The Sci-Fi Dine-In - Orlando, FL

Never thought I would end up reviewing a restaurant on here. But my experience at the Sci-Fi Dine-In in Orlando was probably the coolest dining experience I have ever had.  It really is a monster kid and b-movie lover's dream.

The Sci-Fi Dine-In, located at Hollywood Studios, is the ultimate 1950s b-movie experience. The restaurant, as you can see from the above photo, is made to look like a drive-in theater. A wooden fence and faux-night sky surrounds the room. It is quite dark inside, to give the illusion of being outside at night. The tables, all shaped like classic cars, face a full size movie screen that shows 50s sci-fi and creature feature trailers, sci-fi themed cartoons, and the classic World of the Future Disney shorts.

Whilst dining I saw trailers for Devil Girl from Mars, the Amazing Colossal Man, Plan 9 from Outer Space, and many more. I was there for about an hour and only saw one trailer repeated.

As for the food itself, it was quite good. Though it probably could have been mashed potatoes made from ground up Jar-Jar Binks dolls and I still would have had a great time. The Dine-In serves fairly typical diner food, burgers, shakes, chicken sandwiches, salads, etc. It averages around 15 bucks per entree. Didn't have a shake, but I heard they were awesome.

Walk-Ins are welcome, though reservations are highly recommended. So if you are in Orlando make sure to hit Hollywood Studios if you are doing the theme parks. They also have the Great Movie Ride which has a scene from Alien recreated and a fantastic Clint Eastwood animatronic from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly as well as some Star Wars stuff.

On the way to bathroom 

The Riverworld series by Philip José Farmer

NOTE: This is a spoiler free review

It's kind of hard to believe that I only just discovered the works of Philip José Farmer just over two years ago. But in that time I have been buying his books up at a rapid pace. Having bought and read almost twenty of his works I have still only scratched the surface. His works are so varied from classic sci-fi to borderline pornographic horror noir. The man was ahead of his time in almost everything he did. 

When researching what to read next I kept seeing mentions of his Riverworld series, which is arguably his most beloved work. Tied with the World of Tiers series. A most fans seem to be in agreement that Riverworld is something special. So why did I wait so long to start it? Because I really didn't know what it was about. I read a ton of reviews and though most praised, they really only talked about the set-up of the books. Which is as follows:

"Every person that has ever lived wakes up on the shores of an enormous river. And regardless of what age they died, their resurrected bodies are only 25 years of age." 

Ok, cool concept. But what next? That could go anywhere and be about anything. But over the holidays I decided to go ahead and give it a shot. Now I get the hype. Riverworld, which starts with To Your Scattered Bodies Go written in 1971, is equal parts adventure and mystery with sci-fi elements. It reminds me a lot of the TV series Lost, only decades earlier and without the insulting lets appeal to the lowest common denominator ending. It features an engaging cast trapped in a strange place searching for answers. And that is essentially what the Riverworld series is all about. The exploits of a select few as they travel up river, searching for answers. 

The mystery elements involve the truth behind the gigantic river planet, the alien technology found on the river banks, the resurrection of billions of people, and the dark tower at the end of the world. The adventure comes in as the various peoples and cultures of history come together, often violently. And then there are other sci-fi elements like a caveman, a giant, and even an alien among the resurrected. 

Another interesting thing about the series is that many of the main characters are real people. The main two protagonists of the series, though there are many, are Richard Francis Burton, and Sam Clemmens aka Mark Twain. I knew very little about Burton before reading Riverworld, but he was an extremely interesting fellow and a hero of PJF's. He was an adventurer, explorer, spy, spoke over 30 languages, was an avid writer, and translated both One Thousand and One Nights and the Kama Sutra. For more on Burton check out his Wiki entry. It's a good read. 

Sir Richard Francis Burton - Total Badass

As far as the negative, you will often hear people complain about the third and fourth books of the series, The Dark Design (1977) and The Magic Labyrinth (1980). I can kind of understand, but people are overly negative in general. They are both still very good books, just not GREAT books like one, two, and five. The problem with the Dark Design is that it introduces a ton of new characters that get a lot of focus. So the characters we truly care about, like Burton, sometimes aren't seen for twenty or more pages. The Magic Labyrinth is also a good book but is very action heavy. Some folks love that. But I like my action in small short bursts. 

And unlike Lost, the Riverworld series has a satisfying ending in The Gods of Riverworld (1983) with nearly all questions answered. One small word of warning, Sam Clemens isn't given much of a wrap-up. Which is odd, being the main star of the second book The Fabulous Riverboat (1971). So if you get attached to ol' Mark Twain, don't expect much for him in the end other than a mention. 

Apparently, there was a sci-fi channel movie based on the series but for some reason they made Burton, the hero of the books, the main villain. Um....ok. I'm gonna skip that one. 

All five books are readily available both in new editions as well as the cool 70s hardbacks. The first two books have been collected together in a paperback edition. 

Image of the Beast - Philip Jose Farmer

Being an avid reader, I'm pretty much in the midst of reading a book or comic graphic novel at all times. And I've read some great stuff in the last several years. But there have been three that have just stood out above the rest. One of these three is Image of the Beast by Philip Jose Farmer. A strange and dark journey into the weird and erotic.

This supernatural mystery was written in the 60s, though you would never know it. Until I looked at the publication date, I thought it had been written in the 80s when the book takes place. This is even more so to its credit, being an older book, yet like nothing I've ever read before.

Image of the Beast begins in a very polluted Los Angeles where the smog has gotten so bad that the city is in a form of lock-down until the winds relieve the problem. Herald Childe, a private eye and one of the few people permitted out, is at the local police station watching a snuff film of unknown origin featuring his former partner. Without giving away too much, the snuff film is very unusual and appears to feature a vampire. The book spirals into weirdness from there as Childe tries to discover the source of the film. It's leads him into a highly sexual world of monsters and the supernatural.

Being so unique, it is hard to compare Image of the Beast to other media. The closest I can come up with is a detective novel merged with the film 8MM with a healthy dose of Hammer Horror. Many have referred to this book as a pornographic novel. I disagree. Yeah, it's pretty naughty and graphic at times, but overall the sex and violence is used to progress the story. It isn't the story. And it's never very sexy. If anything, the sex is used as an element of horror.

The sequel, Blown, which is included in the edition linked below, is an equally as interesting tale and leads things further into the weird. It also features Forrest J. Ackerman as one of the main characters who gets caught up in his own strange mystery when his one of a kind painting of Dracula by Bram Stoker is stolen.

It wouldn't be accurate to label Image of the Beast a detective novel, an erotic novel, or even a horror novel. It's all three and then some.