aking pride in being silly—but never stupid—while firmly asserting that anything that cannot survive silliness isn't worthy of being taken seriously, Concrete Elephant reviews, skewers and parodies the SF genre ... and anything else that gets in its way.
This site is a textual buffet for SF fans, containing an odd mixture of frivolous essays and serious criticism. It offers a little of everything—an essay on the writing of Gene Wolfe, a lighthearted interview with author Paul Cornell, a list of little-known and very peculiar English words, satirical retellings of classic TV moments and even cartoons about
little green men.
Concrete Elephant's focus is a little fuzzy, wandering in and out of SF, but always returning to the genre fold. Its coverage of Doctor Who in all its available formats—DVD, audio adventures, comic strips, even the classic drinking game rules—is always insightful. Visitors can also find commentary on the political undercurrents of the Star Wars trilogies, a cartoon that offers some important alien-finding advice to Agents Mulder and Scully of The X-Files and a survival kit for socially challenged Buffy fans.
The images on this site are not only silly but hilarious. Cartoons show how to transform a banana into a penguin before eating it, send up characters from Shadow of the Vampire and The Phantom Menace and dress Wallace (of Wallace and Gromit) in a Doctor Who-worthy outfit.
As one of the Web's older SF sites, Concrete Elephant is sadly lacking in new silly content, but it still provides plenty of laughs to willing Web surfers.
— A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—October 4, 2004
hen science fiction began its existence as a separate genre in 1926, upon the publication of the first issue of Hugo Gernsback's Amazing Stories, the wildest visionary of that era could not have predicted that someday there would be a glossy, high-tech, high-class museum devoted to this kind of literature in all its forms. Yet today that is precisely the case, thanks to the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle. Having debuted just this year, the SFM has already attracted numerous visitors in the flesh. But for those who can't make it to the West Coast, the SFM has a virtual presence as well, a site that matches the physical museum in attractiveness and interest. About the only thing the SFM Web site doesn't offer is some of Seattle's famous java.
Of course, you can learn all the practical information that would help you plan a trip there. Visiting hours, membership plans and a calendar of SFM events. But the site offers much more. First, I'd be inclined to take the virtual tour of the thematic galleries, ranging from "Fantastic Voyages" through "Brave New Worlds." The galleries are chained together so that one easy click brings you from one to the next. If something you see sparks your interest, you can easily look up associated books and films that will provide further detail on the topics. All in all, there's a wealth of stimulating browsing among the museum's collections and references.
But the SFM site also offers original material. When I visited, they were featuring an interview with Kerry Conran, the creator of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Likewise, the SFM extends feelers out into the larger SF community, offering links to fan groups, writerly groups, gaming groups and allied museums.
All of this fine content is wrapped up in an attractive, very easy-to-navigate package. I think Hugo Gernsback would be proud to see his legacy so handsomely honored.
— Paul Di Filippo
Site of the Week—September 27, 2004
n 1970, Rod Serling created a new TV series, one he considered a logical follow-up to his The Twilight Zone. Switching the focus to horror and the supernatural from the more SF-themed TZ, he created Night Gallery, an anthology of tales whose common link was a collection of spooky paintings. Each of the paintings captured the essence of the story viewers were about to see, "a frozen moment of a nightmare," as Serling put it in his introductions.
This site is a restrained and quirky page devoted to Serling, Night Gallery and the show's peculiar history. In addition to backstage gossip about the various directors and actors who got their start working on the show (Steven Spielberg, for one), the page discusses conflicts between Serling and the studio, and the eventual hacking-up of the 43 original episodes into awkward 30-minute installments for the syndication market. Info-hungry visitors can also read about a Night Gallery book, a 2002 documentary about the series and the trade in forgeries of the original Night Gallery paintings.
This site has all the necessary elements of a good TV site: episode guide, images of all the paintings along with the text of their intros, photos both from behind the scenes and from the show's various stories. There are also a handful of Night Gallery teleplays posted for handy reading, a number of old reviews, sound files of Serling interviews about the show, information about the August DVD release of season one and a trivia quiz for die-hard fans.
— A.M. Dellamonica
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