SFReader Discussion Forums

Television : Netflix true crime series Narcos spurs huge demand

Sat, 29 Sep 2018 00:39:27 +0000

Author: Mckame05
Subject: Netflix true crime series Narcos spurs huge demand
Posted: Sep-29-2018 at 12:39am

Absolutely! There is no doubt about it. I used to watch that show when my kids would go to sleep. Sometimes, I’d be very tired because in the evening I watch shows by Andy Yeatman with my kids and by night I had to see “Narcos”. All the shows on Netflix are addictive. I got to know about amazing shows at http://www.animationmagazine.net/setflixs-yeatman-discusses-kids-strategy-at-mip-jr/

Edited by Mckame05 - Sep-29-2018 at 12:43am

News and Events : K9 Training Services

Wed, 22 Nov 2017 20:30:51 +0000

Author: AimeeAimee
Subject: K9 Training Services
Posted: Nov-22-2017 at 8:30pm

K9 Training services this company is an utter con company

Television : Netflix true crime series Narcos spurs huge demand

Mon, 17 Oct 2016 20:00:16 +0000

Author: 1stworldview16
Subject: Netflix true crime series Narcos spurs huge demand
Posted: Oct-17-2016 at 8:00pm

Produced by Netflix, the show "Narcos" takes on the infamous Medellin drug cartel which follows the rise and fall of Colombian kingpin Pablo Escobar and the Drug Enforcement Agency agents hunting him. The story is told largely from the points of view of Escobar (Brazilian actor Wagner Moura) and U.S. DEA Agent Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook), on opposite sides of what would become an all-out war.

Many critics of true crime dramas have always complained they are promoting crime and violence by glorification, an unintended consequence of American entertainment industries. These shows can have other interesting consequences. The Foreign Bride industry has seen a huge spike in demand for Colombian women. This can be viewed as positive or negative, depending on social perspective.

Foreign Brides, sometimes referred to as "mail order brides", a term the industry completely rejects, have become a billion dollar a year business. According to industry leaders, Colombia represented only about 3% of the market three years ago. Since the popularity of Narcos, many companies have seen near tenfold increases in men seeking Colombian wives.

A Foreign Affair (AFA), a company that helps men find women through international tours, says tours to Colombia are now selling out. AFA arranges group tours where 10 to 20 men travel together to Medellin, Cartagena or Barranquilla. During the tour, they attend arranged Social events where the men meet hundreds of beautiful Colombian women looking for marriage. Women can also place their profiles on the AFA web site, in the hopes of finding a husband.

Kenneth Agee, the marketing director for AFA says, "Because of the show we are doubling our tours to Medellin for next year. Narcos has brought a lot of attention to the intense beauty of Colombian women. Although the show is often very violent, the women of Colombia come across as very family oriented and loyal. These values seem harder and harder to find in this world. I would have to agree, because of the interest in Narcos, we even added an excursion to where Pablo's self-built prison was located, in the hills overlooking Medellin.

The crowning of 2015 Miss Universe Paulina Vega put Barranquilla, Colombia on the map. Barranquilla now has recognition for being home to some of the most beautiful and talented women in the world. Not only is Miss Universe from here, Grammy Award winning pop singer Shakira, and actress Sofia Vergara also call Barranquilla home. Vergara stars on the ABC series Modern Family as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett. She's been nominated for 4 Golden Globe Awards, 4 Prime time Emmy Awards, and 7 Screen Actors Guild Awards, all stemming from this role. In 2014, she was ranked as the 32nd Most Powerful Woman in the world by Forbes.

David from Mesa AZ says he met more qualified women in one week than he has during the last 10 years. In 2010, Lisa Ling and the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) filmed a one hour show on the AFA tour called "Online Brides - Our America with Lisa Ling." Even Lisa Ling was surprised by the beauty and sincerity of the women from Barranquilla.

Janet Davis, head of a women's rights group says "AFA is just taking advantage of women from these third world countries. This is no different than Pablo trafficking in narcotics, but these companies traffic women." Proponents refer to a Report (INTERNATIONAL MATCHMAKING ORGANIZATIONS: A REPORT TO CONGRESS) that these marriages have much lower divorce rates and abuse rates compared to traditional domestic marriages. This data makes international dating similar to a woman in the US joining eHarmony to look for a husband.

23-year-old Viviana, from Cartagena, says "I come to these events because I know the men attending are serious about marriage, they are faithful and are good to family. For Colombian women, it is the most important thing, good husband and good family.

