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- Welcome to the Archive for March, 2007
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You can also see the archive for 2007 or the entire archive for Today's Featured Article.
- March 1
Jordan Collier is a fictional character on the TV series The 4400, played by Billy Campbell. Jordan was born March 12, 1963, in New York. Before his abduction on April 10, 2002, Jordan was a successful businessman and hotelier. He was returned on July 11, 2004 to Highland Beach near Seattle Washington along with the other 4,400.
History
Once out of quarantine, Jordan immediately set about rebuilding his business empire with a focus on the 4,400. He believed he'd been returned for a purpose, a second chance to do something special with his life besides make money. He took on a leadership position and became the most prominent member of the 4,400.
Jordan built a private compound, Arcadia Estates, which provided housing for the 4,400. He instinctively understood that there would be a division between the 4,400 and other people. When a list of the 4,400 names was revealed to the press, several 4,400 were attacked. Richard Tyler and his pregnant girlfriend Lily Moore . . .
- March 2
"Exodus, Part 1" is the third episode of Battlestar Galactica Season 3.
Tyrol receives a list of the arrested insurgents and discovers his wife, Cally is among them. He initially panics but Tigh quickly takes control an informs him they can now locate them using the recently cracked Cylon coordinate system. They calculate and prep a team to rescue them. The team is successful in rescuing Cally and the others and destroying the Centurions. Cavil who accompanied them is also injured along with some of the NCP. Cavil commits suicide when Seelix leaves him to die slowly.
At Breeders Canyon, Sharon meets with Anders to discuss the rescue plans. They are attacked by centurions and several resistance members are killed. The Centurions are taken out by an RPG and following the attack, they recover a map. It is the same one passed to Ellen Tigh given the task of destroying it. Anders realizes she may have tipped the Cylons off.
Number Three has dreams of a tent and of herself holding baby Hera. The dreams lead her to . . .
- March 3
Battlestar Galactica: Zarek Comic - Number 2 is part of Dynamite Entertainment’s Battlestar Galactica series, set during the continuity of the re-imagined SCI FI Channel series. The second issue of Zarek takes place in the wake of the first Cylon War. Excerpts from Tom Zarek’s book The Revolution Within provide narration as we learn that his home colony of Sagittaron is still a virtual slave state. Following the death of his parents, Zarek has grown to adulthood and developed a consuming hatred for the Colonial government.
Over the next few years, Zarek increases the profile of the labor union started by his mother and finds that the governmental resistance has escalated to deal with the situation. Eventually, a raid is staged on the group’s headquarters, leaving Tom and his associate Mason to start over with a handful of resources and loyal members. The rebirth of the organization opens the door to a more revolutionary approach and a new name: the SFM (Sagittaron Freedom Movement).
Following a successful raid on a Colonial weapons shipment, Tom becomes involved with Jessica Ward, an idealistic young SFM member. The SFM remains an underground organization for some time, attacking . . .
- March 4
The Historical Bigfoot is a book by Chad Arment.
If Bigfoot is an unknown species living in North America, a popular theory suggests that it crossed over the land/ice bridge from Asia at a similar time as Homo Sapiens. If so, it would be reasonable to suppose that the creatures would be encountered by the Europeans (and other "modern humans") that settled the "New World" from at least the time the West was occupied (and earlier, if Bigfoot exists or existed East of the Rockies). If that is the case, a search of early newspaper accounts could show the continued existence.
Arment discusses the issues in his introduction. There are clearly reports of large, hairy, humanoid creatures in those papers, and many of them are reproduced in the book. However, they are often interpreted as escaped gorillas (with considerable confusion between gorillas and other great ape and primate species), or feral humans. Some stories fit the current conception of Bigfoot, but others may run on all fours, or, at the other end of the spectrum, wear clothes and use tools . . .
- March 5
Admiral Helena Cain is a fictional character on the series Battlestar Galactica portrayed by Michelle Forbes. Originally from Tauron, Cain was the commander of the Mercury Class battlestar, Pegasus.
The Pegasus was stationed at the Scorpian Fleet Shipyards during the Cylon attack. Cain ordered a blind FTL jump to save the vessel. Over the next few months, Cain and her ship engaged in guerilla warfare with the Cylons. Cain and her crew later came across a civilian fleet of ships but unwilling to bear the burden of protecting them, she had the ships stripped of useful hardware and useful personnel leaving them stranded without FTL capabilities or defenses. While trailing a Cylon Fleet, they eventually discovered Galactica and Cain took command of the fleet.
