Dear Students:
Here is the "rubric" for our video essay:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GHJNuBu4f3rcXCrCSuB5eFRpPiPnMWZYfuda8m2Ev08/edit?usp=sharing

If you have any doubt, please let us know.

please remember to post your video in your blog.

Best regards,

Diego Vallejos Oberg.

The Final Video-Essay

Hi everyone. Theres just one last class before our video-essay festival on December 4th. Here are the instructions: Choose one of the topics from the list and record a 4 - 5 minute on-camera essay: Science and Science Fiction From music to Science Fiction Graphic narrative and the movies (American comic, Manga and Franco Belgian comic) Humor and Science fiction. Aliens in film. Human-alien interaction. The novel and the science fiction book, or, Can a Sci-Fi writer write a novel? AI singularity and its moral issues. The selfconcious robot and its moral issues. Ideally, this will be a reflection related to the translation of a book to film and how this effects/impacts your chosen topic. We can suggest an essay structure (introduction, discussion of main ideas, conclusion) but please feel free to use your creativity. Please let us know if you have any doubt.

Sci-Fi Music Track List

I put this compilation together quite quickly but I hope you found it interesting. I could (should!!) do an exclusive Bowie Sci-Fi mix but I though this was more interesting for the non-Bowie fans (Do they exist??). What songs would you add, or which ones would you have left out from my selection? 1. Kraftrwerk – The Robots 2. Ultravox – Hiroshima Mon Amor 3. The Normal – Warm Leatherette 4. Fingers Inc. – Distant Planet 5. David Bowie – Saviour Machine 6. Spiritualized – Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space 7. Soofle – How Do You Plead 8. Eno – Third Uncle 9. Tubeway Army – Are Friends Electric 10. Burial – Archangel 11. B52’s – Planet Claire 12. Eivind Aarset Nils Petter Molvaer – Between Signals & Noise 13. Hawkwind – Silver Machine 14. The Human League – Being Boiled 15. Ultravox – I Want to Be a Machine

Some Books ......... more to follow

Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Dune Trilogy - Frank Herbert
Mockingbird - Walter Tevis
God Emperor Dune - Frank Herbert
The Final Programme - Micheal Moorcock
1984 - George Orwell
Galapagos Kurt Vonnegut
Someone to Watch over Me - Tricia Sullivan
The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Stainless Steel Rat - Harry Harrison
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Philip Jose Farmer
The Man Who Fell to Earth - Walter Tevis

The Sandman

Some light reading:) http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/oct/22/how-we-made-sandman-gaiman

Pictures of the floating world

Last week we talked about manga, and its origins in Ukiyo-e. Here you can find more information: http://www.ukiyoe-gallery.com/ this is an online gallery, where you can find lots of prints, and if you search carefully you can find hand carved woodblocks, is wonderful. Here: http://www.ukiyo-e.se/ you can find more information about its history and authors. Hope you find something interesting ;)

Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space

Instructions for use: Click play on the Spiritualized video Paste the Guardian link into a new browser page Listen, read, enjoy http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/oct/08/gravity-science-astrophysicist

Which Book?

Diego asked you all to post something on a Science Fiction book that was important for or had some sort of relationship with your field of study. As someone who works in the field of Applied Linguistics I guess the futuristic novels I've read which have had the biggest link to this discipline have been A Clockwork Orange and 1984 both of which I read as a teenager (or pre-teen in the case of 1984) but neither of which are classed as pure Science Fiction.

I love the start to 1984:

"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansion, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him."

It was glaringly obvious to me that this was futuristic from the first sentence. When I first read this at age 11 or 12 in early 1970's Britain no clock struck thirteen, and, to my knowledge they still don't.
Later down the first page we are introduced to the Telescreen then on and beyond to other examples of Newsspeak such as blackwhite, goodsex, sexcrime and thoughtcrime to name but a few (a more exhaustive list can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Newspeak_words).

The first edition of A Clockwork Orange that I read had a Glossary of Nadsat Language that Anthony Burgess had created for the story (http://soomka.com/nadsat.html) - I love the feel of some the words, - droog, horrorshow, nazz, shilarny and yarbles. Unfortunately, the glossary is no longer included in reprints which, to my mind, is a crying shame. What the publishers are thinking is anybody's guess:

More Weapons We Don't Need!

Somebody somewhere has to have an initial idea for it to become a future reality Part 1.

 

Read this & Comment on your own blog please.

Star Wars lightsabers finally invented

Scientists in America have 'accidentally' found a way forward to the creation of real-life weapons as used by Jedi Knights

 

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/30/star-wars-lightsabers-invented

Blade Runner Links

http://www.concatenation.org/frev/bladerunner_do_androids_dream_of_electric.html

http://www.mybladerunner.com/faqs/1-4-differences-between-the-book-dadoes-and-the-movie-blade-runner/

ziggurat

Blog Links

Hi there Blogheads.

9 links up & running. Lets see if the rest of you can get hooked up before Wednesday.

Remember to post your views on Blade Runner.

Movie

Hi Sci-Fiers.

I haven't been able to upload the movie as it's too heavy. I'm starting to make copies but I need to know how I can get them to you. If anyone can pick a copy up from my office (Torre 15,1502A) let me know.
Remember, you can watch it on Netflix or get a copy from your local video store or try here:

http://viooz.co/movies/1598-blade-runner-1982.html

I'm still looking for an easier solution but it's been a busy week!!!

All the best