Rocky and I were at Dragon Con, rooming with our friends, Gary and Isa and a delightful German journalist named Robert.

I hadn’t mentioned it the first time I posted after we got home from Con.

So it didn’t make sense to some of you when I began hysterically babbeling about how great it was to briefly meet Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudik and spend the whole time talking about how great other people were instead of about how great THEY were.

Anyway.

So I met, shook hands with, and talked to two REALLY adorable men who play characters that, to put it mildly, totally float my boat.  So to speak.

So then I have a little bit of time, so I rush off to the blood drive to give blood.

They take my pulse:  60BPM

They take my blood pressure:  111/60 (up from 103/50 last time)

After walking a block and climbing a flight of stairs, and shaking hands with two of the cutest guys on the planet (in my humble opinion).

They stick me with a needle, and start my blood filling up the little pint bag…and I kid you not…I apparently didn’t have enough of a pulse rate or blood pressure to fill a pint bag even half-way before it started clotting, and they pulled my needle and sent me on my way…

…a failed blood donor.  Again. I got a packet of cookies, a bottle of water, and a free tee-shirt...oh yeah, and a huge purple bruise that's about five inches across.  To add insult to injury...after repeated wigglings and twiddlings of the needle from the nurse, blood began running out of my skin NEXT to the needle.   So - Epic fail in the blood donation front.

Sorry Nathan and Alan…it’s not you…it’s me.  I’m told this happens to lots of people from time-to-time. 

But I would have thought that if anything could have raised my pulse rate enough to successfully donate blood, it would be a close encounter with Captin’ tightpants and his soulful baby-brown eyes.

Obviously, I need not even TRY to donate blood until I’m at a Con where I can meet Michael Shanks or John Barrowman…

I’d be willing to try.  So I could give blood, of course.  Anything to help humanity.

And another service to humanity:  Here's the You-Tube video of their panel at DragonCon:

Funny thing from DragonCon:

Isa showed up at the Bad Astronomer's panel, and I was happy to see her.

Me:  "How's your day been?  Been to any other science panels?"

Isa:  "I wanted to go to '96% of the Universe is missing?'  But I couldn't find it."

I literally laughed out loud.  Then, Isa got it and the guy sitting next to me got it and we were all three laughing like freaks.

This video reminds me of that.

(Hat Tip:  Pharyngula)

Sorry about the bad rap.  David Hewlett will apologize for me.  He's better at it.

Can I be Sam and Vala when I grow up?

PZ Myers has a link to this article about Harry Potter and an accompanying rise in the popularity of "Witchcraft".

I read it, but its kind of long.  There's a lot of hyperventilating about the popularity of fantasy in the current culture, some self-righteous pontificating....but the really significant quotes are as follows:

"In these standby novels, girls fret over friends, popularity, sports, parents, boyfriends, jobs and homework—or a neighborhood "mystery." But in this new darker world, girls don’t simply ask a friend’s advice, hang out at the soda shop or give the team their best effort. That would be too boring and too passive. Today’s girl takes charge, even in the heavenlies—these young priestesses cast spells. The paperbacks are laced with actual spells and rituals suited to many teen occasions. They are also packed with sexual innuendo and activity;"

uh huh...'cause hanging out at the soda shop had nothing to do with sexual innuendo and activity...and "boring and passive" girls never get into trouble.  Seriously?  You want your little girls to be boring, passive door-mats who know nothing about sex and hang out at the soda shop? (I think they actually hang out at coffee shops nowdays)  Jesus people, you might as well tattoo targets on their vaginas.

"It’s a seductive method of manipulating human envy by ensnaring naïve youth: if you’re a misfit, it’s not because you are lacking something; it’s because you are "above" the rest in a unique way."