Cain transferred Lee Adama and Kara Thrace to Pegasus and made it clear her objective was fighting the Cylons, not protecting the remnants of humanity. While initially glad to be joined by a new Battlestar, Adama and his crew soon realized Cain's leadership could prove dangerous given her ruthless methods. Stories about her brutality and . . .
- March 6
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is a novel by Robert A. Heinlein. What will 2076 look like? As Heinlein tells it, the moon has been used as a penal colony and its current residents are eager to cut their ties to Earth and govern themselves. Viva la revolución!
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, published in 1966 by Putnam, puts a diverse cast of characters to work on the problem of gaining independence. There's the narrator, Manuel Garcia O'Kelly Davis (known as Mannie), who speaks in a Lunar dialect that whips frothy bits of Russian and Aussie slang into English. There's Professor Bernardo de la Paz, a professional revolutionary from Lima; and Wyoming Knott, who combines beauty, brains, and a fighting spirit. Most of all, there's Mike.
Mike, short for Mycroft Holmes, is a supercomputer who starts by gaining a sense of humor ("Why is a laser beam like a goldfish?") and ends up as a full-fledged artificial intelligence. He takes on the role of revolutionary leader . . .
- March 7
Langara is a fictional planet on the series Stargate SG-1 located in the Milky Way. Langara is a planet of three nations currently at a tenuous peace but previously engaged in decades of war. The thee countries, Kelowna (home to Jonas Quinn), Terrania, and the Andari Federation were forced to work together when they came under threat from the Goa'uld.
History
Three thousand years ago, Langara was occupied by the Goa'uld Thanos who launched an experiment to convert the valuable mineral naquadah into highly unstable naquadria while the mineral was still in the ground. The experiment nearly destroyed the planet but the planet survived, and several thousand years later, the Kelownans discovered the stargate as well as the naquadria.
Kelowna, technologically on par with mid-twentieth century Earth, were experimenting with the use of naquadria to create a weapon when SG-1 . . .
- March 8
Face/Off is a 1997 action feature directed by John Woo. The unique storyline was written by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary and starred Nicholas Cage and John Travolta who both had the opportunity to play each others' role in the film. The combination of intriguing storyline and intense action sequences proved successful at the box office and Face/Off became one of the top ten grossing films of 1997. To date, it has earned over $245 million worldwide.
Plot
Government agent, Sean Archer, becomes obsessed with apprehending terrorist Castor Troy who accidentally killed his son while attempting to take Archer out. Archer manages to nab Castor only to discover that he has set a bomb to go off somewhere in Los Angeles if he is not set free. Believing Castor is merely manipulating him, the two fight and Castor winds up in a coma. Unfortunately, the bomb was not . . .
- March 9
The Day of the Triffids first saw print in 1951. John Wyndham (1903–1969) was one of Britain's best-known science fiction writers. Many of his books have been adapted for television and the movies, among them Chocky (novel published in 1968; TV series aired in 1984), The Midwich Cuckoos (novel published in 1957; filmed as Village of the Damned in 1960 and again in 1995), and, above all, The Day of the Triffids.
The Day of the Triffids is a tale of worldwide disaster. Wyndham sets the scene by introducing the triffids, which are carnivorous plants, tall, armed with poisonous tentacles they wield like whips, and able to walk. The book's main character, Bill Masen, speculates about the origin of triffids, but admits that no one really knows. They can be crushed to produce a fragrant pink vegetable oil, so they have become a common crop. Then catastrophe strikes.
A green meteor shower pelts Earth for a night, and everyone who viewed the spectacle wakes up blind. Having been in a London hospital with his eyes . . .
- March 10
The "Chalion" Series by Lois McMaster Bujold started with fantasy novel The Curse of Chalion, which was nominated for both the World Fantasy Award and the Hugo Award (Best Novel), and was awarded the 2002 Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature. The series continues with Paladin of Souls, which received the field of science fiction's highest honors: the 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novel and the 2004 Nebula Award for Best Novel. The Hallowed Hunt (2005) is the third novel set in the Chalion world.
