Comments on: WorldCon Report #1

By: Joe Meils

Joe Meils — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:02:00 +0000

The robot to the left of Robby is actually the “water heater” robot that showed up in several Republic serials in the 1930′s and 40′s. “King of the Rocketmen (Commando Cody) and “Zombies of the Stratosphere” (the first acting job for Leonard Nimoy!) are prime examples. It’s close to the “Voyager” reproduction, but there are minor differences in the top of the robot, and the “face” plate. (I only know this, because I’m researching it to build a replica of it myself.)

By: bonnie-ann black

bonnie-ann black — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 16:44:10 +0000

gort was there, along with just about every other really amazing robot creature! a dalek, R2D2 and several others. i’m working on a WorldCon report as well and will be posting it next week with pictures, as will several other people i know. saw phil plait’s “Bad Astronomy” panel and loved it — my first encounter with him, his site and his astronomical philosophy. he’s going to be a regular on my blog list.

By: Laurie Mann

Laurie Mann — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 04:18:28 +0000

Wish I’d seen you there!

(I did see Rick Sternbach, though)

By: bassmanpete

bassmanpete — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 04:19:39 +0000

I remember seeing Forbidden Planet when it first came out (1957?) and it made a huge impression on me – I was about 12 at the time. Having seen it again recently I tend to agree with Rollis regarding the acting & effects but I still think the basic storyline is pretty damn good. And the fact that Anne Francis never took her clothes off was neither here nor there – in that tiny skirt she was near enough naked to get the hormones flowing in this (at the time) 12 year old!!

By: Will. M.

Will. M. — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 20:49:49 +0000

And Gort was BIG, as I remember; nearly twice the height of a human. At least he looked like it standing next to Michael Renne (mayhap Mike was short?). My favorite sci-fi is the retitled Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep). My second favorite is Miyazaki’s Nausicaa, of the Valley of the Wind. I realize some folks consider this more of a science fantasy, and others don’t want to include animation, but what the hey, it’s MY list.

By: SpikeNut

SpikeNut — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 18:30:18 +0000

Gary, Gort was built remarkably like a man but he had a visor-like window across the face. (If I’m remembering him right…)

By: Gary Ansorge

Gary Ansorge — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 15:24:00 +0000

I thought that cylindrecal robot was Gort, from The Day the Earth Stood Still, one of the best early SciFi movies ever.

Gary 7

By: icemith

icemith — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 13:05:27 +0000

Um, Phil… I can’t figure out which adjectival swear word ends in double letters. Or is this a new one? Nor can I think of a brand name.

Ivan.

By: The Bad Astronomer

The Bad Astronomer — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 06:04:00 +0000

CHip– yep. Got a picture too, but I can’t post it until I get back home and fix my &((^$## laptop.

By: Chip

Chip — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 21:01:20 +0000

Some of my favorits robots in the BA’s picture! Wonder if Gort was there too.

By: icemith

icemith — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 20:22:12 +0000

Thomas, I loved the reference to Ned Kelly. Funny, my first impression was to the robot in ‘Futurama’, so I am going to have to avoid my Irish relatives for a while.

Ivan.

By: Michael Hopkins

Michael Hopkins — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 20:05:13 +0000

Did you vote in the Hugo Awards (which you could have provided you became a member of the World Con sufficiently in advance)? Don’t forget you can nominate for next year’s Hugos (and they will almost certainly be mailing you a nomination ballot next year).

By: â™¥ Thomas Siefert â™¥

â™¥ Thomas Siefert â™¥ — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 17:37:59 +0000

Benjamin, I thought it was Ned Kelly

By: Liam

Liam — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:53:46 +0000

Enough geekery.. Tell us about pluto!!

By: Benjamin

Benjamin — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:29:18 +0000

That cylindrical robot to Robbie’s right is “Satan’s Robot,” which featured in a couple of holodeck fantasies on Star Trek: Voyager. (Tom Paris was running a simulation of a pulpy 1930s sci-fi serial called “Captain Proton.”) It’s sort of a parody of all the sci-fi robot cliches.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:22:07 +0000

Yep, while Phil is hanging out with the sci-fi crowd, Pluto get’s demoted.

By: Elwood Herring

Elwood Herring — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:21:03 +0000

Forbidden Planet was Gene Roddenberry’s main inspiration for Star Trek. Compare it directly to “The Cage” and you can see many similarities. Both are excellent moral tales on the dangers lurking in the depths of the mind (which is the REAL final frontier as far as I’m concerned!)

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 13:55:44 +0000

Breaking news re: IAU planet decisions. Any news source like cnn.com is carrying the story.

msd

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 13:53:57 +0000

Hmm… I am a geek from the Heinlein, Asimov, early-Niven, etc. days, but I have to say that SciFi for me just keeps getting better as the acting style presents more realistically, and effects get better. I think Alien, Aliens, Star Wars IV, and maybe the first Matrix are the movies that really struck me with awe. The first Alien is definitely more in the horror genre, but the gritty, dirty, wet space ship was just one of the great movie-ambiences ever.

So was the pseudoscience panel a panel about the state of pseudoscience, or was it a non-critical panel discussing (in seriousness) an actual pseudoscience?

msd

By: Ian Musgrave

Ian Musgrave — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 13:44:09 +0000

Metropolis. Best SciFi movie ever. Forbidden Planet was just a rewrite of Shakespears “The Tempest” with added (but admittedly Cool) robot.

By: Rollis

Rollis — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 13:38:13 +0000

Sorry guyâ€™s Forbidden Planet is pretty bad, the acting is very over the top, and stiff, the effects were too cartoonish, the commander following the not so good Doctors orders too push the plunger before knowing what it did, are all reasons not too like this move, but the most offensive part of the move is the fact that the ONLY WOMAN IN THE MOVIE NEVER TAKES HER CLOTHES OFF! === redneck@zippytech.com ===

By: Tony

Tony — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 12:17:55 +0000

You can not call yourself a true sci-fi geek and not have seen Forbidden Planet. Its required!

Can this Robbie reproduce anything from a small sample, like some Kentucky Bourbon?

Who is the robot to the left of Robbie in the picture? It looks like the robot from an episode of Gilligan’s Island.

By: Wolverine

Wolverine — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 07:05:15 +0000

Mmm, Forbidden Planet. My favorite sci-fi flick ever.

By: icemith

icemith — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 06:44:03 +0000

Hey Phil, what’s going on? I’ve just responded to a blog I haven’t even received yet. Talk about relativity, or not. It’s called â€œWorldCon Report #1â€, and it was accessed from the little ‘next’ arrowheads in the title of the topic, which was “The Naeye kid in Town”. That had proceeded from the ‘Spam’ thingie, and a couple of others. The daily download into mail has not happened yet, but I suspect it will appear soon.

Have I accidently landed on another of your blogs by mistake, or is the actual blog not ready yet for distribution? If so, then there must be a leak somewhere.

Curious…

Ivan.

By: icemith

icemith — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 06:18:54 +0000

Is that your best side? (sorry ‘better side’)

As a matter of fact, in a fourth dimension, one would need an extra qualifying adjective beyond the ‘good, better, best’, and I have no idea what it should be.

Ivan.