderately interesting.  I’m still reeling over the fact that this is NOT my childhood Teen Wolf, but I might actually be able to get over that if they stay consistent.  This week on Teen Wolf, we get to see why teens should DEFINITELY NEVER EVER make out with each other. Spoilers ahead!

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Dear Publishers: Call for Books by Women to Review

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If you haven’t heard, there’s this thing called the Russ Pledge making the rounds in the science fiction and fantasy community.  This SF Signal Mind Meld, which features an entry by one of our venerable hosts, is quite illuminating.  Having looked through our interviews in the last few weeks (and in the coming weeks), we realize that we’ve been hit with an extraordinary number of menfolk.  Don’t take that the wrong way, though.  We love the menfolk just fine, but only three of our ten interviews in the history of this podcast were with women, and all of our upcoming interviews are with men. So, we want to know:  where are the female science fiction writers (or fantasy, for that matter)?  If you’re out there and would like us to review your book (and possibly have you on the show), send us an email (skiffyandfanty[at]gmail[dot]com).  We want to hear from you, or your publisher (or both)! Bring it on, ladies.  We’re ready for it. (P.S.:  If you’re curious, the three women we’ve interviewed are Celine Kiernan (part one; part two), Lauren Beukes, and Mary Ann Mohanraj.)

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Feed the Machine: Cyclops Power

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Read this article before proceeding. Growing up, I didn’t read comics, but that doesn’t mean I was unaware of comics.  I knew the rudimentary figures of comic book lore.  My favorite superhero, however, was Cyclops.  How cool would it be to shoot laser beams out of your eyes!  Getting into the genres more, laser beam eyes became more common and always cool.  Well my little morsels of wundament, prepare for a whole new era of lasek surgery. Scientists have successfully engineered a cell to produce green laser light.  The shape of the cell even acts like a lens.  Now let’s begin imagining the possibilities. What if a layer of these cells could be spread over the lens of the eyeball?  Could we get Cyclops like powers?  Would it result in our blindness?  Could we use our laser eyes for other abilities, like reading data off of CDs and DVDs from afar?  Could we use them to see in different wavelengths, measure temperature or speed, etch metal? This is probably the most fantastic of the uses for green, lasing cells.  I think a far more plausible and interesting use would be to replace the biochemical neurological system of a human being with a bio-optical system.  How fast would we be able to think and move with reactions at the speed of light?  Would we glow whenever a synapse would fire?  Would we need brains that wrote to disc?  Would we need to sit perfectly still for the signals to line up?  Would we cook our organs? A hallmark of SF is the weaponization of technology.  If we packed enough of these cells into a mold and had them lase at once or in sequence (for wave reinforcement), could we create a viable weapon?  Could we code a bacteria with this lasing protein, encode it with an optical virus, and drop it into war zones to make enemy combatants peaceful? Will technology go the biologic way or will it stay artificial?  That’s the question I want you to weigh in on this week. –Adam

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