Longtime Abbey Road on the River favorites Hal Bruce and Jay Goeppner entertained Friday, June 26, with a variety of John Lennon tunes during their acoustic set. Among them was the early Lennon song “If I Fell.” Video by Ronald Hawkins.
Tag: Science Fiction
WorldCon nominees announced
If you’ve ever been to Worldcon, whether it’s in London, Spokane or Kansas City, you know that probably the biggest event is the awarding of the Hugo Awards.
The final nominees for the honors this year, which will be presented in Helsinki, have just been announced.
Here are few of them:
Best Novel:
All the Birds in the Sky, by Charlie Jane Anders; Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers; Death’s End by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu ; Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee; The Obelisk Gate, by N. K. Jemisin; and Too Like the Lightning, by Ada Palmer.
Best Novella:
The Ballad of Black Tom, by Victor LaValle;
The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, by Kij Johnson;
Every Heart a Doorway, by Seanan McGuire;
Penric and the Shaman, by Lois McMaster Bujold;
A Taste of Honey, by Kai Ashante Wilson; and This Census-Taker, by China Miéville.
Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form):
Arrival, screenplay by Eric Heisserer based on a short story by Ted Chiang, directed by Denis Villeneuve; Deadpool, screenplay by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, directed by Tim Miller; Ghostbusters, screenplay by Katie Dippold and Paul Feig, directed by Paul Feig. Hidden Figures, screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, directed by Theodore Melfi; Rogue One, screenplay by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, directed by Gareth Edwards; and Stranger Things, Season One, created by the Duffer Brothers
Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form):
Black Mirror: “San Junipero”, written by Charlie Brooker, directed by Owen Harris (House of Tomorrow): Doctor Who: “The Return of Doctor Mysterio”, written by Steven Moffat, directed by Ed Bazalgette (BBC Cymru Wales); The Expanse: “Leviathan Wakes”, written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, directed by Terry McDonough (SyFy); Game of Thrones: “Battle of the Bastards”, written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Miguel Sapochnik (HBO); Game of Thrones: “The Door”, written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Jack Bender (HBO); and
Splendor & Misery [album], by Clipping (Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes)
The return of the Doctor
Who knows what the future of “Doctor Who” will be — except possibly time travelers — but the next few months could prove crucial.
After only one new episode in 2016, which was the marvelous Christmas “The Return of Doctor Mysterio” episode, the “10th series” since the SF shows were resume in 2005 could prove to be the last. At least it will be the last series for showrunner Steven Moffat and current Doctor Peter Capaldi as both have announced this will be their final series.
The new series will premiere on BBC America at 9 p.m. April 15, next Saturday.
The Doctor will be joined by new companion Bill Potts, played by Pearl Mackie. If you’ve seen the last two Christmas specials, you’ll probably be delighted to see the character Nardole in several episodes of the new season.
The first episode of the 10th series will be immediately followed at 10:10 p.m. by “Class,” the Doctor Who spinoff that has been available to British viewers since last spring. The story focuses on five of the students and staff at Coal Hill Academy, which has frequently been part of Doctor Who episodes and where Clara was a teacher. 
The series focuses on five students and staff who asked by the Doctor to deal with alien threats in the midst of dealing with personal issues.
Although “Class” has received positive reviews in the U.K., the eight episodes have performed poorly in the ratings there, possibly due to poor promotion by the BBC.
As for the upcoming season of Doctor Who, it is set to have 12 episodes running weekly through July 1 plus a Christmas special.
Titles for 10 of the first 12 episodes include “The Pilot,” “Smile,” “Thin Ice,” “Knock Knock,” “Oxygen,” “Extremis,” “The Pyramid at the End of the World,” “The Lie of the Land,” “The Empress of Mars,” and “The Eaters of Light.”
The big question, of course, is if and when Doctor Who will return after this series and, if so, who will be the next Doctor.
A peek into the worlds of SF, fantasy stars,writers and more
All photos by Ronald Hawkins, except the ones he’s in.
John Barrowman
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