Yeah...the other kids didn't pick you up and stuff you in the trunk of your car because you're an asthmatic shrimp with a 135 IQ, and they're a bunch of muscle-head jocks whose daddies told them they had to live it up 'cause these are the best years of their lives when they get to rule the school and have no consequences for their actions, and they know they'll have to spend the rest of their lives answering to people who are smarter and more educated than them.  They did it because YOU are lacking something.

But my favorite is this one:

"As adolescents peak in self–absorption, our panacea is to hand our offspring the sorcerer’s wand to wave away all troubles. They can use it to raise that already inflated self–esteem."

Obviously, this lady hasn't read the books she's condemning.  At no point does Harry simply "wave his magic wand" and have his troubles disappear.  Harry is initially protected by the loving efforts of his parents to shield him from danger, and prepare for his future.  Later, he learns to draw on the wisdom and advice of his teachers, and ask for help when he gets in over his head.  His loyalty to his friends and their resulting loyalty to him helps him through situations he could never have survived on his own.

In the end, he has to put his life on the line and risk everything...and it has nothing to do with his powerful magic.  It has to do with giving back to all of the people who stood by him what was given to him.  Giving love freely, and being willing to risk everything for the good.

Magic has nothing to do with Harry's final triumph.  It is achieved through love, trust, and courage.  The whole point of the ending is that he doesn't even raise his wand in order to win.

Geeze lady.

And, of course, no hyperventilating, hysterical scrawling are complete without the faint-hearted whining about D&D:

"Too numerous to mention are sites specific to role–playing games like Dungeons and Dragons and toys, CDs, DVDs and video games with occult themes."

OH NOES!  CHILDRENS CAN HAZ IMAGINASHUNS!  IM IN UR COMPUTER BRINGIN TEH DEBIL!

But how oh how do we stop it?

"Today we are urging parents and educators to prayerfully consider a general boycott of Scholastic materials in homes and schools country–wide." Kathi, a former witch who is now a Christian, has strong opinions about the Potter books. "Anyone who allows their children to read these books and participate in related activities is allowing their children access to the occult."

Of course!  Boycott the Scholastic-sponsored school bookfairs which is usually a primary vehicle for funding literacy programs in the school district! What we need is more illiteracy and less funding for the schools!  Naturally.  Genius.

Ill skip over the part where she bends herself into pretzel shape to involve Planned Parenthood, the feminists and homosexuals, and the ACLU in the plot to make your kids witches.  It's entertaining, but too self-satirizing to need my attention.

"And if your teen isn’t an activist or practitioner in middle school or high school, college is a fertile field for the growth of witch sympathies. Your daughter or son who takes a religion or women’s studies class at a non–Christian college can expect to be exposed to the benefits of alternative religions, mostly occultic, in overcoming the "oppression" of the entrenched Christian mainstream. "

For reals?  The University of Minnesota must be a Christian college then!  Except for my comparative religions class (which spent more than half the time on Christianity, 'cause there’s so many flavors).  Whatever.  Has this woman even BEEN on a college campus except maybe as a crazy mall preacher?

"If you are "as gods," you can make your own rules. Forget parents! Forget teachers! We’ll just live for the moment, the latest sensation and party on down. So witchcraft is a perfect fit for a paganized, pleasure–centered, shallow America.

I swear, everytime I hear a Christian's description of what their life would be like without Christianity, I thank God that they have Christianity.  People who have such a vivid imagination for depravity should certainly have a religion that makes them able to repress it,and keep it decently confined to airport men's rooms.

And I just have to say..."party on down?"  For real?  Linda, You. Are.  ADORABLE!

Last night/this morning I attended an event that made CONvergence into a FIVE DAY convention.

CONvergence is usually a three day fan convention with role-playing games, art, community service, music, board games, miniatures, crafts, discussion panels, exotic dancing, martial arts, movies, anime and liquor all brought together to celebrate Science fact, and Speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, and related genres)

But all that changed when Michael Sheard came to the convention TWICE as a guest of honor.  He had so much fun, that he got attendees up in arms and the chant "FIVE DAYS" could be heard every year since, encouraging the board and the con committee to extend the convention.