Bujold, a seasoned writer and the recipient of numerous Hugo and Nebula awards for her science fiction works, found inspiration for her fantasy series in studies of 15th-century Spain. The main character in the first book, Lupe dy Cazaril, was conceived in a letter game between Bujold and fantasy author Patricia C. Wrede. Wrede is . . .
- March 11
Unexpected is episode 16 of Heroes Season 1.
Hannah and Theodore—Nevada
Hana Gitelman contacts Theodore Sprague in Nevada via a computer disconnected from the Internet using her abilities to manipulate technology. She visits him in the remote location and shows him the specs for a gun used by Mr. Bennet to tag them with a radioactive isotope enabling him to keep track of them. Hana suggests they team up; she can find Mr. Bennet and his associates and Ted can nuke them.
Matt Parkman—Los Angeles
Matt is now out of a job. He hides the diamonds he stole from the now deceased Aaron Malsky in a drawer but his wife accidentally comes across a ring and he lies to her, saying he bought it wholesale. Janice also informs him that a Professor Suresh called looking for him but she told him nothing about Matt.
Janice takes the ring to be sized and discovers it is worth over 40,000 dollars. She confronts Matt and he confesses and shows her . . .
- March 12
Zombies were originally seen as the reanimated bodies of people who have supposedly died and have been revived through the use of "voodoo." More lately, zombies are simply reanimated corpses intent on catching the living and eating their brains.
The idea of the zombie (or zombi) in Haitian folklore is pervasive but not clearly defined. In general, a zombie is a person who has had his or her soul/awareness/will/ memory stolen by a "voodoo" sorcerer via a spell or potion. Once in the sorcerer's power, the zombie becomes his slave. The zombie may have been killed and reanimated or merely been drugged/spelled into a deceptive deathlike state.
Canadian ethnobotanist Wade Davis claimed in his 1985 book, The Serpent And The Rainbow (and Passage Of Darkness: The Ethnobiology Of The Haitian Zombie, 1988) to have observed the manufacture of a batch of zombie powder and collected eight samples. Davis infers that tetrodotoxin (tetrodotoxin is the lethal toxin found in the Japanese delicacy fugu, or pufferfish) was found in these samples and is the drug used to create zombies. Davis's theory has been disputed by scientists . . .
- March 13
Michael Rosenbaum is an American actor best known for his role on the series Smallville as the young Lex Luthor. He was born on July 11, 1972, in Oceanside, New York, and raised in Newburgh, Indiana. He graduated from Castle High School and went on to attend Western Kentucky University where he earned a BA in communications and theatre. He then moved to New York to pursue acting and performed in several Broadway plays and independent films.
His first film was The Devil & the Angel in which he played The Devil. He also appeared in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Urban Legend, and Sweet November. In 2000, he lent his voice to Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. He also gave voice to several characters on the animated series Batman Beyond and voiced Agent West on The Zeta Project. Other voice roles include Trapper on Static Shock, Drago on Jackie Chan Adventures, Wally West/The Flash on Justice League and his kid counterpart Kid Flash on Teen Titans
In 2001, he shaved his head to take on the role of Lex Luthor . . .
- March 14
Annabeth Gish (b. March 13, 1971) is an American actress born in Albuquerque, New Mexico to Robert and Judy Gish. She is best known to genre fans in the role of Agent Monica Reyes. In 2006 she starred in the series Brotherhood. Gish grew up in Cedar Falls, Iowa with siblings Tim and Robin. Both parents are educators, her mother at the elementary school level and her father an English professor at University of Northern Iowa. Gish attended Northern University High School, graduating in 1989. She went on to Duke University and earned her BA in English in 1993.
Career
Gish began acting at a young age and made her feature film debut in Desert Bloom. Other early roles include the TV Movie Hero in the Family (1986), Mystic Pizza (1988) with Julia Roberts, Silent Cries (1993), The Last Supper (1995), and Nixon (1995). Gish joined the cast of The X-Files as Agent Monica Reyes in 2001. Following the end of the series in 2002, she appeared in the comedy . . .
- March 15
A Prior is a human chosen by The Ori to lead other humans in their worship in the science fiction series, Stargate SG-1. The Ori are ascended beings who demand humans worship them as gods. Each prior has been transformed by the Ori to become an advanced human with immense powers and the capability of performing miracles as proof of the power of the Ori.