Kenneth says, "It has not been all rosy. Narcos has brought us some problems. In Cartagena, we have several Penthouses we rent out. One was originally owned by "Don Diego" head of the Norte Del Velle Drug Cartel, the other by Pablo's people. Over the past year, the properties have been tracked down by individuals thinking they will find large qualities of cash hidden, thus we sometimes find holes all over the walls after a tenant leaves.

For Narcos fans, those who love the gangster genre, or just those who just like seeing beautiful Latin women, there's good news; Netflix's has confirmed Season 3 and 4.

Shameless Self Promotion : Check out my new novel

Fri, 16 Sep 2016 10:13:09 +0000

Author: SFReader
Subject: Check out my new novel
Posted: Sep-16-2016 at 10:13am

Hi Mike,

Thanks for signing up and sorry for taking so long to post a welcome.

As you've probably figured out, there's not a lot going on around the forum these days!

Nevertheless, welcome to SFReader, thanks for joining, and congratulations on Mind Writer!

Dave

Movie Discussion : List of Apocalyptic Movies/Shows

Mon, 12 Sep 2016 10:38:04 +0000

Author: SFReader
Subject: List of Apocalyptic Movies/Shows
Posted: Sep-12-2016 at 10:38am

Mad Max
Mad Max 2
Mad Max Thunderdome
Mad Max Fury Road
The Postman
The Road
A Boy and his Dog
Waterworld
The Rover
The Book of Eli
Omega Man
Snow Piercer
Planet of the Apes
Stake Land
I Am Legend
Children of Men
28 Days Later
28 Weeks Later
Hell Comes to Frogtown
Children of Men
Turbo Kid
Reign of Fire
Resident Evil: Extinction
Logan's Run
Oblivion
The Last Man On Earth
Equilibrium
Soylent Green
Dredd
Stalker
Wizards
Tank Girl
Escape from New York
The Rover
These Final Hours
Bone Tomahawk
A Boy and his Dog
Last Man on Earth
Blood of Heroe (Salute of the Jugger)
Hardware
Stalker
Fist of the North Star
Threads
I am Legend
The Omega Man
Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
12 Monkeys
Le Dernier Combat
The Omega Man
The Quiet Earth
The Last Man on Earth
Stake Land
The Rover
Los Últimos Días (The Last Days )
Carriers
These Final Hours
Le Temps Du Loup (Time of the Wolf)
Young Ones
Open Grave
Screamers
Z for Zachariah
Turbo Kid
The Colony
Doomsday
Cherry 2000
Cyborg
Young Ones
Hell
Waterworld
Six String Samurai
Steel Dawn
Shanara
Damnation Alley
Beast Master
Crossed
Stake Land

Edited by SFReader - Sep-12-2016 at 10:38am

Shameless Self Promotion : Check out my new novel

Wed, 31 Aug 2016 15:12:35 +0000

Author: mikelynch
Subject: Check out my new novel
Posted: Aug-31-2016 at 3:12pm

Hey Everyone,

I just signed up on this site, so let me offer my official welcome to you all.

In a piece of good news my latest novel, Mind Writer, was recently released.

It's a fun story I think you'll enjoy.

Born with a rare genetic mutation, Eighteen-year-old Rinee Newburgh has been kept in a secret government facility all her life. Trained to enhance her skills as a Mind Writer, her unique talents give her the ability to transfer a person’s memories, personality—their soul—into a clone created for those deemed vital to society’s continued survival. When Rinee's mentor is nearly killed in an assassination attempt, she discovers the terrible truth—Mind Writers are regarded as disposable, and life outside the Facility is nothing more than a pollution-filled world on the brink of collapse. Worse yet, she also learns of his plan to kill millions of people as a means of freeing up dwindling resources needed by the government. Horrified at the thought of a modern day holocaust, Rinee escapes the Facility in a desperate attempt to warn the people of his evil intentions before it's too late.

If you're interested, you check out the book (paperback and ebook) on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Mind-r-Novel-Mike-Lynch-ebook/dp/B01KDAABUU/

Mike

Edited by SFReader - Sep-02-2016 at 8:55am

The Bookshelf : Death of Cyberpunk

Mon, 29 Aug 2016 07:09:11 +0000

Author: SFReader
Subject: Death of Cyberpunk
Posted: Aug-29-2016 at 7:09am

TLDR:

Cyberpunk as a genre is creatively dead. It was once great, but is no more. 'Gritty' has no meaning, former punks drive minivans, and Beijing looks like Blade Runner.

