Yummz! Greetings and salutations, this is just a quick introduction made possible today by the letter W. Hopefully that gave you some sort of indication as to what kind of personality I have, but Hi, my name is Nicholai Granados, I’m aspiring to have a career in animations and design, I want to make cartoons and video games, weather it be through scripts, visuals, programming, animation, or design, I want to be involved in the field. I really want to pursue some sort of acting experience, I love creating characters and doing voices, impersonations, whatever. Being funny (or trying to be funny) is something that has defined me as a person, so I cant really be serious, so if I act goofy in class…my bad, if you dont like it just let me know :3 Uhhhhh, oh, I’m also a fixie head, meaning that i ride a fixed gear bike like a madman and have no regard for my safety. Uhh and something random about me, I love Pandas to death, like if i saw a panda ever I would probably faint, I hate koala bears for reasons, and before attending this school I was seriously training to become and underground cage fighter and then go big time. And thats a little about me, Tell me stuff about you (my fellow class mates and professor), I’d love to hear what you’d have to say “D

Hello everyone, my name is Joel and I’m here writing my late introduction because I did not read it was due Sunday. Nothing I can do about it now except actually write it.

I am majoring in CET, Computer Engineering Technology. I currently have a part time job working in a liquor store, but I am having serious second thoughts on holding a job and taking classes. Over my break I worked, and worked, and worked. For the summer I’m planning something more fun. Summer work. My only goals right now is to complete me degree. After that, I’ll let future me worry about it. My current interests are reading, movies, video games, and running. I’ve always had an interest in Science Fiction, it being my favorite genre. in all my hobbies, sci fi has been my go to genre, mostly in books and movies, but it does not mean I will shun everything else out. For instance, Warhammer 40k has been my current reading addiction and I’m looking forward to the new movie Jupiter rising, mostly because of how pretty it looks to be.

I feel my writing skills are pretty solid. for my major I am required to write a number of lab reports, and going by my grades, I do pretty well on them. If that’s not a good indicator of my writing skills, then lab reports are pointless. If the papers I write get below a B, I will describe myself as being delusional. Although creative writing is something I have not done much of, so I cant say for sure how well I will do writing stories.

I enjoy reading because of the immersion it provides, same with my other interests. They provide an exit and adventure the normal lives we live. When I am reading a warhammer 40k book, I am with the space marines on some distant planet, watching as they fight off xeno scum, or watching an enormous space battle take place for the fate of the world they battle over. They provide worlds and pictures that come from people whose imaginations thought them up. I am not saying I am incapable of creating something similar, but rather I am too lazy to do something like that. It is because of this that I love reading.

I had a class before where I had to post my lab reports on open lab, but that is the extent of my experience with open lab. To me science fiction is made by those who work in the field of science and whose imaginations run wild, or those who look up at the stars and dream about them. These people manage to build worlds that are filled with adventure and wonderment, whose landscapes can fill one with awe. Whose creatures both frighten and capture our attention. Sure there are some that think of Science Fiction as being for nerds and geeks, but that’s not true. Its for those that enjoy having their imaginations stimulated, who enjoy reading about the latest expedition through the wormhole or if the alien invasion was stopped. It is about stories that cannot exist within the real world and this exoticness catches our attention. I think the reason the course is full of dudes is because it is normal for guys to like Sci fi, something that “is not for ladies”. I believe that its not becoming the case as more girls get into the genre, but there were other classes that were not focused on Sci fi, and those were probably a more comfortable choice. I am sure in the new classes, more girls will be present. As for why a woman professor is teaching the class, I figured it was just another class for her to teach as she did mention she teaches a number of English classes. Perhaps being a lover a literature, science fiction managed to become another genre for her to like much like a movie watcher can like dramas, comedies, and horror all at the same time. I don’t really have a favorite author because that is something I don’t ever pay attention to, except for the authors of series I am reading. So I guess I actually have a favorite. Dan Abnett is an author of Warhammer books  and I have noticed his work being much more engaging than others.

