He shoots! He scores!

I'm not much of a winter sports fan, but when the Winter Olympics rolls around, I find myself watching speed skating and ski cross and skeleton and figure skating. And that's how I found myself watching the exciting USA-Canada hockey game on Sunday.

What does this have to do with science fiction? It an excuse to post a link to Steven Popkes' 2002 story "The Ice".   

Phil Berger is a young hockey star who learns that he is actually a clone of Canadian hockey great  Gordie Howe. 

 The lead article, by Frank Hammett and Carl Weatherspoon, is about the "Gordie Howe Clone." The article continues, occupying most of the flimsy with a host of associated links. There are several pictures of DNA chromatographs and chromosomes, documenting the similarities between the Howe genotype and that of Phil Berger.

Phil feels as if the world has entered into some long, horrible tunnel. He shakes his head and stares at the pictures. This is his life on display without his permission. No. It’s more than that. He feels naked before strangers. He feels shame without knowing why.

The story isn't so much about hockey,  as it is about a young man trying to figure out who he really is and what he wants to do with his life.

Read "The Ice" by Steven Popkes

(I wonder what Mr. Howe thinks of the story.)
((Also, Go Team USA!))

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickspacee/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Tags:science fiction, cloning, hockey

I'm Mind Melding at SF Signal

The latest Mind Meld at SF Signal asks:

Which off-the-air science fiction television show deserves a remake? What changes would you make to update it?

Head over there to read what I - and A. Lee Martinez, Jeffrey Thomas, Matthew Sanborn Smith, Gabriel Mckee, Kevin Maher, Joe Crowe, John Anealio, Ken Fergason, Summer Brooks and Mike Glyer - think. John DeNardo even added some video clips just to refresh your memory of those TV classics.

(bidi bidi bidi)

Repo Men

For a price, any organ in your body can be replaced.
But it can also be repossessed.

That's the premise of Repo Men, a new movie staring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker.  Unlike the transplanted human organs in Repo! The Genetic Opera*,  the organs in Repo Men are state-of-the-art artificial replacements - and they are very very expensive.

You can take a peek at The Union's organ replacement catalog, where an artificial eye runs $345,000 and a shiny new Jarvik heart will set you back $975,000. They offer financing at a near usurious APR of 25%-30% - and get behind on your payments and you can expect a visit from the repo men.

*Financing Terms and Conditions: Action will be taken after the sixth day of the fourth month of non-payment. Repo Men will retrieve the property at your own expense."

Ouch!

When repo man Remy (Law) is injured on the job and fitted with a brand new heart - apparently not covered by his worker's comp -  he ends up on the run from his former repo partner Jake (Whitaker).  The story is based on the novel Repossession Mambo by Eric Garcia, which was just listed as a finalist for the 2010 Phillip K. Dick Award.

It's not clear if the movie will have much science mixed in with the action. There is the nod to the real-life artificial Jarvik heart, but that may be simply product placement.

While the premise of a law enforcer ending up on the run from his colleagues is a pretty common plot - science fiction movies Logan's Run and Minority Report immediately spring to mind - and even repossession of transplanted organs isn't a novel idea either - see Repo! The Genetic Opera - I have high hopes that Repo Men will put it's own twist on it. There is the slightly humorous take on consumer culture which has the replacement organs for sale on the Home Shopping Channel, for one. And then there is Jude Law, who is, well, Jude Law (and Whitaker isn't bad either). 

Watch the official trailer.


There is a bloodier restricted trailer on the official site. It didn't seem that bad to me, perhaps because I've been watching too many bloody hospital and forensics dramas. 

Repo Men opens April 2 in the United States.

Repossession Mambo is available for purchase from Amazon.com (affiliate link)

* The other difference between the movies is that Paris Hilton doesn't sing in this one.

(Poster is one of several posted on Bloody Disgusting.)