Slightly longer:

1) the socio-technological predictions of the early works came true

2) blending noir and SF is no longer refreshing, and

3) most contemporary SF writers lack the edgy life-experience of Gibson and Dick, and so fail to give modern Cyberpunk any bite.

More than you asked for:

1) The once wildly outlandish socio-technological aspects of the genre have become a day-to-day reality for millions of people. We have the internet, AI, hackers, socio-technological wealth disparity, designer drugs, human augmentation, and post-industrial wastelands full of poor people with smart phones acting as paparazzi. Few future-Earth SF novels are written without some or all of these. Cyberpunk's borders have been over-run.

2) The integration of SF with crime and noir tropes has been explored and dissected ad infinitum. 'Gritty' and 'dark' characters, struggling with inner as well as extra-demons are de rigeur. The same goes for non-linear plots, deep cynicism towards the world, and a general sense of uneasiness. Elements that felt refreshing in early Cyberpunk are now shackling writers to pastiches of hard-boiled detectives in space, or outdated stereotypes of hackers.

3) Perhaps most importantly, the social vision and biting commentary of Cyberpunk has lost its edge. You hate big corporations? Shame I bought your novel/film/tv-series through Amazon. What's worse, Gibson's image (and concept) of a console cowboy - an anti-corporate computer jockey wearing dark clothes, feeling simultaneously rejected and above society, mostly existing in real-world poverty and online glory - is both startlingly recognizable in the modern world - as well as proving naive and overly simplistic. Additionally, the brand of counterculture that watermarked and inspired the genre has become dated and old-fashioned. Everything from hippies to punks have been trademarked, branded, and marketed to. New counter-cultures undoubtedly exist in 2016 - but Cyberpunk as a genre has lost the pulse of the social revolution that made the classics feel so vital. Sure these things are alive in SF, but don't look for them in Cyberpunk.

Dick in particular conjures a genre archetype for the imagination, and we can for the purposes here fit it into a wider context of post-WW2 American counterculture, the advent of the '60s and the antiwar movement of that decade and the next that brought great distrust of government and corporations. A recurrent character in Dick's books is the everyman who is just trying to get by, perhaps enjoy the few escapisms available to him, whilst the inherent unfairness of the 'game' of modern society denies that to him.

As pointed out above, a lot of the inspiration for this kind of material is viewed with disdain if expressed as a viewpoint by a millennial, and thus has been sapped of its impact. We might compare this, as many genres are, to the way Mannerism followed the Renaissance. In Mannerism, the goals of the Renaissance were taken to overperfected extremes, to the point that they stopped being interesting.

All of this to say, maybe we should look to styles that succeed in Mannerist periods, and ones that provide the basis for a new Renaissance. If I'm allowed to draw on Science Fiction's close cousin, Fantasy writing, I would argue that theGame of Thrones obsession is a Renaissance in that form, in that it is doing something new. I think mainly of the way the author is happy to kill off main characters, and the fairly raw violence and sexuality - more raw, I'd point out, than HBO is willing to show visually. People find this refreshing, and it will surely inspire a successive generation to try to recreate it. To stay within Fantasy, a successful Mannerist writer might be Tolkien, who wrote in a very polished format that drew upon the success of the novel in the previous century, and the adventure short story that had become successful. An Oxford Don, he wrote about a polite but troubled society facing barbarians at the gate. I might also argue the Dune series as a Mannerist piece responding as a refined amalgam of the creative short stories of bright-eyed scifi writers in the 1950s.

I think the most exciting works in the genre of Science Fiction at the moment actually come in the video game world. I think the Mass Effect series was able to create a much more engaging world than many a film or novel in recent times. World-building is the strength of that medium of storytelling, as it brings to life cities that only a great author could conjure, and a film would have to pay lots of money to make feel truly lived-in. Mass Effect, it has to be pointed out, is a very "Hollywood" work, very traditional in lots of senses, but a first for its medium in terms of ambition and scope dealing with the subject matter. If you want a good sci fi story, video games are the first place I'd look these days...