Background
The Ori and their Priors originate beyond the Milky Way Galaxy. For several million years, the existence of humans in the Milky Way was kept from them by the Ascended Ancients who were responsible for human life in the galaxy. When the existence of human life was revealed by Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran, the Ori became determined to convert all humans to Origin, the worship of the Ori.
By the rules of the Ascended, the Ori are not permitted to take any direct actions in the Milky Way. Their followers however, are free to . . .
- March 16
William Shatner is a Canadian-born actor, writer, director, and producer, best known for his role as Captain James T. Kirk on the TV series Star Trek and its spin-off films.
Shatner was born on March 22, 1931, in Montreal, Quebec, to parents Joseph Shatner and Anna Garmainse, Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. He received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University in Montreal. During the summers, he enjoyed working in the National Repertory theater of Ottawa costarring in plays such as The Merchant of Venice and Henry V.
Shatner had a small role in the 1951 film The Butler's Night Off. In 1954, after starring in a play in New York called Tamburlaine, Shatner signed a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox. His first TV role was Ranger Bob in the TV series Howdy Doody. In 1956 he married Canadian actress Gloria Rand. The couple had three daughters Leslie Carol, Lisbeth Mary, and Melanie, before divorcing in 1969.
In 1958, Shatner played Alexi Karamazov in the western The Brothers Kazmarov. He then returned to the stage for the Broadway run of The Secret Life of Suzie Wong followed by A Shot in the Dark and L'idiote. Shatner acted in several TV series, and in 1961 he won roles in the films The Intruder also known as I Hate Your Guts and Judgement at Nuremburg.
Shatner guest starred on several television series including The Twilight Zone, 77 Sunset Strip, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Outer Limits and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. before he won the role he'd be most famous for, Captain Kirk on Star Trek. The series lasted three seasons but was cancelled in 1969 due to poor ratings. Shatner lost his father during the series' run and became separated from his wife. The divorce cost him his . . .
- March 17
If there was one single writer whose name should be identified with space opera, it would be Edmond Hamilton (1904–1977). Hamilton began writing pulp fiction during the 1920s and quickly established a reputation for his far-ranging tales set in outer space in which entire stars could be destroyed by superweapons, a theme that recurred in his work even after it became more sophisticated later in his career. He went on to be the primary writer of the Captain Future space adventures, which in many ways were a precursor to the Star Trek television series, establishing the concept of a routine interstellar patrol. Hamilton wrote about twenty book-length episodes of Captain Future and his unusual companions.
Interspersed among Hamilton's galactic sagas were several relatively thoughtful, better constructed, and certainly more plausible adventures. The Valley of Creation (1948) is a mixture of lost world plot elements and super-science in the tradition of A. Merritt. The Star Kings (1949) was an attempt to create a space opera with more credible characters and situations, and it remains among his more popular works, along with its sequel, Return to the Stars (1969). Although less prolific during the 1950s, Hamilton wrote some of his best work during this period. City at World's End (1951) relocates a city from the contemporary world to . . .
- March 18
Hayao Miyazaki (b. January 5, 1941) is one of Japan's leading anime directors famed for his work on Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. He is also the co-founder of the animation studio and production company, Studio Ghibli.
Miyazaki was born in Akebono-cho, Tokyo. He attended Toyotama High School where he was inspired by the film Hakujaden a feature-length anime film. He went on to attend Gakushin University graduating with degrees in political science and economics. Following his graduation, to took a job at Toei Animation as an artist. His participation in a labor dispute led to his position as secretary of Toei's labor union. In 1965, Miyazaki married animator Akemi Ota and they had two sons, Goro . . .
- March 19
Precognition is the paranormal ability to know something will happen before it does. A person with this ability may be referred to as a "precog." Someone who tells other people what they believe will happen in the future may be referred to as a "prophet."
Claims of precognition go back thousands of years. Although it would seem to be easy to judge the accuracy of these claims (a person says something will happen, it either does it or doesn't), the situation is much more complicated. Someone having a precognitive dream, for example, may not communicate it to anyone else, or even recognize it themselves as precognitive until after the event has occurred. Some prophets have couched their "prophecies" (predictions of what is to come) in imprecise or poetic passages, leading to arguments as to whether or not an event relates to the prophecy. Nostradamus is a famous example of this.
An accurate prediction is referred to as a "hit." If someone has . . .
