SciFi Diner Podcast Ep. 53 – An Interview with Keith R. A. DeCandido, author of Star Trek, Farscape, Buffy, and World of Warcraft Novels.

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Tonight’s Diners: Scott & Miles & Tom

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On this science fiction podcast, we have with us Keith R. Decandido.    Also on the menu tonight we have Star Wars Trivia, V gets Revealing, July 13 and Warehouse 13, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee get Makeovers, Terminator Salvation: The Machinma Series DVD, Miles is running for the Governer of Florida, Zombies have rights, and a man with too much time on his hands build Minas Tirith.

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DVD Geeks! Podcast and Radio Show Trekcast!

V will reveal more spaceship! Lizard skin! Anna's true face! You'll see a lot more of the Visitors' mother ship—and a lot more of their true alien selves—when ABC's V finally returns on March 30. Andrew Orloff, executive creative director/visual-effects supervisor for Zoic Studios, the visual-effects team behind V's spaceships and aliens, revealed his studio's work on the upcoming episodes. (Spoilers ahead!) "It's just more," Orloff said in an exclusive interview Sunday in Century City, Calif., at the Visual Effects Society awards, where Zoic was nominated for its work. "If you're a fan of the show, you see the engine room of the ship in the last episode. We'll keep continuing to open up and explore different rooms and parts of the ship that'll be, I think, interesting for the viewers. It'll drive the story forward, and for us, ... since the entire interior of the ship is virtual, that means more visual effects work for us, for sure." Finally! Warehouse 13 comes back in July Yay! It's about time: Syfy announced that its hit series Warehouse 13 has begun production on season two, which will premiere on July 13. All the main cast members are back, along with special guest star Nolan Funk (Nickelodeon's SpectacularDrake & Josh), who will appear in a four-episode arc. and Season two will consist of 13 brand-spanking-new episodes. Below is the official announcement.

  Transformers 3's Optimus, Bumblebee getting makeovers     As the third Transformers movie gears up preproduction this month, we've learned that Optumus Prime and Bumblebee will get a makeover. The Industrial Light & Magic team is hard at work updating the robots in disguise for their third big screen adventure. "Our two lead characters, Optimus and Bumblebee, needed to be updated for the next chapter in the Transformers series," said animation supervisor Scott Benza in an exclusive interview Sunday at the Visual Effects Society Awards in Century City, Calif., where he and visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar were nominees. "Bumblebee's matured a little bit, so I would just say look for subtle changes to his physique that have him look more mature." Subtlety might not be what you expect from a Michael Bay movie, but Farrar suggested the changes to Prime would be of the easter-egg variety that only true fans would notice. "[Prime will have] little tiny things that maybe the average viewer isn't going to notice but probably the fanboys will," Farrar said. "You actually will run into pieces that are maybe always in the way, and wouldn't it be nice if that part wasn't there? Maybe you make a shift in the shoulder, in the chest or what have you. So it might be proportioning, but it also might be for usability, so [the animators]' task could be easier, too." Benza added that Prime's updates would be badass. "We always want the robots to look cooler than they did the last time, so he's going to look a little more heroic, I would say," Benza said.    

  Terminator Salvation: The Machinima Series (2009) $5.95   "My name is Blair Williams. I fight for the Resistance." The resourceful A-10 pilot from Terminator Salvation has her own story in this kick-'bot prequel filmed via the innovative Machinima process that turns video-game elements into a full-blown animated story. Moon Bloodgood reprises her T4 role, providing the voice of Williams as she takes on an explosive mission to track what or who is disrupting comm links during the Resistance’s fierce guerrilla war against Skynet. T-600s emerge, guns blazing. MotoTerminators patrol post-Apocalyptic L.A. Aerostats hover. Hunter Killers rain death. Machinima delivers action and style in a big way. Reboot the future with Terminator Salvation: The Machinima Series.  

Self-described vampire to run for governor of Florida – Miles?

Wasn't there a politician who campaigned on the slogan "Morning in America"? Well, it turns out there's at least one politician for whom morning's not such a good thing. Because gubernatorial candidate Jonathon Sharkey is vampire. Really. Sharkey, a self-described vampire who'd previously announced plans to run for governor of Minnesota on the Vampyres, Witches and Pagans ticket, has called off that campaign, even though Minnesota seems like a state suited to eclectic candidates. After all, it sent a former professional wrestler to the statehouse, didn't it? But Minnesota's loss will be Florida's gain, because Sharkey has now set his political sights on the Sunshine State, according to citypages. "Instead of running for Governor of MN, I will now run in Florida as a Republican for probably a nation position. I have unfinished business in Tampa Bay, too," said Sharkey in his announcement. "I intend on seeking support from my fellow Republicans in the House and Senate to pass federal laws to address child protection and harsh criminal punishment upon those who abuse their children." Guy spends 3 years building Minas Tirith out of 420,000 matches - was he smoking crack?  What to do when your laid…. off…. I don't think a matchstick model has ever had me in lust before, but the painstaking Patrick Acton has pulled it off, by building Middle-earth's Minas Tirith out of 420,000 matches. Just look at that thing! It took Acton, who's been supplying Ripley's Believe It or Not with such models since 1994, almost three years to complete this particular model, which contains hundreds of city buildings and is topped with the Citadel, the Tree of Gondor and the White Tower of Ecthelion. Awesome 'Alien' sculpted from 1,200 lbs. of motorcycle steel Three artists. 4,000 pieces of steel. 1,200 pounds of parts recycled from Yamaha motorcycles. One scary-as-hell 8-foot-tall "Alien Queen." $6,000. Gotta love those numbers. (Well, all except that last one.) But still—we want one! Zombies have First Amendment rights, too, says U.S. court Who knew that zombies were being persecuted? But thanks to an appeals court in Minneapolis—no more! A group of zombies (OK, not actual zombies, but rather several costumed protesters) have been given the OK to proceed with their lawsuit against the police who arrested them for disorderly conduct, Yahoo News reported. At the time of their arrest in 2006, the plaintiffs lurched stiff-legged through a mall urging shoppers to "get your brains here" and "brain cleanup in aisle five" while wearing white face powder, fake blood and black circles around their eyes. They were also carrying audio equipment, including loudspeakers and wireless phone handsets, which police had decided to describe as "simulated weapons of mass destruction."      

The Sexiest Women in SciFi TV – according to Mile and what he is watching