ReConStruction, The 10th Occasional North American Science Fiction Convention, image via reconstructionsf.org
When Worldcon leaves the sacred earth of North America for a year, we United-Can-Mex-Americans get all uppity and insist on still having a big literary-focused sci-fi convention on our own soil. Thus, the North American Science Fiction Convention was born, and I will be puffing out my chest in continental pride with other attendees this coming weekend. I have the pleasure of being a science guest, and have been recruited on to the following group activities:
Science Which We All Know Is Wrong – Friday, 11am, RCC 306A
What Podcasts Can Do For You – Saturday, 10:30am, RCC 203
Health and Today’s Fandom – Saturday, 3pm, RCC 305B
Where Are The Next Mad Scientists – Saturday, 8pm, RCC 306B
Laura is also joining in the science guesthood fun, and will be enriching these panels:
So You Want To Be An Astronaut – Thursday, 7pm, RCC 306B
Best Speculative Fiction Fan or News Podcast (Specific)
The ScapeCast featuring Brent Barrett, Chris Polansky, Hank Shiffman, Kevin Bachelder, Kimberly Thompson, Lindy Rae, Michael Falkner, Sammy Mohr, & Wendy Hembrock [subscribe]
The Signal featuring Kari Haley, Kevin Bachelder, Kara Helgren, Les Howard, Jutta Jordans, Dave Tomasic, Andy King, Nick Edwards, Miranda Thomas, Helen Eaton, Anna Snyder, James Parkinson, & Jill Arroway [subscribe]
Hearty congratulations to all the nominees, and much luck! While my jaunt to Worldcon means I’ll be unable to reprise my emcee duties from years previous, I have it on good authority that things will be in good hands. And I’ll be watching… oh, yes, I shall.
Mercury and the Murd: the Cosplay Order of Doom, from PKDmedia.com
I’ve been out of the comic book subscription game for quite some time.
This is a good thing in some ways, as it’s saved me a nice bit of money, and allows me to focus the precious free time I have into other geeky pursuits. That said, I do sometimes regret… nay, CRAVE… getting a regular dose of comics goodness.
With the advent of the iPad (and Laura’s purchasing of one), the idea of sliding back into the comics scene from a digital angle is rather tempting. In addition to Marvel and DC’s forays into the digital realm, many independent publishers have embraced electronic formats for both distribution and promotion, resulting in an amazing selection of awesome creativity available on the cheap… and sometimes, for free.
Shawn Pryor’s PKD Media is a immensely talented and growing company with several titles to its credit, and until September 1st, has four full books available for free from mydigitalcomics.com. On their PKD Media publisher page, you’ll find free graphic novels of Mercury & the Murd, Agents of COLT, Exo-1 and the Rocksolid Steelbots, and Wasted Wonderland that serve as great introductions to PKD’s work. And if the over-the-top titles and the “free” price haven’t enticed you to check them out yet, all you need to know is that in the Mercury & the Murd tale, a cop uses his costume afro to store weaponry to foil the plot of a cosplay gorilla gangster fight club. If that doesn’t entice you, then my diagnosis is that you have no soul.
More info can be found both on PKD Media’s site and at mydigitalcomics.com. And while you’re at it, be sure to catch an episode of the always excellent PKD Black Box show – it’s a true gem in the world comic geek podcasts, and one of the few shows of any type I truly look forward to listening to.
Matt Wallace and Mur Lafferty, cc by-nc-sa image from nlowell on Flickr
That shift in the universe you felt this past weekend? Yup. That was reality taking a moment to revere the birth-anniversaries of Matt and Mur, as is only right and proper.
Even though Balticon feels like it ended only a few days ago, ReConStruction and Aussiecon 4 loom ever closer. I must prepare. You may tremble if you choose… it is recommended.
A staple of my regular webcomics consumption is the always amusing Wondermark, which regularly features men sporting crackling virility hedges and Gax from the planet Gax. I was highly entertained by this recent Ask a Gaxian post, wherein Gax is sought for advice on various life-topics.
