Short Cuts

First they canceled Babylon 5, then Deep Space 9, and now Voyager. What's the galaxy coming to? Doubtless there's more than a few sci-fi TV and film fans locked away in their darkened bedrooms, alternately licking their wounds and scrambling to learn Linux in their increasing off-time while waiting for Titan A.E. to hit theatres this June 16. But how to fill out the endless days inbetween? Ah, my boy, the burden of a Jedi knight can be eased by nostalgic collectibles and special live appearances from his favorite geekdom heroes and heroines, and to this end we urge you to check out this weekend's Austin Sci-Fi Expo and Toy Show, May 6-7, 11am-6pm Sat., and 11am- 4pm Sun., at the Crockett Center (formerly Best Buy, alternately known as "gun show heaven"), 1é4-mile east of I-35 on Hwy. 290. Count your lucky Bantha droppings, Star Wars fans, because beloved Imperial lackey Boba Fett -- or rather his real-world counterpart, Jeremy Bulloch -- will be in attendance, along with Phil "Uncle Owen" Brown (who, for my money, was far better in Troops than in Star Wars: Episode IV-A New Hope), and Peter "Chewbacca" Mayhew. From the small screen, Herb Jefferson Jr. (Boomer on Battlestar Galactica), and Erin Gray (Col. Wilma Deering of Buck Rogers -- what? Gil Gerard was too busy?!) will appear. Trek fans get their own fest every six months or thereabouts, so no, sorry, Seven of Nine will not be performing lap dances as per your nightly, premoistened fantasies. Those with spare change left over from their tax returns will also want to break the bank on what looks to be a spectacular dealer's room chock full o' stuff your mom would still throw away if she knew you were still buying it. Admission is $5 adults, $3 kids ages six-12, kids under five free w/ a muzzle. Visit the Web site at http://www.scifiexpo.com for more info... I rarely use this forum to champion Web sites and the like, but this dovetails with the above so nicely I can't resist: Star Wars fanatics who haven't already done so should boot up and check out Apple Macintosh movie-maker Evan Mather's site http://www.evanmather.com, which features some genuinely warped series' parodies, such as "Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars" and "Kung Fu Kenobi's Big Adventure" in AVI and RealTime versions. Hideously cool, yet starkly sublime in their use of the action-figure milieu, these are the epitome of big dumb Web fun... Hey! You with the stars in your eyes (and the bags under them)! You call yourself a screenwriter? It takes more than a copy of Final Draft V.5.0 to claim that title in this burg. Submit that Felliniesque space opera you've been sitting on to the Austin Film Festival 2000 Screenplay and Film Competition by their postmark deadline of May 15 and you could win the respect of your peers and parents (Finally!). For more info check out http://www.austinfilmfestival.org or call 800/310-FEST... The University of Texas at Austin Center for Asian Studies and the Department of Radio-Television-Film present a lecture/mouthful titled "Learning to Look Queerly at the Socially Dangerous and Sexually Perverted: Film, Television, and Queer Sexuality" by professor Shohini Ghosh (co-director of the Center for Feminist Legal Research at Jamia University in New Delhi) today, Fri., May 5, 5:30pm, in Jester Dorm 203A. And I think that about says all that needs to be said.