While we wait for a real site update, some quickies:

Science. I tuned in to Slashdot and rolled my eyes at what looked like the latest piece of junk science: making gravity waves with superconductors. But the article, running in Scientific American, no less, on Raymond Chiao's new model of the "gravitomagnetic field" said the magic words "By the time the theory is vetted, though, Chiao will probably have conducted his experiment and settled the question." I must admit that I got a bit of a warm fuzzy when Bryce DeWitt, a scientist whose name I know in the context of gravity, said that Chiao's math checked out - but in science it is dangerous to rely on magazines, authorities, or even mathematics: in the end, "the sole test of any idea is experiment." So, the only thing to do now is to wait and see whether Chiao gets positive results - and if he does, to try to replicate the hell out of it.

Fiction. Those who get the Edge list will have already heard this, but Captain Kirk's f*scking command chair from the original Star Trek series is on AUCTION at eBay! I've said it once, now I'll say it again. Gaaa!

And upcoming:

• The SciFi channel's Farscape has returned with Season 4, accompanied on Friday nights with new episodes of Stargate SG-1. Ah, yes. Friday night is once again a great night for science fiction!
• For comic fans, don't forget to check out Season 2 of  Witchblade on TNT.  The show was uneven and the blade a pale shadow of the original, but Yancy Butler was Sara Pezzini.
• And still in the theater are a number of good movies: Amelie (a 10+), the best damn movie I've seen in a long time.  Only slightly less good was Spiderman (also 10 of 10) and I also enjoyed Frailty (a solid 8 of 10). 
• I also can recommend some not so good but very entertaining movies: Blade (7 of 10), Resident Evil (6 of 10) and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Really Long Title (8 of 10).  That last rating is an average - the political, Jedi and battle sequences were exceptional and merit a 10 of 10, but the Anakin/Padme thread was poorly played all round for a 4 of 10. A 7 of 10 average, but for my man Yoda - whoa. 8 of 10.

Check them out before they go away.

While it remains on my mind: it has been just over a year since Anthony G. Francis passed away, on May 19, 2001. Rest in peace, Dad.