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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. Always wanted to visit Italy but just haven't been able to get there? Well the next best thing will be available for your computer next month. "AnaCapri: The Dream", a unique first person adventure game for the PC, uses more than 8,000 detailed photographs taken around the real island of Capri and its charming village of AnaCapri. Created by Got Game Entertainment, the game allows players to search the island, learn its history while searching for clues to a mystery, or simply take a vivid virtual tour of the island in "exploration mode". In the game, players assume the role of an expert in ancient civilizations summoned to AnaCapri where they must search for an ancient artifact once believed lost to the ages. On the trail for clues, users encounter real villagers of AnaCapri, as well as historical figures who once lived on the island. "AnaCapri: The Dream" is rated "E 10+" (everyone 10 and older) by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. The game's simple point and click interface is suitable for even those with the most basic of computer skills, while the game's story transports players to another time and place. For more information, visit www.anacaprithedream.com.

An alliance of Hollywood notables working with Shanghai Film Group Corporation (SFG) are planning to develop a major Movie Theme Park "incorporating 4D technologies for what will be the first "East meets West" state-of-the-art theme park development in Asia," according to a press release from Nations Trust Ltd. The park is part of a three phase project that also includes

• redevelopment of SFG's studio back lot "Old Nanjing Road" Movie Set (circa 1949), transforming it into "Shanghai Nights" enchanting "city walk" entertainment complex (Phase I); and
• "the construction of the film and television shooting base, the construction of the film post-production base, theatre complexes, film and TV co-productions, CG animations, international distribution of films and TV series, entertainment and leisure projects" (Phase II)

The theme park is Phase III. Nations Trust Ltd. has worked seven years to develop the "Hollywood China Studio" and Movie Theme Park concept. Over five years, the project is estimated to require $1.5 billion. SFG, who presently owns the Crown Plaza Hotel in Shanghai, anticipates Nations Trust Ltd. raising additional funds to build a world class "Hotel and Galleria" within the "Shanghai Nights" complex.

Thinking of going to Comic Con next year? Well, the venue certainly is going to be right. Although not scheduled to open until the fall of 2007, Hard Rock Hotel San Diego has already been secured through Travel Planners Inc. to host the 2008 attendees of Comic-Con International. The hotel has arranged for 300 rooms during the event, as well as space for private media events associated with the convention.

Located across the street from the San Diego Convention Center, the 12-story, 315,000-square-foot Hard Rock Hotel San Diego has more than 40,000 square feet of unique meeting space, a lobby lounge and rooftop pool bar created by Rande Gerber, a fourth floor urban garden overlooking the Gaslamp Quarter, a live concert venue, fitness club and more.

“We are excited to offer attendees of [Comic Con] the ability to enhance their experience by staying at Hard Rock, the ideal stay and play environment,” said Melissa Olsen, Hard Rock Hotel San Diego’s Director of Sales.

The hotel will also host the celebrities and high-profile guests in attendance at the 2008 Comic-Con. Every year, Comic-Con welcomes the most well-known names from the film and television industry, including actors such as Angelina Jolie and Samuel L. Jackson, director Kevin Smith, and the entire cast ensembles of such television series as Lost.

Comic-Con International is a non-profit organization dedicated to the comic and related popular art form industry.

For more information on the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego, visit www.hardrockhotelsd.com.

I just got these road trip sanity tips in my email today and since they compliment the cover story of the July 2007 issue of The Genre Traveler, I thought I'd pass the information along. Of course I've added my two bits to their tips, and edited out the blatant commercial they were pitching.

• Keep some snacks on hand to curb those “I’m hungry!” chants. Bring small quantities of a variety of food to minimize multiple rest stop breaks.
  [Editorial note: Avoid sugary snacks or you'll just have a bunch of hyped up kids in the car. Bring healthy snacks that don't need refrigeration, such as fruit (fresh or dried), trail mix, granola bars, etc.]
  
  


• Pack games that can be played on the road. Crossword puzzles, Soduku and other games that can be played with paper and pencil or have electronic versions are good choices.
  [Editorial note: Mad Libs is always a fun game and can involve the whole family.]
  
  


• Keep supplies on hand such as a first aid kit, a tire jack, spare tire, and jumper cables -- you never know when you’ll be in an emergency situation.
  
  


• Bring a frisbee, football, or baseball and mitt for the kids to play around with while you have to make gas or bathroom stops. This will give antsy legs a chance to stretch.

These tips were brought to you by Franklin, and, of course, edited by yours truly.

Sci Fi Weekly reported something I just had to share.

Horror author Neil Gaiman and his daughter, Madeleine, visited the set of Hellboy 2: The Golden Army in Budapest last month. Madeleine posted some pics (with captions) of her on the set in Gaiman's blog. Check them out, they're kinda cute.

Budapest, because of its unique architecture and because filming there is inexpensive, is a favored filming location. Several genre films and TV shows have had scenes shot there, including:

• the 2002 TV series Dinotopia,


• the 2006 TV series Robin Hood,


• the 1990 TV movie Daughter of Darkness,


• the 2002 TV movies Dracula,


• 1991's Dracula, Live from Transylvania starring George Hamilton,


• Eragon,


• next year's The House of Terror,


• the 1998 Whoopi Goldberg film A Knight in Camelot,


• Mortal Kombat (1995),


• both Underworld and its sequel, Underworld: Revolution,

and more.