M Thomas Apple Author Page

Science fiction, actual science, history, and personal ranting about life, the universe, and everything

Quantum Leap pilot episode confirmed (but Bakula is only a “maybe”)

January 14, 2022
MThomas

“Considering how many different possibilities there are for a series like Quantum Leap in today’s world, it’s more than a little surprising that it’s taken this long for the series to attempt a return. Bakula had previously stated how relevant a series reboot would be, and the idea of creating a sequel series in which a new team searches for him is perhaps the perfect way to reignite the intrigue that the original program offered.”

https://screenrant.com/quantum-leap-sequel-pilot-scott-bakula-return-update

My family used to watch this each week in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Near the end it did get a little weird (the main character Sam Beckett jumped into the body of a space race NASA chimpanzee, and animal rights activists went totally ballastic).

Still, it ended on a very unsatisfying note (basically, “He never returned home. The End.”) and almost any kind of sequel would be great. Since Sam is a “missing person,” there is likely more to this than meets the eye (see https://www.thewrap.com/quantum-leap-reboot-nbc-plot-details/).

Happy New Year 2022!

January 1, 2022
MThomas

Happy New Year, everybody!

My New Year’s resolution: to finally finish the first draft of Bringer of Light and get the editing done by summer.

Thanks for reading this blog. Best wishes to all of you for a safe and prosperous 2022!

Ho, ho, ho, Merry Akira!

December 27, 2021
MThomas

In case you didn’t know, the entire film of Akira has been available on YouTube since 12/23…in Japanese.

Kanedaaaaaaaaaaa!

Still, it’s free. I first watched it (in badly translated dubbed English) on the big screen in a cheap arts cinema in 1991.

Glorious.

Bought the original Japanese comics (MUCH better than the movie, which barely covers the first volume) and then the English translated comics. Then got the collector’s edition movie with a new English translation (both subtitles and dubbed).

Tetsuooooooo!

It’s online for free until 12/28, so if you’re sick of Santa movies go check it out!

Kanedaaaaaaaaa! Help me…..!

(It’s meant to advertise the upcoming Katsuhiro Otomo Complete Works manga collection, available at the end of January.)

Tetsuooooooooooooo!

https://soranews24.com/2021/12/24/anime-classic-akira-suddenly-becomes-free-to-watch-in-its-entirety-on-youtube/

No Season 2 for live-action Cowboy Bebop

December 11, 2021
MThomas

Well, the writing was already on the virtual wall from the beginning. The anime had only one season.

White fanboys got butthurt by the use of diverse actors – anime is anime, but live action is real actors in the real world where “race” and ethnicity are still issues and women don’t actually look like hourglasses.

Ratings plummeted after the initial hype. Netflix always panders to the masses, so this is not surprising.

Adios, amigos. See you, space cowboy.

— Read on soranews24.com/2021/12/10/there-will-not-be-a-season-2-for-netflixs-live-action-cowboy-bebop/

Real world locations of dystopian scifi movies

December 10, 2021
MThomas

The Bradbury Building is well known (Blade Runner, 1982), but do you know these other locations?

Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings, city halls, abandoned mills, even a high school in Texas…

(An older article, but still interesting…too many movies rely entirely on green screen these days…)

10 Cheesy Sci-Fi Movies That Deserve Remakes | Screen Rant

November 25, 2021
MThomas

Between a hated Marvel movie, a quarterback in space, and ‘the worst movie ever made,’ there are so many sci-fi flicks just waiting to be rebooted.
— Read on screenrant.com/cheesy-science-fiction-movies-that-deserve-remakes-reboots/

I agree with some and totally disagree with others.

A remake of Flash Gordon?

🙆‍♂️ Sure! (The original is campy, but the comic strip it’s based on was fairly dramatic.)

Logan’s Run?

🤔 Would make a much better series than a one-off (a movie remake is currently in “development hell”).

Howard the Duck?

🤢🤦‍♂️

Are you kidding? 🙅

What do you all think?

Procrastinate, work, repeat

November 12, 2021
MThomas

Where’s the Artemis?? What’s up with Mars? And Ceres seriously…?

Sorry I haven’t kept up the story posts, everyone.

I know it’s been almost a month since the last Bringer of Light episode. Work just got dumped on me, and I can barely find time to give my writing students feedback. We switched back to face to face classes…with live streaming on Zoom for students who couldn’t or wouldn’t go back to campus…which is definitely NOT a teaching style I would recommend to anybody, anywhere, ever.

It’s been like laying down tracks in front of an oncoming train. Every day.

There is lots more good stuff for Riss and her crew, I swear. I’ve got drafts up to Chapter 42, and plots to the end after that. Let me see if I can get the next one up for you all in a day or two…

Sigh.Way behind. Again.

September 18, 2021
MThomas

OK, I readily admit that I am once again waaaay behind on my scifi blogging.

At some point last week, I looked up from the mass amounts of work I had left to do and went, “Uh. August 21st? Was that really the last time I posted?”

Uh. Yup.

😣

I’ll do my best to get the rest of Riss’s story online on a biweekly basis, like I promised I would.

But promises…

Warp drive is no longer science fiction

March 2, 2021
MThomas

“Many people in the field of science are aware of the Alcubierre Drive and believe that warp drives are unphysical because of the need for negative energy,” said Alexey Bobrick, scientist and astrophysicist at Lund University, according to a press release. “This, however, is no longer correct.”

https://interestingengineering.com/warp-drive-not-science-fiction-faster-than-light-travel?fbclid=IwAR2v4FPzkA90L_yPIZVt3zfY3-jnA0jqvwOgJmHFNdsxlxDxcUJLF8Bg6Gg

There can be only response to this news…

Far Beyond the Stars — 1953, 1998, 2021

February 9, 2021
MThomas

The Dreamer…and the Dream

On February 9, 1998, Star Trek Deep Space 9 broadcast one of the most important episodes in the entire history of the franchise.

And what it said about society back in 1953 was just as relevant as for 1998. And perhaps even more important for 2021.

Others have written more eloquently about the plot line, the characterizations, the background, the actors (Avery Brooks directed himself, and his performance should have earned him an Emmy). So I’ll just link to:

Memory Alpha Wiki

Avery Brook’s “proudest moments” interview

DS9 Season 6 Extras – the actors speak (Armin Shimerman calls it “perfect science fiction”)

The Movie Blog

Star Trek Official Website: Remembering “Far Beyond the Stars”

Reel World Theology’s Trektember

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