I’m hoping this course will open up more stories to me. I normally read stories that involve a lot of war and battles, but I am interested in reading the other stories that exist in the genre. I do think this class will be one of my favorites.

Robotics – Done for an old illustration project. Friend or foe?

Hey folks. I’m Andrew Dutt, and I’m studying Communication Design here at City Tech. I’m in the Graphic Design module, although I also have an interest in Illustration. I have an Associate’s Degree in Graphic Design from the Art Institute of NYC, and I’m working on getting my Bachelor’s here. I currently work as a graphic designer in a home decor company, although my goal is to obtain a position in a science-related field where I can create informative graphics and illustrations, such as for museum exhibits or scientific articles.

Ever since I can remember I have had an avid interest in the natural world, and my curiosity for classifying and organizing living things has lead to me being somewhat of a Biology “nerd”. I have a special fondness for learning about extinct organisms, I guess you can say i never grew out of that “dinosaur phase” that some kids go through. As such, I am usually up to date with latest paleontological discoveries, and keep track of the latest trends in paleoart, which is art created with the goal of depicting extinct species, their behavior and relationships with one another and their environment as scientifically accurately as our current knowledge allows. On the rare occasions when I have free time, I like to create some paleoart myself, some of which can be seen on my devianArt account.

With all that said, one of the aspects that draws me to Science Fiction is the plethora of creatures and beings, whether from our time, planet, dimension or another that are often used as a trope, or sometimes the main antagonist, in the genre. I especially find it delightful when authors, writers, directors, concept artists and creature designers base parts of their creations on real-life animals (or plants), sometimes obscure species, which for the more inquisitive members of the audience go on to spark interest in the actual thing.

Now some fun facts:

As a writer/thinker, I feel that my strength and weakness is one and the same. I sometimes feel that I have so many ideas that I would like to express, that it becomes a challenge to choose where to start. I sometimes need a very specific prompt to get me going, but once I’m on the right track, I can go on and on.

I have not used OpenLab in a class before, however I do spend a considerable amount of my limited free time reading blogs, and especially the discussions in the comment section, although I mostly feel that I don’t have anything to contribute to the discussion so I mostly “lurk” the comment section. Hopefully this class will help me come out of my shell in that respect.

To me, Science Fiction is a form of narrative that incorporates scientific or pseudo-scientific logic to drive the plot, it is meant to give off a feeling that the things that happen in the story are or could be based in reality, and that supernatural occurrences happen for a reason and are not a product of “magic”.

Science is a set of theories and hypotheses that can be experimented on and the results can be repeated (if my memory of Bio and Psych is correct). Fiction is something that is not based on reality, it was created by an author/writer.

Science Fiction is often produced by creative individuals who have an interest in science and technology and it’s relationship and contrast to our own humanity. It is usually consumed by individuals with some ‘nerdy’ or ‘geeky’ tendencies (stereotyping here, sorry).

In my opinion, there are only men in this class because of the way society influences gender roles. Most young girls are raised in such a way that by the time they are adults, they are mostly interested in emotional narrative and drama. This not only applies to women, as Science Fiction is usually seen as “geeky”, and it usually does happen to appeal to a certain demographic. Your average jock isn’t interested in Science Fiction either, unless it involves explosions and/or scantly-clad women…

There is a woman teaching this course because Prof. Belli is knowledgeable about the subject 🙂

Science Fiction is definitely a genre of literature, a very quirky and unique one at that.

Some of my favorite media in Science Fiction are :
– Jurassic Park, movie and novel by Michael Crihcton. A no brainer for a paleonerd.
– Primeval, a British series about time portals and creatures from prehistory and future that pop out of them and the team whose mission is to contain and return them.
– The Alien franchise. I find the Xenomorph life cycle fascinating, plus they’re the ultimate biological killing machine.
– The Fifth Element. Saw it as a kid, so it’s somewhat nostalgic with it’s alien designs and mix of comedy/action.
– Men in Black. Same as above.
– Signs, by M. Night Shyamalan. I actually liked it despite the silly climax, made me jump in a few scenes, plus Gray or Gray-like aliens have always creeped me out.
– The Thing, by John Carpenter. Saw it in recent years due to a growing interest in Sci-Fi Horror. Bloody brilliant.
– Event Horizon. Same as above. Bloody gory.
– I have been wanting to read H.P. Lovecraft, but unfortunately have not found the time to do so. Hopefully some time in the close future.

