That Guy Ray Bradbury Seemed To Know What He Was Talking About When he Was Writing Science "Fiction"

Ray Bradbury passed away last week and I am a dick because I never took a second to pay him proper tribute. Bradbury is responsible for a litany of literary classics, most notably in the Sci Fi genre. His best known works would probably be The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, and one of my all time favorite books Fahrenheit 451. But after he passed away, lots of other more responsible/respectable sites (we suck here at CCD...sorry!!!) ran cool stories in tribute to Mr. Bradbury. One of the best ones that I saw had to an infographic of all the predictions that Ray Bradbury made in his books that ended up coming true in real life. In sci fi people take chances when they "predict" what technology will come in the future, but it seems like my man Ray had much more than a hope when constructing his ideas of what technology in the future would look like. Well played Mr. Bradbury!!! Take a look at the infographic after the jump and if you have never read a Bradbury book put it onto your to do list ASAP....

Thanks for all the memories Mr. Bradbury.... If you can't see the details on the screen if you click it to enlarge, you can click here to see it in a gigantic version!!!

Thanks to Geeks Are Sexy for a great tribute. Thanks to Ria Novosti for a great infographic.

Stephen King Reads From 'Dr. Sleep', His Sequel To 'The Shining'... I Promptly Faint & Bash My Head On My Coffee Table!!!

The Shining is without a doubt Stephen king's most famous work. That is not belittling his other works... this guy has sold more books than Jesus himself. But due to the fact that Stanley Kubrick decided to adapt the novel for a movie (albeit by changing tons of shit from King's original novel and Jack Nicholson's famous "Here's Johnny!!!" axe wielding portrayal of Jack Torrance) and it became wildly popular, it has always been regarded as the touchstone of King's literary works. Last year King announced a new book, entitled 'Dr. Sleep', which is a legitimate sequel to The Shining. I almost fainted at the thought of the return of Danny Torrance... where would King take this character with the psychic ability to "Shine"? Well, King is starting to do public readings from the novel in preparation of it's release (no official release date as of yet, but I'm assuming its somewhere near the end of 2012-beginning of 2013) and somebody cell phone cam-ed him reading the first chapter of the book. I almost fainted...   This one sounds great!!! Catch the clip & book synopsis after the jump and tell me what you think about this upcoming sequel project.....





Here is the synopsis for the book:

"The last time readers saw Danny he was recovering from his ordeal at the Overlook Hotel at a resort in Maine with fellow survivors Wendy Torrance and chef Dick Halloran (who dies in the Kubrick film version). King remarked that though he ended his 1977 novel on a positive note, the Overlook was bound to have left young Danny with a lifetime’s worth of emotional scars. What Danny made of those traumatic experiences, and with the psychic powers that saved him from his father at the Overlook, is a question that King believes might make a damn fine sequel. In King’s still tentative plan for the novel, Danny is now 40 years old and living in upstate New York, where he works as the equivalent of an orderly at a hospice for the terminally ill. Danny’s real job is to visit with patients who are just about to pass on to the other side, and to help them make that journey with the aid of his mysterious powers. Danny also has a sideline in betting on the horses, a trick he learned from his buddy Dick Hallorann."

There is also a group called The Tribe, who are a group of roving Vampires. Instead of searching out Danny for his blood, they are looking to tap him of his psychic energies. Wow.... wow!!!!

I'm excited about this... how about you???

CCD Holiday Geek Gift Guide Vol #1: Great Literature... With All New Artwork!!!

As we enter the final stretch run leading up to Christmas, many of us are still struggling to complete our shopping for our loved ones. For the next few weeks I will be highlighting some great gifts for you to purchase for the geeks/nerds/collectors/obsessors in your life. Today we cover the literature geek in your life with a brand new edition of the Ray Bradbury classic Fahrenheit 451 complete with some awesome full page illustrations. Click after the jump for more details.

The Folio Society, in collaboration with artist Sam Weber, have brought out a brand new edition of the Ray Bradbury classic Fahrenheit 451. The Folio Society is known to come out with some fabulous editions of classic books, and this one is even nicer than most. Sam Weber's art is breathtaking, and if you haven;t read this book in your life than you are definitely missing out. You can correct that mistake by picking this book up for $42.95 on the Folio Societies website (click here),  and here are a few of the wonderful illustrations by Weber to pique your interests. Enjoy... and check back tomorrow for more great geek gift ideas!!!

Check Out Salvador Dali's Take On 'Alice In Wonderland'

This one goes out to all you art geeks out there... yup, you get love here on CCD too! Salvador Dali is one of my favorite artists, and I think it has to be because he gave a fuck-all what anybody thought about his ongoing shenanigans and crazy lifestyle. Despite being a lunatic, his art pedigree is amazing. Anywho, apparently Dali was contracted  Random House Publishing back into 1969 to illustrate the Lewis Carroll classic "Alice In Wonderland". He responded by creating 12 visually stunning heliograuves (I guess thats an artsy-fartsy art world word for paintings... WTF do I know!) for each chapter in the book, as well as a front piece for the edition. Thanks to the gang over at Brain Pickings, we have digital images of these beautiful pieces for your viewing pleasure. Click after the jump to see them in all their glory...

Front Piece

Down The Rabbit Hole

The Pool Of Tears

The Caucus Race and a Long Tale

The Rabbit Sends In a Little Bill

Advice From a Caterpillar

Pig & Pepper

Mad Tea Party

The Queen's Croquet Guard

The Mock Turtle Story

The Lobster's Quadrille

Who Stole The Tarts???

Alice's Evidence

As an added bonus, here is a cool Youtube video on what you need to look for if you were buying one of these editions. One just sold for around 13 grand... 

Risa Rodil Minimizes The Hunger Games

Artist Risa Rodil is spectacular at creating interesting & complex images... yet the ones that I chose to highlight are some of the simplest out of all of them. I am a huge fan of minimalist takes on pop culture properties, so why not see what Rodil has to say about Suzanne Collins's Hunger Game Trilogy? All three of these capture key moments from each book without revealing anything too important. It's like an inside joke for those who have read it, and peaks the interest of the people who haven't read it yet. Either way, they are hot. Check all three of them out after the jump...