- March 20
Metropolis (1927), directed by Fritz Lang, is regarded as the most important silent science fiction film. Set in an enormous city in the far future, the story concerns relations between the ruling elite (who live and play among the skyscrapers) and the working masses (who live in vast subterranean quarters). As fate would have it, the son of the city's leader falls in love with a woman evangelist, Maria (played by Brigitte Helm), who seeks to bring some measure of solace to the working classes. An industrial accident is the crisis that provokes the young man, Freder Fredersen (played by Gustav Fröhlich), to throw in his lot with the workers. Meanwhile, the city's leader, Joh Fredersen (played by Alfred Abel) conspires with the marvelously creepy C. A. Rotwang (played by Rudolf Klein-Rogge) to create a robot that will act as a doppelgänger for Maria.
Once Maria is kidnapped and the robot sets out to fill the proletariat with propaganda that will keep it under control, a group of workers rebels. They sabotage the central machine that makes the city operate, and a flood breaks out, threatening the lives of the millions living in the workers' underground city. The young Freder saves the real Maria from the flood, and at the last possible moment prevents . . .
- March 21
Hard science fiction (often shortened to "hard SF") is the subset of science fiction that strives for accuracy in science. Although the precise definition is often a subject for spirited debate, the typical earmarks of hard science fiction require at a minimum that:
- the science in the story is accurate to what is known of science today, and
- (real-world) science or engineering is central to the plot of the story.
That is, in a pure "hard science fiction" story, the resolution of the story will not depend on invented science (for example, the invented "fact" that Krieger waves reflect off holographic surfaces), but will depend on real science (for example, the attraction of dust to an electrostatically charged surface, as in Hal Clement's story "Dust Rag."
Hard science fiction may more accurately be thought of as a spectrum and not a category; science fiction can be "harder" or "softer," depending on the accuracy of the science and the degree to which the science is integral to the plot. Some aficionados of hard science fiction claim that . . .
- March 22
Captain Bialar Crais is a fictional character on the series Farscape. Crais was a Peacekeeper captain, a Sebacean born on a farming colony. Crais and his brother, Tauvo, were drafted by the Peacekeepers and Crais rose through the ranks to Captain. Crais became an enemy of John Crichton when he learned of his brother's fatal collision with John's module. Crais hunted Crichton and his fellow fugitives and declared Peacekeeper pilot Aeryn Sun irreversibly contaminated when she assured him that John's collision with Tauvo was accidental.
Crais's hunt for John continued in defiance of Peacekeeper command and his obsession eventually led to the loss of his command to Scorpius. Crais eventually abandoned his ship and all loyalties to the Peacekeepers and took command of Moya's young Leviathan son, Talyn. Talyn offered Crais the hand of friendship, a direct neural bond between Captain and ship. Talyn eventually proved . . .
- March 23
Tess Doerner is a fictional character on the USA Network series The 4400 played by Summer Glau. Tess is one of the 4400, a schizophrenic young woman with powers of persuasion. Tess is the daughter of Vincent and Melissa Doerner, both deceased. She was abducted on April 3, 1955, from the Abendson Psychiatric Hospital.
On her return she was revealed to be able to persuade those around her to build a device she believed would contact people from the future. The device instead appeared . . .
- March 24
The Pegasus Galaxy is a fictional loaction in the Stargate Atlantis universe. Its location is based on a real galaxy called Pegasus Dwarf Irregular Galaxy. It is significantly smaller than the Milky Way. The Galaxy is 3 million light years from Earth. Currently, the quickest way to get there is to go through the Intergalactic Gate Bridge built by the SGC and Atlantis. It takes about a half hour to get from one side to the other. Without this bridge, the only other means is by ship equipped with intergalactic hyperdrive engines or through the Stargate directly from Earth to the Ancient city of Atlantis. Unfortunately, this more direct route through the stargate requires power that can only be supplied by a ZPM.
Timeline
- Several Million Years Ago—The Ancients came from the Milky Way galaxy in the City Ship Atlantis, and seeded the Pegasus Galaxy with life.
- Several Million Years Later—The Ancients awaken the Wraith and the war . . .
- March 25
Photo by Howard Devore, 1959
E. E. "Doc" Smith, (Edward E. Smith, Ph. D.) (May 2, 1890 – August 31, 1965, in Sheboygan, Wisconsin) was the foremost writer of space opera, a term coined in the 1940s to refer to grandiose galactic adventures. (The term is a humorous play on "horse opera," which came into currency circa 1928 to refer to Westerns.)
