Looks at least borderline interesting; even if 18th-century England or outlaws aren’t really my cup of tea, stories of women with unusual lives can be intriguing. Here there is also a hint of magic in the shape of a spirit called Billy (Billy? really, though?!?) that seems to grant Nell her extraordinary powers.
Other than the trailer, so far I’ve only the Frock Flicks post on the series to judge by. Have you seen Renegade Nell? What did you think—is it worth seeing?
Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.
(I guess the asterisk is a thing? At least it is appended to the name not just on YouTube but also in IMDB.)
First thought: huh? I had thought a version of the Fantastic Four was coming next. I must’ve gotten my notes mixed up, or missed an update somewhere. Second thought: Thunderbolts? Huh? This says absolutely nothing to me. At least I can recognize most of the MCU characters in the trailer: from Black Widow, there’s Yelena Belova (faux-sister to Natasha Romanoff), the Red Guardian, and the Taskmaster (Dreykov’s daughter Antonia), then Ava / Ghost (from Ant-Man and the Wasp) plus Bucky Barnes.
I kinda love how at the 1:05 mark when the building explodes, Yelena just matter-of-factly turns and starts walking calmly away, almost a bored look on her face. Or maybe it’s a here-we-go-again face? Anyway. Also, that Bucky had his metal arm in the dishwasher.
It’s hard to grasp what’s supposed to go on other than these bad guys who are not necessarily bad guys entirely through faults of their own perhaps now trying to be good-ish guys are being hunted by even more bad guys? Maybe?
I don’t care for the character Valentina Allegra de Fontaine—the corporate suit lady towards the end (earlier seen in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Black Widow, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)—so I’m miffed we’ll see more of her. Meh.
Otherwise, this trailer has a little of the same feel I get from the early MCU ensemble stories. If we’re really lucky, the movie might capture some of the same magic.
At this writing, Thunderbolts* is set to release on May 02, 2025.
Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.
An article in the journal Small on March 13, 2024, by Erfan Pourshaban et al. introduces a self-contained on-the-eye power source. Their device combines flexible silicon solar cells with an electrochemical harvester based on the principle of metal-air batteries. This harvester is activated by the blinking motion and uses tear electrolytes for the harvesting. Finally, the two energy generators were integrated with a power management circuit for a stable voltage and to compensate for weak solar cell performance under low-light conditions.
According to Pourshaban et al., their self-standing power pack could even power drug delivery systems, diabetic sensors, or readout sensors in smart contact lenses.
Integrated power pack for a smart contact lens by Pourshaban et al.; a) Exploded view of the flexible power pack’s components, b) circuit diagram of the entire power pack, c) PDMS-encapsulated power management circuit and the flexible solar cell mounted on an eyeball replica, and d) power pack’s electrical status under natural eye blinking conditions.
I haven’t seen much mainstream reporting on this, but it sounds very exciting to me! The technology has so far been tested on a curved platform that emulates the human eyeball with a 3d-printed eyelid. A long way is still needed for any actual human use, I’d imagine, but the treatment of various eye-related complaints such as glaucoma, dryness, chronic ocular surface inflammation, and vision issues might become much easier. There may also be potential for more science-fictional uses, like in-eye displays.
I’m most fond of her role as Dowager Countess Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey. It is one of the best in that franchise—most of the characters are interesting and all of the acting is fantastic, but hers topped it by far. Already two years ago, you could tell from the footage of the second movie, Downton Abbey: A New Era, that she was getting very old and fragile. I remember thinking at the time that I wouldn’t be surprised if that was to be her last performance. (It wasn’t, but almost.)
(Note: There’s no captioning, and it’s only in Finnish, but mostly the trailer is non-verbal. In the beginning, the text reads Experience the world’s best-known adventure. At the end, while raising his staff Gandal says You cannot pass!)
Tampere Theatre, Tampere Hall, and Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, among others, have worked for four years to create the adaptation. I haven’t heard the reason why the play runs only about two months (Aug 22 to Sept 21, 2024 and Dec 18, 2024 to Jan 11, 2025); you’d think a slightly longer run might be warranted for such a large production. I do know it’s staged at Tampere Hall instead of Tampere Theatre’s own, beautiful historical building because the latter is under renovations. I also know that the production team had to make their own Finnish translation from scratch and that no songs were allowed due to limitations posed by The Tolkien Estate.
The sets and props look fantastic, as does the lighting and video projections. I’m not sure I agree with the Elven costuming, though; their profiles look a little too much like the female Hobbit / villager Hobbit profiles. Otherwise the wardrobe looks fabulous. You can’t tell about the soundscape on the basis of the trailer alone, but I have high hopes. I hope the Hall also works for the adaptation as a performance space.
We can’t wait to see it!
Out There highlights intriguing art, places, phenomena, flora, and fauna.
I have to say that I’m not wowed. It’s very pretty to look at, beautifully cinematic, even breathtaking at times. However, it really doesn’t seem to be a movie for me.
We’re not in the 80s or 90s anymore, when just about any SFFnal movie was sure to get my eyeballs simply by existing. Then, for a while during and after the aughts, handsome effects and CGI often got me to see a movie I wouldn’t necessarily have seen at the theater otherwise. Now we have reached a saturation point. For a good long while I have just not been able to be bothered about seeing a new release at the theater unless there’s something special about it, or a movie hits a very particular interest of mine.
