Plenty of Nothing

Liquid Hydrogen Tank

I can't help thinking that the Aries 1B of 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Trade Federation starship of the Star Wars prequels are both inspired by the liquid hydrogen tanks at Cape Canaveral. Source.

Bolaji Badejo

Bolaji Badejo, who played the xenomorph in the original Alien movie, died of sickle cell anemia on this date 25 years ago.

The War in Space (1977)

Yūko Asano starred in The War in Space, which opened on this date in 1977. Source.

Pahvo, Ontario

Now that Star Trek is being shot in Toronto, the Vasquez Rocks are out, and the Niagara Escarpment is in.

The Train Job

Tomorrow marks the fifteenth anniversary of the "The Train Job", the first episode of Firefly to be broadcast. Like Star Trek's "The Man Trap" it was not intended to be the first episode shown. But TV execs know best. 2017 is also the minus 500th anniversary of Firefly, which is set in 2517. It's nice to think that as the human race abandoned Earth That Was, someone thought to bring alone Chinese checkers. Source.

Shin Godzilla

Review.

Alien Gargoyle

Alien gargoyle on Paisley Abbey.

Rocky Loma

Ivy Levan performs "Science Fiction Double Feature" in front of Casa Loma in Fox's remake of Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Films referenced in the song:

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) with Michael Rennie

Flash Gordon (1936, with sequels in 1938 and 1940)

The Invisible Man (1933) with Claude Rains

King Kong (1933) with Fay Wray

It Came From Outer Space (1953)

Doctor X (1932)

Forbidden Planet (1956) with Anne Francis

Tarantula (1955) with Leo G. Carroll

Day of the Triffids (1962) with Janette Scott

Night of the Demon (1957) with Dana Andrews

When Worlds Collide (1951) by George Pal

RKO Pictures operated from 1928 to 1957.

Salt Vampire

On September 8th, 1966, CBS broadcast "The Man Trap", the first episode of Star Trek to go to air, though it was the sixth one produced. The network executives wanted to lead off with a monster, assuming that the audience's taste in science fiction had been formed by 1950s creature features. The salt vampire costume was designed by Wah Chang, and worn by Sandra Gimpel. Jeanne Bal played Nancy Crater, the shapeshifting creature's human form. In a typical Trek inconsistency both Kirk and McCoy behave in the film Star Trek VI (1991) as if they've never met a shapeshifter before -- even though McCoy carried a torch for Nancy Crater, and the creature tried to eat Kirk's face.

Star Wars Concordance

Every occurance of every word in the latest edition of the original Star Wars film. View.