My electric thriller THE SUBLIMINAL RELIGION is officially here! A lot of research went into subliminal messaging and the effects of this on unsuspecting TV watchers.

My riveting ride takes place in a New York City from a not too distant future that could be tomorrow; it is a dark place, that suffered another horrendous terrorist attack on 3/15, and is under a strict lock-down. People are encouraged to walk about the city in groups in order to single out potential wrong-doers.

It is a place where undertaking a documentary on subliminal messaging that implicates Disney and the Tea Party in heinous acts against the unsuspecting American public is a very dangerous endeavor. And this is especially the case when the two filming it are just NYU film students trying to prove themselves . . . but they do not realize the cost . . .

Well I am floored!

The day draws near and reality comes home to hit me with a heavy mallet:  THE SUBLIMINAL RELIGION, my baby for almost two years now, is going to be out in the world! I am so excited!

That said it is vital that I say thank you for everyone's support; it has meant the world.

The AMAZON Author Page is up here, enjoy it with me!

Well, after many many arduous hours of work THE SUBLIMINAL RELIGION will be published and released on December 1, 2011!

This is my baby, and has been a culmination of my many artistic influences, including Orwell's 1984 and Mieville's The City & the City, for a long time now. The subliminal research that I did was fascinating to me, as were the characters that grew with me to traverse the cracked streets of New York City and Brooklyn in a time not too far removed from ours. I hope everyone enjoys this book, as much as I have loved being a part of its creation.

The dystopian speculative thriller involving subliminal messaging, Disney, the Tea Party and two young film students trying to avert disaster will finally see the light of day thanks to a small Amazon press and Rune Works, and it will be available in a gorgeous trade paperback for $12.99 and as an e-book as well.

Pre-orders are currently taking place now through a cut-off date (that will be announced in November), and anyone who pre-orders is guaranteed a SIGNED copy!

I hope you all love this!

Sincerely,

R.J.

The William A. Higinbotham video game archive, museum, and interactive game studies laboratory at Stony Brook University is here!

After more than two years of labor, Professor Raiford Guins, along with the help of SBU Librarians Kristen Nyitray and Hélène Volat, have launched an amazement in the fields of historiography and game studies:  the William A. Higinbotham Game Studies Collection!

The name comes from the Brookhaven National Laboratory's own genius, inventor, and innovator William A. Higinbotham, who along with working on the atomic bomb created what many consider to be the first ever interactive video game in "Tennis for Two".

The archive's state of the art facility, located on the Stony Brook University campus, features working video games as they were played in their contemporary environment - for example, the NES Super Mario Bros. game is playing on an actual CRT TV and not a plasma flat-screen, like many currently play it on their Wii's at home. It has been Professor Guin's brainchild for years now to have game studies archived in an interactive manner whereby they can be studied in a way that reflects the historic period that they were first used in.

"The Beginnings of Video Games": Special Event at the Museum of the Moving Image was held on October 1, 2011 to mark an era of exciting new ways to study and enjoy the invigorating nuances of "Tennis for Two" and all games, which have become more than a fascination, but are now a staple of society throughout the world and therefore, deserve due place in the annals of history.

Professor Raiford Guins of the Department of Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies (SBU), Kristen J. Nyitray, Head of Special Collections and University Archives/University Archivist (SBU), and Peter Takacs of Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) have been awarded a $9,000 joint seed grant from SBU and BNL to produce a documentary film on the history of the world's first interactive computer game "Tennis for Two" and the current efforts to reconstruct the game. William A. Higinbotham designed "Tennis for Two" in 1958 at BNL.

Read the entire Examiner article Here.

By R.J. Huneke

The language is key.  And with language, China Mieville’s venture into the science-fiction genre is nothing short of spectacular. 

As the master storyteller’s past works often utilize unique, flowing and intricate vocabulary, in general (just read The City & the City), the future described in Embassytown imbues.  The world-society on Arieka is based around the very use of language and is dependent on word-craft to survive.

China Mieville depicts Arieka as an alien world in which the native populous, the Ariekei, only harbor the human enclave within a city that was co-constructed, alongside the Ariekei’s own, to be an Embassytown.  The human city is a colony for the humans on the edge of the most unknown portion of space, the Immer, where few (Avice, the Immerser, is one of these) have traveled.  And it is also a colony, of sorts, for the Ariekei, though the humans are largely ignorant to this fact…

There is nothing like this.  The Ariekei, also referred to as the Host, are horse, maybe-fly or bird hybrid – well aliens – with two sets of wings and two mouths; they feel and seem utterly strange, lucid and imaginative (while still leaving plenty to the readers’ mind to discern).  The Ariekei can only speak truth, from their two completely separate mouths, which is quite a contrast to humanity’s use of language in the book and out of it.  The humans of Embassytown have learned how to genetically create and/or manipulate biotechnology and people to form their own Ambassadors who are linguists able to speak and negotiate with the Ariekes.

The main character that Mieville utilizes is Avice Benner Cho, the former native-born Embassytowner and successful Immerser, and she is as contemplative, stubborn, smart and kick-ass a female protagonist as you will ever see.  Her life is forever intertwined to her homeland when the Ariekei choose her to become a simile, which allows them to stretch the truth in just such a manner that their minds evolve, a little.