Michael Sheard was beloved by many at the convention, including me.  He was just special, and touched many people (literally and figuratively) in the short amount of time we had him with us.

Which is what he has in common with another man.  Someone I never met, but saw walking around all the time.  Someone most of my friends knew, and someone who inspired fierce friendship and love.  A man called "Roadkill".

People like Michael and Roadkill kind of demand your attention...but unlike people who are just demanding your attention so that they can feel special, they were more the kind of people who walk next to you and say "Hey!  Look at that!" and then you realize you were walking along looking at your feet.  And then, just as you get too absorbed in the wonder and magic of what they were pointing at, they make some comment that makes you feel a little dumb for almost missing it, a little goofy for getting too sentimental about it, and hey it's OK 'cause you're there sharing it with them and it's all good, fogedddaboutit - "Hey! look at that!"

Roadkill developed a brain tumor and passed away this year and we lost Michael Sheard long before that.

While Roadkill was in hospice, Tim Wick went to visit him several times, and told Roadkill that he wanted to do a memorial, and asked Roadkill what he would like done in remembrance.

Roadkill responded:  "I would like you to smash a chocolate fish".

So, at a special event, held at 12:01 AM this morning (which made our special 10th anniversary four-day convention officially a FIVE DAY convention), Tim Wick presided over the first ever chocolate fish smashing ceremony I have ever witnessed.

A bit of smashed chocolate fish, followed by a shot of Tattoo spiced rum with some of Roadkill's friends was the strangest eucharist I have ever experienced (the similarity wasn't intentional, and I think I'm the only one who observed it)  I shared a toast with a small knot of Roadkill’s friends, because even though I didn’t know the guy, I knew the guy.  I wanted to honor the place he'd had in their lives, because it reflected something I understand and honor very deeply.

The gathering ended with "five days" sung over and over again to the tune of Amazing Grace, with people laughing their butts off.

And for about an hour we remembered Roadkill and Michael, and a whole bunch of other people who kept us from looking at our shoes, missing things we shouldn't miss, taking things too seriously, dismissing things too lightly, wrapping ourselves up too tightly, and generally forgetting that we are sharing the road.

[Update:  I found this lovely video posted on Pharyngula in a strange bit of synergy]  - NSFW - bad language 

CONvergence is here, and now half over.  I drank Captain Kirk's Two-Fisted-Punch.  I drank a couple of something called a "flaming cowboy"...

...Which is like if you insluted a Jolly Rancher's mother, so it turned into liquid and kicked your ass.

My brain is quite annoyed with me right now, and my stomach doesn't want to talk to me, but can't help iteslf.

Before the drinking, there was Kung Fu.  I saw a demonstration by a Tai Chi Master and his students.  That was really cool.

Today I will hopefully recover enough to play some Tai Chi learning games. 

I ran into one of my students at the Con, which is fun.

I attended a panel entitled 'the Secret Origins of CONvergence, as well as a performance of Soylent Theater: Made out of People entitled "Soylent Blue".

It was.  They gave us multiple warnings about how un-PC they were going to be, and asked that anyone with a weak constitution leave.  I didn't...'cause Im not the kind of person who gets offended over a little off-color humer.

They DID manage to offend me...several times.  I was very surprised, but hey - they warned me.

Also, I met up with some of my friends who do the Missing Children Minnesota Mystery Dinner Improve fund raiser.  Our writer (Damien Sheridan) was giving a reading of some of his stories.  He did very well.

My fellow actor, Ted, told me a great story about how he was assaulted by a little old lady over his "buddy Christ" costume (from the movie "Dogma").

No kidding, some little old lady at the Con shrieked about how he was insulting her religion and began beating him with a purse.  Naturally, he refrained from defending himself until he could leave the situation without risking harm to the little old lady.