Lastly, what I expect to learn in the class is more about the history of how Science Fiction came to exist as a genre of literature, learn about new authors and stories I might enjoy, and learn how to critically deconstruct a narrative (my current method involves spending hours after hours on TV Tropes soaking in every bit of information on a specific franchise/medium/topic/trope, which I see as a passive form of procrastination. That may or may not be a bad thing).

P.S. The illustration featured above was done for a project where the theme was Robotics. It was done many years ago, and i guess that you could say I was influenced by The Matrix and Terminator in some of my robot designs. It shows a  humanoid android cradling a human child in its arms, while an ominous sentinel-type machine looms behind with a menacing mechanical arm reaching for the baby. This dichotomy prompts the question: are the machines our friends or foe?

Hows it going. The names Randy Grullon. For starters I am probably the least punctual person in this class (as you can tell by this introduction being late). Currently I’m a Computer System Technology student. I just transferred over from Computer Science so I could finish my remaining 2 classes while working on a new major.

Other than working as a barista at Starbucks, I help run a website called Pixlbot.com. There I organize posts and help run the back end. Funny thing is that website is built on WordPress which is the same system Open lab is built upon. So I kinda feel at home. Over the winter break I mostly stayed at home staring at my computer writing tons of programming code. One of those projects was a WordPress plugin for my site. Over the summer break I probably will spend some more time on working on side projects. As you can tell I really enjoy writing code.

I think my major weakness is starting to read/write. I think grade school has scared me for life. For a while now I was looking for a good enough reason to get into reading book. Probably what I dislike the most about writing is the fear of making mistakes and someone disliking your work. Often times in grade school I would pour my heart into an essay but for some reason it would never be enough.

I don’t have much experience with Open Lab specifically, however I’m pretty experienced with the system it uses. So creating blog posts and such would not be a issue. I think Science Fiction is so open and vast anyone can enjoy it. You can be someone that likes the idea of future technology, or someone that like space travel. There is something that you would be able to like. I personally love video games that involve Science Fiction. Not only because its fun to play, but mostly because I really enjoy the lore behind these games. Some of these creators spend time to create these universes. I’m that guy that likes to read side texts that explains things in these universes. What bothers me the most is the stereotype of the people that enjoy consuming science fiction. For some reason we are perceived to be nerds with no social life and that kinda bothers me.

I really hope to enjoy this class. Reading and analyzing these universes that these authors have created.

What’s up SF. Crew

My name is Jonathan Catana I’m 22 and this is my junior/senior year at city tech. I’m majoring in hospitality mgnt. focusing on the cooking aspect. As much as i like cooking i also enjoying going to music shows all around the city and coffee. Let me restate that I love coffee so much I’m working with it. I work in a speciality coffee shop down in Union Square and I love it. Other hobbies include taking picture with Film, I enjoy it a lot. I just owned one camera at the moment but that’s all I need Here’s some shots i took recently. Over the last few months I been thinking of a project that would combine all my “hobbies” i enjoy into one, opening my own coffee shop that would have a small kitchen serving small plates and put pictures taken up on display. Me and my close bud Shaun been talking about this and ironically we came up with the name Abyss based on the Movie! Over this winter break i didn’t do much just worked, this upcoming break maybe I’ll go on a quick trip down to the west coast I have yet to go the other side of the coast.

One of my Strength when it comes to writing and reading is that I enjoy both. Small fact, when I first graduated from high school I wanted to be a journalism so I can say I enjoy writing papers. I also enjoy reading as well; especially those big books you get when you take American Literature classes because its usually a big book with several stories.

