Starship Fonzie

Greetings, all my fellow Milwookies, homo-sapiens, and all other sentient lifeforms of the Planet Earth. This is Starship Fonzie, the official podcast of the Milwaukee Science Fiction and Fantasy League. I’m your host, Eric J. Hildeman, and we’re going to let you know what’s going on in the SFF world generally, and in Milwaukee particular. This podcast is being pre-recorded live from the planet Walloch 9 where the sisterhood of the Bene Gesserit are plotting to seize power withing the Imperium. Actually, it’s coming to you from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, or as it’s better known, the world’s beer garden. Welcome to the episode #45 of Starship Fonzie! We’re in episode #12 in our fourth year of existence. There’s a lot to go over, so let’s get under. Way, that is. It’s been too long since our last episode. A lot has happened, not the least of which was the travesty which was the presidential election. Those of us that love future dystopias within science fiction are all just a little bit more ...

So, the latest YouTube video to go viral involves a CGI version of William Shatner being reunited with a CGI version of Leonard Nimoy. It's called "765874 - Unification," and I can only assume the string of numbers refers to a stardate. It is simple, touching, and feels to the viewer like the reuniting of old friends, not just between Kirk and Spock, but between Trek fans and the franchise. This viral moment is a little bit like back when Gazelle Automations did the Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Animated series video, featuring the moment when Picard was abducted by the Borg. It was the Trek video which "broke the Internet." ( To see it again, click here .) This time, the animation isn't a cartoon. Instead it's the simple face-swap software which has been both a blessing and a plague upon entertainment and culture over the last three years. But it got used for good, for once. The film doesn't rely solely upon CGI actors, as Robin Curtis, the ac...

  Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? Well, don't. Seriously, November is a stupid month to do a national writing month. You have TONS to do that time of year, whether it be taking down the Halloween decorations, putting up the Christmas decorations, getting ready for Thanksgiving, getting a jump on your Christmas shopping, making sure you get your leaves down to the curb before the final leaf-pick-up day in your city or village, etc., etc. You don't have time for novel writing in November. Unless you're a complete hermit, none of us do. Which is why, for the second straight year, I'm pushing the idea of "NotNovWriMo." That is, doing your novel writing month in some other month besides November. My personal pick? January. When the holidays are over, all the parties have concluded, and you're there with a (hopefully) mild hangover on January 1st with nothing better to do on your day off than watch an old movie or, better yet, start on your book...