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Welcome to The Genre Traveler! Please sign up using the form to the right so that you'll get all the latest updates to the site. You also might want to sign up for the RSS feed, which you can do via email or your favorite RSS Reader. After last weeks' posts, are you still having trouble coming up with someplace to photograph to enter The 1^st Annual Genre Traveler Photo Contest?

Here are some useful websites for finding out about various destinations that might appeal to science fiction, fantasy and horror fans. The most robust resources I found on the web cater to horror fans. That's something that The Genre Traveler hopes to remedy with the searchable database I'm developing. But in the meantime, here's a list of links to help you out.

Film and TV Locations:
Movie Locations:
www.movie-locations.com

IMDB Locations Guide:
www.imdb.com/Sections/Locations

Movie & TV Locations in Los Angeles:
www.seeing-stars.com/Locations

Scotland: The Movie Location Guide:
www.scotlandthemovie.com

Movie Location Guide:
www.movielocationsguide.com

Museums:
Hands-on Science Centers Worldwide:
www.cs.cmu.edu/~mwm/sci.html

Science Museums and Exhibits in the Yahoo! Directory:
dir.yahoo.com/Science/museums_and_exhibits

Association of Science - Technology Centers:
www.astc.org/sciencecenters/find_scicenter.htm

American Association of Museums:
iweb.aam-us.org/Membership/MemberDirectorySearch.aspx

Horror Attractions:
Haunted Attraction Magazine:
www.findahaunt.com

Horrofind Directory:
www.horrorfind.com

Darkride and Funhouse Enthusiasts (DAFE):
www.dafe.org/where2ride/index.htm

HauntedHouses.com:
www.hauntedhouses.com

Haunt World:
www.hauntedhouse.com

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Oops. Sorry this posted so late. I plum forgot it was Monday.

Here's something interestng. According to the Associated Press, France's space agency is "putting years of UFO research and tens of thousands of documents on the Web." According to the story, there has been a small group of researchers spending the last several years trying to explain reports of unidentified flying objects. They've been able to fully explain some, about 9 percent of the cases, and are pretty sure of their explanation for another 33 percent. However, that leaves more than half of the case unsolved and unexplained.

The first batch of documents went up on www.cnes.fr last Thursday. The result was so much traffic that the space agency, known by its French initials CNES, said the site was often difficult to access.

Eventually, about 100,000 of the documents the Group for Study and Information on Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena used will end up on the site.

To go directly to the English version of the UAP research, visit www.cnes.fr/web/5038-geipan.php.

Now there's a place to store all your travel dreams online. It's called Suitcase and is brought to you by Concierge.com, the online presence of Conde Nast Traveler.

This handy online tool "lets you collect all the trip information you need – hotels, restaurants, museums, articles, transportation details – and save it all in one place." Pretty cool, huh?

Of course, in order to use this tool you have to be a registered Concierge Member. Registration requires you to give Concierge.com your e-mail address, state/province, country and zip/postal code.

For more information, visit suitcase.concierge.com.

So I can always have content for The Genre Traveler, I've set up a few Google searches. This morning, one turned up this article on Gizmodo, "a technology weblog dedicated to everything related to gadgets, gizmos, and cutting-edge consumer electronics." Titled "Top 5 Road Trip Gadgets,"

I thought you migh find it of interest. The gadgets covered are pretty cool, but they included a Dell laptop. And, being a diehard Mac user, I say "Boo!" to that.

I’ve been hearing a lot about Second Life lately. In case you don’t know, Second Life is a 3-D virtual world with a community of more than 350,000 "residents" who live a virtual life through animated avatars. In fact, during one of the panels at Worldcon last month, an audience member brought the subject up so often that Teresa Neilson Hayden told him that if he continued, he'd sound like a commercial. (Later during the panel, the audience member clarified that he had nothing to do with Second Life, but was just a big fan of the virtual world.)

Well, last month '80s British pop band Duran Duran announced that they were going to be the world's first artists to stage live concerts in a virtual world. Details are yet to be revealed, but the five original band members, Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Roger Taylor, Andy Taylor and Nick Rhodes, have announced the commission of their own custom-designed avatars, as well as on a fantasy, luxury island on which to stage "in-world" concerts and media appearances.

"Second Life has brought a third dimension to the internet," said keyboardist Rhodes, "it is the new frontier where dreams have become reality. Whatever you can imagine is now possible."

Once the concerts start rolling, it will be possible for genre travelers to, well, genre travel without even leaving their homes. Which, in itself is kind of science fiction-y. Of course, I don’t advocate doing all your genre traveling while sitting at your computer. Heck, how can you see the world through genre-coloured glasses if you haven't left the house?

Anyway, Duran Duran will also be taking advantage of Second Life's features that allow its residents to mold and change the virtual world as they desire. "Our community will be able to help develop the island into a fully functional, futuristic utopia, where you can never be quite sure what to expect," said Rhodes. "Duran Duran are thrilled to be the first band to become citizens of Second Life and are rehearsing now for our first concert there in the coming months."

Rivers Run Red of London have been appointed to create the five Duran Duran avatars and the band's tailored universe. Said creative director Justin Bovington, "We're working directly with the band members to ensure fans get the ultimate Duran Duran experience."

Duran Duran has always had something of a forward-looking, futuristic bent. They took their name from a character in the cult science fiction film Barbarella, and many of their songs have had genre themes (Last Day on Earth, Planet Earth, Union of the Snake). Also, the band was the first group to use live video cameras and video screens in their concerts, as well as the first artists to offer a song as a digital download on the web in 1997 (aptly 'Electric Barbarella'), well before MP3s and iPod made music downloads common.

For More Information:
Duran Duran's Official Website
www.duranduran.com

Second Life
secondlife.com

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NOTE: I just got this through the e-mail. 'Second Life' Hit by Data Breach
Apparently, Second Life's data has been breached and it is possible that "the data of 650,000 users may have been exposed, including real names, addresses and billing information."