I did a little volunteer "badging" (ensuring that everyone who is entering areas with convention programming is a paid attendee by checking their "badges") as it is a chance to sit in one place and watch everyone who goes past...which means that you meet up with all of your old friends that you only see once-a-year at con anymore...and do some catching up.

Its been fun, and this year we have FOUR (five) days!  I will explain that later when I don't have other pressing concerns like a family to feed and a pounding head to care for.

In the mean-time, please enjoy the product of one important difference between liberals and conservatives:  We can laugh at ourselves, and its OK.

Discalimer:  This entry will make no sense unless you are a fan of Torchwood, and up-to-date on the Dr. Who universe.  The video will only be funny if you have a warped sense of humor...and even then, you will feel guilty for laughing.  Sorry.  I can't be alone in my Schadenfreude.  The Scott Lively connection is just one of those random association firings that my brain subjects me too...but if you can't mock the Rev. Scott Lively, who CAN you mock?

OK, a while ago I heard about the Rev. Scott Lively, and his book The Pink Swastika and I thought "Who the hell would buy this?  It's ridiculous.  It's completely craven, ahistorical re-imagining at it's most cynically manipulative.  I've seen sand-choked engines run more smoothly than this guy's logic."

But then I see this, and I realize the horrible truth!

NSFW  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!   (seriously, the ways in which this is not safe for work defy numbering gravity description)

Also, my understanding of the German langauge is even worse than I thought!

This fanvid is for anyone who ever fell in love with someone who made them want to be a better person.

And, for that matter, for anyone whoever fell in love with someone who knocked them off their high horse, shook them out of their complacency, and completely robbed them of their equalibrium.

I give you:  Daniel and Vala.

Pssst...don't look now, but I may have somehow become a Daniel/Vala 'shipper without realizing it. It took me even longer than it took Daniel! LOL.

What can I say, if you really love something, you're willing to let it go. 

There ought to be a law against doing that with an image of Eugene Scott, though. And to cleanse the pallet:

OK, I'm sorry too:

Yes, I AM an unofficial member of the "Marcus Cole Estrogen Brigade"  but I couldn't find a SINGLE fan vid of him out there.  What's up with that?

A charming little tale full of whimsey and adventure.  Steamer-punk elements.  A little disjointed in parts, and with a tepid ending that screamed sequal.

In other words, a good story burdoned by it's condition as a movie adaptation of a novel.

Cool effects.  Some really good performances.

Skanky blond villian named "Coulter".

A certain scene I like to call "bowling for cossacks".

All-in-all, it was a nice little family outing.

Awaiting final verdict until after the sequal.

For those of you who do not believe that our great Republic benefits from the constant infusion of culture, language, and perspective of our alien residents, I offer a challenge to your closed-minded ways.

On December 8th, 2007; At 7:30 PM; for the mere pittance of $20 USD (effective price dropping daily) you can witness the charming and immortal tale; "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.

But this isn't just ANY rendering in ordinary English.  No it is not!

Come to the University of MN Saint Paul campus

Student Center Theater

2017 Buford Avenue

St. Paul, MN 55108

There, you will witness the moralizing, liberal, whiney, orphan-hugger words of Charles Dickens transformed!

Commedia Beauregard will give that pallid old Englishman an infusion of Klingon-American honor, courage, and (I assume) bloodlust!

That's right "A Klingon Christmas Carol".

See it Dec. 8th at 7:30 PM  Tickets at:  www.ticketworks.com or (615)209-6689

Oh, did I mention that this is a fund-raiser?  Proceeds from this performance will assist in funding future productions, commissioning new translations of foreign-language plays, and helping to further the understanding of the world's cultures, and (I assume) other world's cultures.

Don't miss it! 

Oh, and...Q'aplah!

argh.  shortbread cookies, with a chocolate layer on top.  I am powerless before them.

They are my Jadarite.

(Hat Tip:  A Blog Around the Clock)