For the Ariekei language is power, life and starkly intoxicating.  Their dependence proves to be treacherous, as evolution and language-as-drug-use threatens the entire foundation of Embassytown.

“We speak now or I do, and others do. You've never spoken before. You will. You'll be able to say how the city is a pit and a hill and a standard and an animal that hunts and a vessel on the sea and the sea and how we are fish in it, not like the man who swims weekly with fish but the fish with which he swims, the water, the pool. I love you, you light me, warm me, you are suns. You have never spoken before” (Mieville, Embassytown).

The way of the planet and the space surrounding it is constantly explored and revealed to us, the reader, in a compellingly emotional and explorative narrative that unfolds steadily and brilliantly.  What needs to be stressed is how the invented languages (and there are multiple of these in the work), terms and use of characters and story techniques are extremely experimental and courageously innovative, while maintaining a streamlined, philosophical, understandable and absolutely addictive reading experience.

Rarely are there newly constructed future-worlds in fiction that have such depth and originality as this one does.  Frank Herbert’s Dune is the only book I can bring to mind that does so similarly, and that comparison is, in itself, of the highest praise.

If you do not know by now, China Mieville strives to bring his monsters to every genre of fiction, and to do so in an enthralling and utterly innovative fashion.

See the rest of the article in the IMPULSIVE REVIEWS Section.

Happy 4th of July to all in America!!

There are very few books that transcend genre and captivate everyone with their truly unique and entrancing story.  Neil Gaiman's American Gods is one of the rarities.

This is the tale of a man called Shadow, a large and seemingly slow-thinking individual, who is released from a prison to find that not only is his former life gone, but the world that he has known his entire life is actually full of strange gods that have immigrated to America in hopes of making a living (if it can be called that).

Amidst the riveting narrative there are incredibly insightful glances into the history and the legend of the world's gods, for some have been popular in mythology that is still somewhat remembered in the contemporary world and some are remnants of past subjects of worship that practically no one alive has any knowledge of (Neil Gaiman is one of the few who does).

Ancient Egypt is represented, as well as our Norse mythological friends (or enemies depending on your perspective), and the old gods meet up with new gods of technology and media and TV, which currently enthrall modern society (especially in the US).

This mysterious and thrilling tale of Shadow and the American Gods is unlike anything ever written or undertaken, and this could very well be one of those books that you put down and declare is one of the best you've ever read.

Neil Gaiman is currently on an American Gods 10th Anniversary Edition book tour, and this author's preferred text contains some 80,000 more words to embellish the story.  Read the original or the author's preferred version, but above all, make sure that you read American Gods!

IMPULSIVE REVIEW Grade:  see it HERE

In light of the recent battles that have multiplied across the earth, in particular the China Mieville VS. Everyone Blogs, RJ Huneke has taken it upon himself to seek out some of the more elusive combatants in hopes of kicking some ass.

Now it's true that NO ONE can beat up the author China Mieville, but where's the suspense in that?  RJ Huneke has begun to tackle some of the most awe-inspiring warriors of the modern age starting with the Duke himself, Duke Nukem! 

RJ Huneke VS. Duke Nukem:  The fifteen year grudge match has finally come to terms, as the Duke - who largely disappeared from RJ's life for a decade and a half following one of the most fun ass-kicking video games ever - returns in June of 2011!  RJ took out the game, threw down the package and taunted the yellow flattop by calling him a...SISSY! 

The Duke, fresh off of a steroid transfusion and a universal kill spree on the aliens who took earth's women, put out his cigar in his hand (just to further prove how bad-ass he is) and leaped from the game cover out into RJ's living room.  From there the author tried to bombard the fictional character with a flurry of hastily thrown Guinness bottles and an illegally painted black (so BAD-ASS!) Nerf gun.  Though a foam dart struck the Duke in the eye, the muscle-head merely laughed at length.  Nukem then serenaded his new-found foe with punches before taking out his shrink-ray and stunning the lanky RJ (who had never been short before in his life).  Seizing an opportunity for defiling the holiest of sanctuaries, the Duke proceeded to knock all of RJ's precious books off of their shelves, while the newly-made little person stamped with rage impotently.  Once the torture was thorough, the Duke then stepped on RJ with the Mighty Duke Boot:  SQUASH!

Battle One:  Duke Nukem Kicked RJ Huneke's Ass.  RJ was down, but not out, however...to be continued...

Come and see all of the fun articles that have been written for the Gadizmo.com Mega Site!  Everything from "Family Guy [for] Free" Apps and detailed work on the rise of Duke Nukem Forever is on there!  Read up on useful gifts and Apps for the thoughtful consumer to the technologically advanced money spending patrons of the world!

The Osama Bin Laden Era has ended.  With the demise of the man on May 1, 2011, the biggest chapter and figurehead of the terrorist group Al Qaeda is gone.  It is to be hoped that closure for the 9/11 attacks can be found (for the US in particular) and that peace will result more and more as the days stretch on. 

Perhaps the US can finally scale back the involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan drastically, lessen their antagonism in the Middle East and thereby remain a steady beacon of liberty around the world.  Peace should come first.  Violence only breeds more strife.  Let us move on.