Q) Molly asks, I have a 1950’s trash can I want to sell, but not sure what it is please tell me if you know..

It is a Ballonoff home products made in Ohio it has the names in caracters of Me2, Zig 6, Gaz and it is totally a sci-fi thing, it has planets on the inside and characters and walking machines on the outside all around the can.

Do you know what this can is?

A) We actually did a google to see if we could find the answer, but even the names of the characters don’t mean anything to us! Aggh.

Do you know the answer? If you have an idea, please post a comment.

Does anyone know if it has been released as a restored print on DVD as the original print on VHS, or when shown on TCM is faded.

A) Forbidden Planet was released on HD-DVD on 28th November 2006.

It was in honour of its fiftieth anniversary, the film was restored by the Warner Bros. reconstruction crew.

Very, muchly, cool.

These people have said that Bill Pullman is in talks to land the role of playing Philip K. Dick.

And I quote:

Details are thin as the producers of this indie production haven’t yet seen fit to list the film in IMDb’s database. The movie is currently entitled Panasonic (very non-PKD) which will be hell for them come search engine marketing time. Shooting is scheduled to begin next month with musician Matthew “Break My Stride” Wilder taking the director’s chair.

And I end quote.

Check it out. Made me laugh.

By the way, that’s Bill PULLMAN from the ever so cool Brain Dead, not Bill PAXTON from the ever so not cool Big Love. Saying that, they both starred in Brain Dead.

Now the serious questions is: Who will star in a biographical film of the life of Philip K. Dick? (I bet you a vanilla ice-cream the PKD Society won’t let it happen. Ever.)

Let us know who you think would be able to do the PKD biz with the feedback form, and we’ll make you a bit famous - or something.

To be honest, I was going to put up some ideas, but my mind is a blank…

Blimey, you could almost get confused (with the Bills), like when people talk about the Gregs: Greg Bear, Greg Egan or Greg(ory) Benford.

When I finished Olaf Stapledon’s The Star Maker (without noticing how long ago it was written) I thought, wow, I’d really like to speak to this guy, delve into his mind and interview him on what made him write such an immense, deep, wide vision of a novel.

Oh. But then I found out he’d actually died in 1950 (I sometimes skip reading the summary of a novel until I’ve finished) and this book was recommended to me by a friend.

The point of the above is that over a period of a few years, there have been novels I’ve read which really make me want to speak with the author, only to find that they have since died. In an interview I did with Christopher Priest, he mentioned how a lot of the authors in a (probably) never to be published anthology were already dead as it was conceived many years ago. This jogged my memory so I thought I’d make a list of authors I would have liked to have met and/or interviewed.

So in no particular order, here they are, with the novel/story which made me want to meet them personally ask them questions (and get my collection of their stories autographed, with a photo as they’re doing it):

Philip K. Dick (Probably The Electric Ant)
Olaf Stapledon (Starmaker)
H.G. Wells (The Time Machine and The Invisible Man)
Jules Verne (All of his writings)

There’s a load more, but I don’t have them to hand. I’d need to run my eyes over my library shelves.

I also think it’s neat that authors are accessible through the Internet. Some, I know, don’t have a web presence, either intentionally, because they aren’t aware of it (?), or in the case of a select few, they are in hiding, but.. the one’s who take time to reply to cold emails are the one’s which should be nodded to.

And I guess there is always the Oui-Ja board in extreme cases…

But actually, no, there’s the living ones.

This is happening at BLOCspace gallery in Sheffield from 8 to 23 April.

The artists, a.a.s., have constructed a film/television set in the gallery inspired by Quatermass, featuring a video work in which ‘presenters’ report on a mysterious event. The artists will be doing a performance from inside the installation on 7 April at some time between 7 and 9pm.

I’ll have more details, including pictures, coming soon.

As a change from Wyndham’s normal setting of rural England, the story is set in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust on Earth, which in turn has caused mutations in the human race. Those who are physically or mentally ‘deformed’ are banished to The Fringes - the edge of the Dead Lands. They are deemed evil and dirty, and thrown out so as not affect the rest of the ‘normals’. Definition of a normal human is termed in their Religious Writings which lays out a list of what is normal (10 fingers, jointed correctly, two hands, two arms, two eyes, two ears etc). Every new born child is examined and upon confirmation they are correct are given a certificate of normalcy.

David, the narrator of the story, is a norm. Unknown to the other normals, another mutation is taking place which is that of telepathy. The ability to ’shape-see’. David and a few other youngsters have this ability.

The story is an enjoyable read, and many parallels can be drawn to today’s society; i.e. the way people view and react to others who are ‘different’. Wyndham’s writing shines in this story, keeping the tempo up, managing to engage you with the characters and the environment. It conjours up many emotions and lots of suprises.

Overall, I would recommend reading this even if you’re not into SF, it is a great piece of fiction.