<a target="_blank" href='http://www.fantasist.net/scroll/wp-content/images/floatinglake4.jpg&#039; alt='Floating Lake, with bomber'><img class="floatright" src='http://www.fantasist.net/scroll/wp-content/images/thumb-floatinglake4.j…; alt='Floating Lake, with bomber'/></a>

Well, I just keep on doing art, eh?

This was inspired by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">Views by Roger Dean</a>. He's one of the artists behind the amazing sets that Yes used to use on tour. Bizarre, alien landscapes are his stock and trade. The images he has of floating islands, especially with lakes and oceans in the island, just really captured my imagination as a kid. Totally engrossing and mind expanding. Incredible.

Anyway, that's what inspired me to try to make my own, photo-realistic floating lake. I hope you like it.

Today is the birthday of two very important science-fiction writers.
The first is science fiction novelist Philip K. Dick, who was born in Chicago in 1928. He wrote many novels that pushed the edge of science-fiction a little further out, making room for the cyberpunk movement to follow him. Some of his work includes <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">The Minority Report (which is a collection of short stories)</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (another short story collection)</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">A Scanner Darkly</a>. Since his death in 1982, many of his novels and short stories have been made into movies, including Blade Runner (1982), Total Recall (1990) and Minority Report (2002).

It's also the birthday of the science fiction novelist Arthur C. Clarke, who was born in Somerset, England in 1917. He's the author of many science fiction novels, including <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">Childhood's End</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">2001: A Space Odyssey</a>(which was written in the year of my birth!), and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">Rendevous with Rama</a>. He is also famous for inventing the concept of the communications satellite.

I always love collections of fantasy names.
Of course, I have my own set of fantasy name generators right here, but, sometimes, you need inspiration from other sources. And, frankly, getting fantasy names down so that they sound "right", but still different and alien, is a big challenge. At least, it is for me. So, that's why I fell in love with this site: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/names/fantasylinks.htm">Fantasy Names</a>.
The names are all at other sites, and I don't think they list mine, but this is about the best collection of links to every kind of name generator, fantasy, science-fiction and otherwise, that I've ever seen. If you're looking for fantasy names, for whatever the reason, it's worth a look.
Besides, it's a Friday and if you're reading my blog, you don't have anythng better to do anyway, so click the link!

<a target="_blank" href='http://www.fantasist.net/scroll/wp-content/images/tropicalfish7.jpg&#039; alt='Tropical Fish, with Extras'><img class="floatleft" src='http://www.fantasist.net/scroll/wp-content/images/thumb-tropicalfish7.j…; alt='Tropical Fish, with Extras' </a/>
Well, I told you it was part of a series!
So, yes, this is the same thing with the fish, but this time, I've added a sunken temple and a boat. But, the temple is way off in the background and the boat is basically invisible, except for the hull in the water. Still, it's a pretty good composition, I think. (You don't have to agree.)
And, whatever else it is, at least it's art!</a>

Robert Sheckley died on Friday.
I just saw the <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2005/12/09/robert_sheckley_has_.html">news today via BoingBoing</a>, but I felt it was important enough to mention. Sheckley was the master of science-fiction comedy and commentary in a single form. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">The 10th Victim</a> was one of the best books I've ever read, and not just because of the infamous brassiere-gun, and even is credited for spawning the Assasination Game, among other things.
He was a wondeful author and will be missed.

Well, it's my birthday, too!
No, seriously, it's my birthday. And, look, I could copy and paste everything I wrote in my other blog about this blessed event, but I'm too lazy, so I'll <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ryumaou.com/hoffman/netgeek/?p=851">just link to it</a>.

Well, and fantasy, too.
I recently read a very good article about religious and spiritual belief and how that fits into science-fiction and fantasy fiction. The article was really an interview, in slightly modified form, with award-winning author and well-known Mormon, Orson Scott Card. (You can read the article here: <a href="http://www.scifieditor.com/orson.htm">SciFiEditor.com</a&gt;.) The article brings up some very good points about why religion is often left out of modern fantasy and science-fiction, namely that the SF and Fantasy "Establishment" are practitioners of American Intellectualism, which "rebels" against religious thought and belief. I think he's quite right in that regard. Also, I agree that such a view is quite unrealistic, considering how widely spread religious beliefs actually are in the world and how deeply they effect our culture and planet. Look at both the Crusades and the current political unrest in the Middle East. Indeed, in many places in the world, political strife is a direct result of conflicting religious beliefs and methods. As important as these factors are in our real world, can we afford to ignore them in a created world? I don't think so.
In any case, I highly reccomend reading the article if you plan on writing speculative fiction of any kind. Religion in such settings is a very important, but overlooked, topic.

Yes, they're real.
Actual autonomous robots that mimic fish are no longer just science-fiction. According to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4313266.stm#">this article on the BBC</a>, the London Aquarium not only has them, but has them swimming in a tank with actual fish. Primarily as a marketing gimmick at the moment, but, still, they're in there just acting like fish. Currently, they're trying to get them to "feed" like biological animals, too, but, at the moment, they're on batteries that last rough 5 hours.
Obviously, these little blighters are part of a scientific experiment to see how the fish and robots interact, as well as representing a step in the ever popular quest for artificial life. Any way you slice it, robofish are pretty interesting.

<a target="_blank" href='http://www.fantasist.net/scroll/wp-content/images/tropicalfish3.png&#039; alt='Tropical Fish'><img class="floatright" src='http://www.fantasist.net/scroll/wp-content/images/thumb-tropicalfish3.p…; alt='Tropical Fish' /></a>
Well, look, how creative!
Fish! Yea, the stereotypical 3d artist's first image, tropical fish underwater. Well, at least it's not dolphins! I could be worse! Actually, this is the first of several in a similar vein I did some time back. Recently, I went back to it and added some things, but, that's for later.

Well, at least his fossil.
According to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/opr/nms/newsreleases/2005/rink.html">this article from McMaster University</a>, an ape that was roughly three meters tall and weighed up to 1,200 pounds was running around Asia at a time when humans also existed. Gigantopithecus blackii, as the giant primate is known in archeological circles, has actually been known for over 35 years, but this is the first time that such a complete specimen has been found and accurately dated.
And, yes, I do suppose that they're capitalizing on the recent media blitz surrounding the new <a target="_blank" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360717/">King Kong movie</a>, which opens in December. I still think it's cool.