(I will certainly not take the trouble, if trailers merely make a movie look like a whole bunch of men doing man-things and relegates women to the sidelines. It’s one thing to place your story in a society where minorities aren’t formally given recognition by the society, but there’s a huge difference between writing or filming those minorities in a dismissive way and a respectful way. I found Oppenheimer, for example, a wonderful example of the latter.)
Even reading that Megalopolis is loosely based on Roman history (the Catilinarian Conspiracy in 63 BCE involving an aristocrat attempting to overthrow the Republic) didn’t make it more interesting to me. Granted, the time stop gimmick is slightly interesting, but I confess that it, too, lost its appeal by the end of the trailer.
It is a shame I won’t see more of Nathalie Emmanuel, whose work in the Fast & Furious franchise and in Game of Thrones I’ve liked. Perhaps I’ll find Megalopolis in the library, if it’s ever imported to Finland. At this writing it doesn’t look like it, but we’ll see.
Megalopolis opens on September 27, 2024.
Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.
Last month we saw an exhibit of fantasy art by John Howe in Tampere-talo, Tampere, Finland. Titled The Art of John Howe: Journeys through the worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien, the exhibit is the first time that Howe’s work has been comprehensively displayed in Finland.
Over 250 original works were presented, from pencil drafts to finished color paintings and sculpture, along with sketchbooks and even some metal armor belonging to Howe. Some images were also enlarged into murals or banners, and a number of video screens scattered around the exhibit looped captioned interviews.
Apart from various illustrations of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, on display were for example works on mythical topics or sagas, like Beowulf and Arthurian legends. Also various architectural or creature studies were included.
The exhibit space was partitioned into irregular areas. Walls framed your route in interesting ways, and the murals created striking views. In one corner there was even a video with flying dragons projected up on the wall high above the framed artworks so that the dragons were visible from a distance. The art pieces had enough room, and no area was too small—clearly accessibility was planned in.
There was no predetermined loop, merely a path suggested by the layout, which made it easy to pick your preferred viewing order and to avoid the occasional crowd. It was also easy to double back without first having to finish the whole route.
Color and lighting were used in a fascinating way. Most spot lights were warm orangey-brown or in the blue-purple range. Otherwise the hall was surprisingly dark, but not unsafely so. It was very interesting from a mood point of view.
Visitors were encouraged to take photos. Unfortunately, the ceiling lights reflected on the glass, which made photographing individual framed artworks difficult.
It was great seeing the complexity, detail, and vividness of Howe’s art in person, not to mention the variety of his work. We were absolutely delighted to be able to visit!
Images by Eppu Jensen
In Making Stuff we share fun arts and crafts done by us and our fellow geeks and nerds.
The Map of the World, Late Babylonian (found Abu Habba (Sippar), currently British Museum; c. 6th c. BCE; clay)
The map shows the world as a disc surrounded by the circular “Bitter River”. Babylon is marked as a rectangle, the river Euphrates flows south in the middle, and small circles show cities or districts.
The curator’s comment in the BM catalog says that according to the tablet it was copied from an earlier one. Clearly there was an established practice by 6th c. BCE—this object is quite recent in Mesopotamian terms, after all.
Obviously, the map was meant to be more conceptual than realistic. However, there are many notes (and even some time / linear measurements) which make it more usable. (Please visit BM and read the item description; it’s quite fascinating.)
The Map of the World, Late Babylonian (found Abu Habba (Sippar), currently British Museum; c. 6th c. BCE; drawing of clay tablet)
What an intriguing map, isn’t it?
As the fragment is approximately 12 by 8 cm (approx. 3″ x 5″), it’s believable that it could’ve easily been transported if desired. Which makes it quite plausible that intrepid adventurers in a story or role-playing campaign in a similar setting could carry around maps made in the same style. There could quite well be professional mapmakers and a developed cartography for your world, even if writing doesn’t happen on sheets of paper as we know it.
The Visual Inspiration occasional feature pulls the unusual from our world to inspire design, story-telling, and worldbuilding. If stuff like this already exists, what else could we imagine?
The Glasgow Worldcon—known as A Worldcon for Our Futures—has been done and dusted for a couple of weeks now. Some buddies of mine went, but I didn’t. Instead, I’ve enjoyed reading various reports and stories, and looking at photos, of course.
A chef, steampunk-style. Aaaah! So inventive and different! 😀
There are the requisite rivets, of course, and valves, dials, gauges, and piping, but also burner coils, a pan, a spatula, and plates (in another photo). What really stopped me in my tracks are the burner coils, though—so, it’s not just any generic steampunk gadget you strap onto your back, it’s a portable stove!
It looks like the stove might have been built from a cardboard box, but I haven’t been able to find the story behind this outfit to confirm. (If anyone knows, please share or link!) It would be interesting to hear details, for instance whether it’s feasible to carry anything inside the oven. So clever, though!
“I’m talking that massive, never-ending Discord chat with your bestie? The one that makes you giggle through the day? It’s not a ‘waste of time,’ it’s what time was made for“
– atlinmerrick on Tumblr
Hear, hear!
As much as it might frighten us some days, change is permanent and the only absolutely realiable thing in life. (Apart from the sheer impossibility of taking anything with you when it’s time to go.) Why not find happiness while you can? Why not allow yourself to feel the joy you feel? Lots of adults would be happier, I think, if they allowed more of the delight they used to feel in their childhood to remain in their lives. (Mostly talking to my Protestant forebears here…!)
Co-Geeking 
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