What do you claim your problems are? According to your letter, you are fat and creatively dissatisfied, with a diseased car and a horrible house. Rivers have carved this deep canyon in you over time, and it is not as simple as saying “Go back uphill, river.”
Combining eccentric, character-based humor with actual profound wisdom is a challenging task, and Malki pulls it off damn well. I think Gax needs to be my professional mentor…
Burn Fireworks, Burn, cc by image by Orin Zebest on Flickr
I was reminded today, while inadvertently seeing a horrible “interview news” segment on television as I passed through the physician’s lounge for a bagel, that I had meant to link to the now several-months-passed healthcare reform legislation. Even this far after its passage, I continue to be amazed at how many people use this law as a prop to argue for and against various medical and economic issues without, you know, having actually read it.
Although the full text is a legalese-swollen 906 pages, I still recommend it as a must-read for every US citizen, whatever your political bent is. At the very least, there are some excellent (and far more easily digestible) summaries of the key points on the site.
To all Americans, I wish you a happy 4th of July weekend! It’s a time to reflect on the good of the freedoms we enjoy in this country… and note the bad that becoming complacent in said freedoms can result in, as typified by the content of, and the “democratic” process that resulted in, this legislation.
Also, be careful with the fireworks and the adult beverages this weekend, lest you find yourself acutely needing the health care system this is attempting to reform… Enjoy!
May you come to the attention of those in authority.
May you find what you are seeking.
All of these happened to me this morning in specific, unsettling ways. As such, I will rid myself of their power by passing them on to you, good reader – why should I be the only person to have all the fun?
HoNoToGroABeMo Day 28 - hemi-corpus Jesus golem, cc by-nc-nd image by DocOperon via Flickr
Last night, the 62-foot high, 8-ton iconic abomination along I-75 in Monroe, Ohio, that represented people fundamentally missing the point of their belief system on multiple levels, was struck by lightning and consumed by fire. Money quotes from the Middletown Journal coverage included the following:
‘…motorists were stopped along the highway and along Union Road in Monroe to watch the 62-foot King of Kings statue burn.’
“God struck God, I like the irony. Jesus struck Jesus… What else are you going to do on a Monday night?”
“Of all the things that could have been struck, I just think that that would be protected. … It’s something that’s not supposed to happen, Jesus burning.”
‘“I can’t believe Jesus was struck,” said his brother, who noted the giant Hustler Hollywood sign for the adult store across the street was untouched.’
A bit of infectious diseases whimsical warfare for your Friday…
I recently stumbled across this playful short video on the Improbable Research blog, showing a bacterium being infected by a bacteriophage. Bacteriophages are viruses that specifically infect bacteria, but not the cells of humans or other animals. Although they have seen little use in the United States in terms of medical and biotechnology applications, they have been more widely used in other countries. With the continued concern over antibiotic-resistant bacteria and a lack of new drugs to treat them with, bacteriophages may be more extensively researched for clinical uses in the future. (This was a subject I had the pleasure of discussing at last year’s Dragon*Con.)
And really, who wouldn’t want to, when they look this cute?
The story I read for Escape Pod, The Love Quest of Smidgen the Snake Cake by Robert T. Jeshonek, is now up for your auditory delight. It contains innuendo as thick and heavy as cream pie flesh with a drizzle of sociopathy on top, but no actual naughtiness.
From now on, I shall be known as SNACKY CAKE.
For her entire adolescent and adult life up until three weeks ago, Lynda had been the queen of junk food. Aside from the briefest blips of non-junk spending due to occasional failed diets, she had purchased only the most fattening, high-cholesterol, chemical-soaked foods available from grocery stores, restaurants, vending machines, and mail order websites.
In short, she was the perfect woman. Though she was on a diet that day, she had eaten non-nutritious foods in great quantities all her life. Though her last purchases had been salad greens and bottled water, her 250-pound body told the true story.
I knew she was just waiting for someone like me to come along.