SOURCE

Edited by SFReader - Aug-29-2016 at 7:09am

Shameless Self Promotion : Chum Chum Chronicles: The Unnatural Materializatio

Mon, 29 Aug 2016 02:00:53 +0000

Author: kingbtd
Subject: Chum Chum Chronicles: The Unnatural Materializatio
Posted: Aug-29-2016 at 2:00am

I'mlooking for readers for a speculative fiction book I've written, Chum Chum Chronicles: The Unnatural Materialization of Jane. It's roughly265 pages long and is the first book in an eventual series of three. It's abouta Chum Chum, a squirrel "chrononaut" -- a time traveler -- from anancient squirrel society that once dominated the Earth, and who is part of anarmy of chrononauts sent into the future to reclaim the planet. Their mission is torelease a deadly-to-humans ancient virus cleverly hidden within their nuts, with the intent of eradicatingmankind. Chum Chum, accidentally awoken from his cryogenic state four years tooearly by a geological research team, became, while waiting for his fellowchrononauts to awaken, a standup comedian, and, while enjoying “chimp lifestyle”,feeling of doubts developed as to the nature of his mission. The story begins in a comedy club in Denver. Having just finished his routine and on his way home, Chum Chum’s best and only chimp friend is assassinated. Believing that the government has uncovered his and the other chrononauts’s mission to end chimpanity, Chum Chum is certain that the assassination was really a failed attempt on his own life, and he goes on the lam. While fleeing for his life, he, a Squirrel without any bonds to chimpanity, must decide whether or not he will help or hinder, after his fellow chrononauts arrive, the destruction of chimpkind.

Fortunately for us chimps, Chum Chum meets his and, perhaps, all of chimpanity’s saviour: Jane. Their relationship evolves into platonic love as their chronicles unfold in an array of machinations. Which chimps can Chum Chum and Jane trust and the fight between chimps and Squirrels for control over the new world—one in which quantum space travel and teleportation has been realized through the hybridization of chimp and squirrel technologies—become the stuff forcing readers’ eyes to burn through pages.

If you like Phillip K. Dick, Douglas Adams orTerry Pratchett, you might be entertained.

If you take up the offer and like, hate or love the book, it would be nice to hear your thoughts. Give a critique on everythingfrom content to character development, plot and grammar. If you think the book is worth reading, please recommend the book on FB or whatever social media outlets are out there. (You can also just download the book and read it without any obligations.)

Download here: http://birddogbooks.com/bdb//chum-chum-chronicles-unnatural-materialization-jane - http://birddogbooks.com/bdb/content/chum-chum-chronicles-unnatural-materialization-jane

Cheers from Germany,

Keith Lyons

A little bit about me:

In 1978, at the age of eleven, Keith Lyons played drums in a punk band that performed at parties and clubs throughout the Chicagoland area. In 1981, his band, Negative Element, released an album on Version Sound Records and did a small Midwestern tour. At age sixteen, he helped start the record label Landmind Records, which would go on to release almost a dozen Chicagoland bands. He then studied philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay (USA) during a time (1987 - 1992) when a number of Phenomenologists—former students of Erich Fromm, Max Wertheimer, Aron Gurwitsch, Hannah Arendt, Leo Strauss, and Hans Jonas at the New School of Social Research—filled the still then existent Philosophy Department. While living and studying in Wisconsin, he began bicycling. In the summer of 1990 he got on his bike in Green Bay and rode to Anchorage, Alaska. After he returned from the fish processing plants in Egegik, Alaska, he obtained his Bachelorette in Philosophy (and did a number of bike rides throughout the USA) and then moved to Germany where he studied at the Albert-Ludwig University in Freiburg. Following a four year stint there, and having ridden his bike across Holland, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Iceland, Canada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and the coast of California and western Mexico three times—and not having acquired a Doctorate in Freiburg, but having acquired a child—he moved back to the States with his wife and daughter and ran skateboard supply shops, built skateboard parks and managed a skateboard team. He then sold the businesses and took a job teaching English and Ethics at the Dalian University of Finance and Economics, Dalian China. He stayed there for two years, with his German wife and daughter along for the ride, before then returning to Germany where he has been, ever since, reading and writing—but now with two more acquired children in the mix.

His band, Negative Element is mentioned in the Chicago punk rock music documentary, Your Weren’t There; in George Hurchalla’s book, Going Underground, and in Dave Grohl’s music documentary, Sonic Highways (as well as in a number of other books and documentaries). And he’ll be featured in the forthcoming documentary: GREEN BLAH The History of Green Bay Punk Rock-Documentary. As for awards, he did get a chunk of granite after competing in the Swim and Run Race in the Louise quarry in Bischheim, Germany.

He currently has a book, Mereology: The Origins of Garlic Cures and the Art of Telling a Tale of Ragout, available on Bird Dog Books (birddogbooks.com) or any book retailer. The text is a theoretical work, in narrative memoir format, in the fields of Phenomenology and Mereology. (If you're interested in this book, I can send you a Kindle or Pdf version for free. Just E-mail me.)

