September 23rd, 2009 by Amanda

Weburbanist.com has an incredible article about the 14 coolest places to swim, from sunken treasure to the Dead Sea, from jelly fish infested lakes to water that literally glows when you swim. All of these places look absolutely amazing, and for somebody who is absolutely terrified of water to want to go to these places, it’s saying a lot. Read the whole article here.

September 18th, 2009 by Sydney

Driving home from school the other day, stuck in traffic downtown, I noticed the car in front of me, some sort of black SUV Acura, had one of those frames around it’s license plate that read, “Starfleet Reality.”  I thought to myself, “That can’t be a Star Trek reference… or can it?”

It was.

When I got home, I looked up StarfleetReality.com.  At first glance, the website looked pretty normal and trekless.  And then I read the about page.

“At Starfleet Realty, our prime directive is to provide state-of-the-art customer service. We believe in the beauty of the human spirit and we are firmly committed to treating everyone with respect and dignity… Although it is a big planet, we will help you find your place in it.”

A few days later, I was at school again and parked outside the art buildings guess what car I saw! The same black Acura with the Starfleet Realty frame around its license plate!  ZOMG!  Shit, why didn’t I take a picture of it!?!!  I’m thinking I should probably leave a note on the car if I ever see it again.  I’d love to talk to them, or whoever they know from the company.  I do kind of wish they just would have gone all out with their trekdom, instead of hiding bit and pieces of it on their about page.  You know, like those Star Trek dentists in Trekkies.  That would be awesome!

July 29th, 2009 by Amanda

Shared Worlds says:

“At Shared Worlds students create fantasy and science fiction worlds to fuel their writing, art, and game development. But even the strangest made-up place can have some real-world spark. Our own planet is often surreal, alien, and beautifully strange–and cities tend to focus our fascination with these qualities. Sometimes the exoticness comes from finding the unexpected where we live, and sometimes it comes from visiting a place that’s foreign to us. Everyone also has a different idea of what “fantasy” or “science fiction” looks like in real places.

So we decided to ask five top SF-fantasy authors – Elizabeth Hand, Nalo Hopkinson, Ursula K. LeGuin, China Miéville, and Michael Moorcock –the following question: “What’s your pick for the top real-life fantasy or science fiction city?” “

#1 – Elizabeth Hand – Reykavik, Iceland

#2 – Nalo Hopkinson – Kingston, Jamaica

#3 – Ursula K. LeGuin – Venice, Italy

#4 – China Miéville – London, England

#5 – Michael Moorcock – Marrakesh, Morocco

Quite frankly, I’m surprised that not one person said Tokyo. Hmm…too cliche? Click here to see in detail what each author had to say about each city.

June 15th, 2009 by Senna

Senna here, reporting for duty!

One big step for Noah and Erin, one giant leap for mankind!

Space lovers and soon to be newlyweds Noah Fulmor and Erin Finnegan will be the first couple to be married in space– well, almost. They will be married in a Boeing 727 zero gravity plane departing from the Kennedy Space Center, high above the surface of the Earth. Noah explains, “We would really prefer to do it in space or on Mars but living in the time that we do, this was the closest we could get to zero gravity.”  And the rock?  Nothing less than an engagement ring of meteorite fragments from 30,000 years ago.  Both of the love cadets plan to wear zero gravity wedding attire, a multi layered gown by Japanese designer Eri Matsui for Erin and a special zero gravity tux for Noah.  The price tage of the wedding is a whopping $5,200 a head, and they’re bringing friends.  But no price is too high for a once in a lifetime commitment in a once in a lifetime setting, for Noah and Erin will be two of the few earthlings to experience zero gravity.  The honeymoon will follow straight after the wedding party in Antartica.  Read the whole article here.

Congratulations to the spacey couple!