So, this past weekend was Balticon. I was there. In dramatic contrast to the last 48 hours or so, I mostly had a pretty good time, basking in the communal glow of geekdom (or not…the communal “glow” can occasionally be described as more of a “funk” or “stench”, and is not particularly pleasant to bask […]

I’ve praised the whole crowdfunding model that’s become rather popular today thanks to the efforts of web sites like Kickstarter before; it’s really kind of wonderful to be able to kick in a few bucks to help someone with an idea for a piece of art or music or whatever that sounds like it woudl […]

You know what, It’s been months since I’ve gotten lazy enough to throw up a collection of random musings and links to things I thought were interesting and/or amusing! Let’s do it! ♦ – The bike commute this week was pretty damned scary. My nerves are a bit frazzled after nearly getting hit four or […]

This really wasn’t the ideal weekend for me to spend at a fan convention. The previous weekend involved a long road trip, that while pleasant and enjoyable, involved a lot of driving…and picking up some sort of viral crud that kept me running at below optimal conditions all week. Also, the previous week was spring […]

Though I enjoyed the book series as a reasonably well-told bleak dystopian story with some interesting social commentary thrown in, I was largely indifferent to the film version of The Hunger Games, as Hollywood’s track record at adapting modern YA publishing phenomena has been less than inspiring. However, the universe conspired to put me in […]

3/22 – Updated with an example of how this might have gone. See below. I saw John Carter this evening. In glorious IMAX 3D. I spent eighteen dollars for a ticket, for that is the going rate in the Washington D.C. market. It was totally worth every penny. I had a blast with this flick […]

I didn’t get out to see John Carter this weekend. I had passes lined up for the DC preview screening last Tuesday, though my schedule and the US Postal Service couldn’t get themselves in sync, so I saw a Salmon Fishing in the Yemen preview screening instead (a short review: good in the way that […]

I say this as someone who’s only finished the first novel of A Song of Ice and Fire and half of the Game of Thrones TV series, but I really, really, really agree with Sers Paul and Storm here: Now I know that George R.R. Martin is not not my bitch, and it’s not that […]

I’ve been sick. That’s pretty much it. I spent most of Friday and Saturday crashed on the couch watching old movies in between bouts of unconsciousness. I did get out a little bit despite the circumstances; I supervised an after-hours school field trip with the eldest to see children’s author Graham Salisbury speak at an […]

Ever since I heard about it yesterday morning, I’ve been casting about for a proper way to talk about the Komen foundation’s decision to stop donating funds to Planned Parenthood (which does a lot of work to make early screenings for breast cancer available to all kinds of women), as a result of their “new […]