Shameless Self Promotion : Keystone Chronicles anthology

Sat, 20 Aug 2016 16:04:55 +0000

Author: julirew
Subject: Keystone Chronicles anthology
Posted: Aug-20-2016 at 4:04pm

Third Flatiron Anthologies presents "Keystone Chronicles," 19 fresh science fiction and fantasy stories exploring the theme of keystone events.

What is a keystone? It's the central stone at the summit of an arch, locking the whole together, something on which other things depend for support, the heart or core of something, the crux. In storytelling, it is the pivotal message or character who makes it all happen.

The international group of contributors to "Keystone Chronicles" make this a unique and varied collection that is sure to please fans of speculative fiction. Stories by Marilyn K. Martin, Sierra July, Brandon Crilly, Maureen Bowden, Edward Palumbo, Judith Field, Zerrin Otgur, Desmond Warzel, Gustavo Bondoni, A. P. Sessler, John Marr, Bear Kosik, John M. Campbell, Sam Muller, Sharon Diane King, Bascomb James, Larry Lefkowitz, Art Lasky, and Damian Sheridan. And, as usual, the humor section, "Grins and Gurgles" take a light-hearted view of the topic.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IM9H49K

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/651198

Edited by SFReader - Aug-29-2016 at 6:57am

Movie Reviews : Star Trek Beyond

Wed, 17 Aug 2016 08:07:55 +0000

Author: SFReader
Subject: Star Trek Beyond
Posted: Aug-17-2016 at 8:07am

Star Trek Beyond (2016), Rated "PG-13"

Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sofia Boutella

Directed by Justin Lin

Review by Dave Felts

Rating 6/10

I finally got around to seeing Star Trek Beyond. I enjoy seeing movies in the theater, but I'm not the sort to rush right out opening week. Even if I do go soon after release, I go early on a Saturday or Sunday and still get to enjoy a less-than-full theater. STB has been out a while now, and the Saturday 10:30 am showing I attended ended up hosting 13 people, including myself. Nice.

But you probably couldn't care less about my theater going habits, so let's move on to my review: meh.

It was all right. Enjoyable in an extended television episode sort of way. It's a straight-through adventure ride without much pause for breath, with some decent humor tossed in for good measure. I liked how this film gave the secondary characters more screen time and opportunity to be involved in the story. But maybe the original series and the 80s movies with the original cast are too ingrained in my DNA for me to fully accept this new incarnation.

As the film opens, we find Kirk waffling about his commitment to the Federation (Kirk waffling on anything?). Seems captaining a starship isn't as much fun as he expected. Spock, too, is having his own crises, what with being one of the few remaining Vulcans after the destruction of his planet in the first film. But they'll have to put their plans on hold when an escape pod shows up while they're docked with the star base Yorktown. Kirk and the Enterprise soon find themselves headed into uncharted territory on a rescue mission, which, of course, turns out to be something much more.

Despite a host of supporting players, Star Trek's main characters have always been Kirk, Spock and Bones. While others have their roles, they'll regulated to supporting cast and getting only the occasional spotlight. In STB, it's nice to see some of them get a chance to do something that directly affects the action.

As I mentioned above, the story is a straight forward action tale. Lin, unlike Abrams -- who tends to open movies with phasers firing -- takes time to set things up, getting is settled into and invested in the story. Once we are, things take off with a series of battles both big and small, all of which were well done, despite the occasional overly convenient element that made me think "yeah, right, that would happen".

While Idris Elba can turn any role into a performance, he doesn't really have a lot to work with here. He wants to destroy the Federation and is willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen, but that's presented in a vacuum, and it's not until the final scenes of the film that we're able to understand is (in my view) rather thin motivations. And by then the movie's almost over. This made him feel hollow and flat.

It's worth mentioning hat the movie comes with some off screen news, the first being the death of Anton Yelchin who plays Chekov. I don't know much about him, but he made a good Chekov and had a much larger role in this film than in the previous two. Sad.

There was also some drama around the character of Sulu, who, in STB, is depicted as being gay and having a partner (and adopted child), ostensibly to honor the original Sulu, George Takei, who came out as a homosexual decades after the original series aired. Takei was quick to point out that while he might be gay, Sulu was not. And it's not as though that aspect of Sulu's character was given any exploration in the film anyway, making the whole thing feel like a cheap gimmick.

In the end, I found it to be flawed, but entertaining. Fun, although I suspect it's more fun for those who were introduced to Star Trek through the reboot and not those of us who spent an hour after school watching original series (or their reruns) on a 12 inch black and white.