Smith began planning an interplanetary adventure novel in about 1915, finished it around 1920, and eventually sold it in 1928 to the first science fiction specialty magazine, Amazing Stories, as The Skylark of Space. He recruited a neighbor, Mrs. Lee Hawkins Garby, to help him with the female characters . . .
- March 26
DeForest Kelley (January 20, 1920 – June 11, 1999), an American actor born in Atlanta, Georgia, is identified with his role of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy on the series Star Trek. Offered the chance to play Mr. Spock, Kelley instead chose the role of Dr. McCoy. He stated that he had wanted to become a doctor and couldn't—and went to become perhaps the best-known doctor in the galaxy.
Genre appearances include Science Fiction Theater, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . . .
- March 27
Ah, high school! A time of changes. Of growing up . . . or growing fangs? Of learning cheers . . . or casting spells? Of alienation . . . or aliens?
High school and Sci Fi have gone together since the rise of the youth culture in the 1950s. Certainly, part of it is appealing to the audience: by setting movies, books, and TV shows in high school, creators naturally attract a target market with a fascination for mass media and discretionary income.
It is also an appropriate time for other reasons.
People are going through massive changes, uncertain of who they are or who they will become. Doubt, isolation, and secrecy all acoompany this time of transition. Since high school students can hide drug use, pregnancy and sexual orientation from their parents, stories can suggest that they could hide vampirism, secret science experiments, and . . .
- March 28
Officially labeled "Series 3" by the BBC, Doctor Who, Season 29 began airing (in Britain) with a 60-minute Christmas special on December 25, 2006. This will be be followed by a regular season of thirteen 43-minute episodes which will begin airing on the BBC on March 31st, 2007. The SciFi Channel's Doctor Who site briefly stated that the American premier of the season will be in the summer of 2007. But, this statement was quickly taken down. So, it may not be official.
After the departure of Billie Piper (Rose) at the end of the previous season, the Doctor was joined briefly by popular British comedienne Catherine Tate, who played Donna (the titular bride of the Christmas special). With the commencement of the regular season, however, she will be replaced by actress Freema Agyeman, who briefly appeared (as a different character) in the finale of the previous season. In season 29, Agyeman will be playing med. student Martha Jones. Additionally, Martha's mother, father, brother and sister will appear in some capacity during the season.
Popular season 27 character Captain Jack Harkness will . . .
- March 29
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes is a core classic of the science fiction genre. It has received the highest honors the field has to give, winning both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, and it has stayed in print since 1959 through numerous editions, including many study editions for use in school curricula. You can find versions in any number of languages, TV and stage adaptations, and a movie version, Charly, which won Cliff Robertson the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor.
Charlie Gordon, the hero of Flowers for Algernon, wants to be smarter. He has an I.Q. of 68, and is eager to learn to read and write, convinced that literacy would help him understand his friends' in-jokes so he can fit in with them better. Charlie is too innocent to see what readers can see: Charlie's "friends" make him the butt of their jokes, and take advantage . . .
- March 30
Number Three is a Cylon model portrayed by Lucy Lawless on the reimagined series Battlestar Galactica. She first appeared in the series as D'Anna Biers, a Colonial reporter for the Fleet News Service. Biers was interested mainly in the salacious and controversial. She boarded the Gideon to investigate the shooting deaths of four unarmed civilians by colonial marines during a riot following Saul Tigh's decision to declare martial law. Biers dubbed the situation the sensational title of Gideon Massacre.
Biers wanted to interview the crew of Galactica but met with roadblocks. President Roslin and Adama were eventually forced to . . .
- March 31
The Sixth Sense, which premiered in 1999, brought worldwide attention to writer/director M. Night Shyamalan. His previous features, Wide Awake (1998) and Praying with Anger (1992), were also both written and directed by Shyamalan.
The Sixth Sense starred perennial box-office favorite Bruce Willis along with Haley Joel Osment, a boy of 10 who displayed a charismatic acting ability equal to his costar's. The movie also featured Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, and Donnie Wahlberg.
The story follows child psychologist Malcolm Crowe (Willis), who has received recognition by the mayor for his work, and is celebrating the award with his wife (Williams). One of Crowe's former patients, Vincent Grey (Wahlberg), interrupts them. In despair, Grey . . .
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