Some weakness are that I tend to write papers one night before its due, ha I tend to tell myself that I have a lot of time to write and next thing I know its due the next day, But I’ll try no to do this this semester well at least that’s what I’m telling myself…

SF is a very approachable in my opinion there’s several sf books that can be approach by SF aspect and other folks that maybe enjoy the mystery aspect of the noble etc. Normally there’s two theme in SF the SF aspect and maybe the theme of Mystery and or horror etc. I don’t know if this makes sense but thats what I think of SF books and of the genre itself.

Favorite book: the left hand of darkness

Fav. movie: The Day the Earth stood Still, duh

Here’s some of my 35mm I taken over the last year or so.

one of my favorite shows and bands. Walter TV

November in SoHo

A nice shot of York St. last semester

Hi everyone my name is John Amaya. I am a Architecture Technology Major. I am currently a Project Manager at Scarano Architect PLLC, I have been there for a year and a half. I hope to have my Architectural  License in the next 7 years and open my own Architectural Firm some time after that. I enjoy playing Soccer from time to time. I play the Guitar,Bass and the Drums, well I try I am not to good any of them but i can play a few songs on all of them. over the  winter break I just worked I normally I go out during the summer this summer break I am planing to go to out of the country not sure where yet, but where ever I go I know I’m going to have fun.

When it comes to writing my weakness is not knowing what to write about. As a reader I am a very slow reader and I have never really been a big reader because of it. The first book I actually read was Enders Game. When the movie came out I was very disappointed but what can we do. My background on open lab is that I have used it for two other classes, so I am somewhat familiar on how to use it. For the question of why the class is full of men only. i would have to say we are just more open to it because I know a few women that like SciFi as well but they would admit it to the public. As for why a women is teaching the class I would have to say the class is a english class so its professional and it being SciFi well the Professor will have to like the topic as i said before women like SciFi too.

Hi,

My name is Daniel, but you can just call me Dan or Danny, or really whatever makes you feel comfortable. Currently, my major at City Tech is undeclared because last semester, I took a ridiculous remedial that just made me feel stupid about mathematics. But now, I finally changed my major to Entertainment Technology, so I’m officially all set up now.

When I’m not focusing on my studies, I’m either watching Star Trek, playing Destiny, or creating my own electronic music. Most of the time, it’s me being on my computer, creating tracks and experimenting with different sounds. Sometimes, the best way to learn something, is to teach it to yourself (that’s if you’re an expert at teaching yourself, if not, do not attempt). Of course, I’m always interested in feedback when it comes to the tracks that I produce. It’s what makes me improve upon myself. That being said, I even have my own site where I post my tracks: click here to go to my site. If you listen to them, you can be aggressive in your comments as you possibly can. I need all the feedback I can get.

As for Science Fiction itself, I’ve always been a fan from the beginning. Believe it or not, it started with the release of the original Stargate film, and then my interest broadened to include all of it’s series’, then Halo, Star Trek, Battlestar, and much more. I would not have it any other way. Even today, I have these fantasies about going to the stars, or “going boldly where no man has gone before,” but I’m pretty sure I’ll be long gone before warp drive is even invented. For now though, my dreams on the subject will have to suffice.

I joined this class because of that interest, but mostly, and more importantly, because all the other English classes I saw on the enrollment form were ridiculous; choosing this class was pretty much self-explanatory, and I’m totally hyped to be here (I think).

Some other facts about me that you might want to know, I’m a very talkative guy (I have A.D.D.) and if I talk about something I really like, it takes a lot to shut me up. Except if I’m in a work or school environment because it’s apparently “disrespectful” to speak my mind. I can also be emotional (the cat’s out of the bag) from time to time on some topics, but happily, not often enough for anyone to notice.

In the future of my life, I’m hoping to have a job that has some connection to audio. For a time, I’ve always wanted to score movies or video games. Now, I’m more into making electronic music; something I’ve really loved even before Skrillex got famous. In the long run, I hope to go to my own shows as “Lantean”, an artist name I assimilated which came from Stargate: Atlantis, one of the best Sci-Fi shows of all time (in my opinion). That’s another one of my fantasies, but it’s the one that I’m going to definitely achieve, or rather, try to achieve.

Well, that’s me, and my life, but not the whole story of course.

That will come as we go through the semester.