Pilgrimage to my people

It's been over two years since I went to a scifi convention and I'm itching to go spend some quality time in the company of my fellow geeks. DragonCon is out of my financial reach these days, but it so happens there's a sort-of-local con coming up that some friends & I are attending.

GalaxyFest is in Colorado Springs February 24-26, and for a not-huge con, it looks like it could be decent. Last I checked the programming page of their site was empty, but I'm hoping for some more info soon. I'd sure like it if there were some good panels to attend. I do know I'm pretty excited about some of the guests, including Robert Picardo (ST:Voyager; Stargate SG-1 & Atlantis), Torri Higginson (Stargate Atlantis), Denise Crosby (ST:TNG) and *gasp* Claudia Christian (Babylon 5). I'm especially tickled about Claudia Christian, as she played one of my favorite characters on B5, Susan Ivanova.

As far as costuming goes, I'm putting together my version of Snake Plissken from Escape from New York. What can I say, Kurt Russell inspires me. If I think I look cool enough I might even enter the costume contest, something I've never done at a con.

Well, even if this con turns out to be lame, at least I'll have fun with my costume, and I know the folks I'm going with will provide a super good time, assuming none of us has to come up with bail money. Or maybe especially if we do.

Good night, Moon!

Last night when I went to bed, it was with the expectation that I'd miss the totally cool lunar eclipse coming in the early morning. That was okay, though, as bed didn't happen 'til after a full moon snowshoe involving a little booze, a little stumbling around in the woods, and a lot of laughing & fun. We're thinking we should add some mushrooms next time.

Anyway, I woke up a few hours after I made it to bed and it just happened to be shortly before the eclipse started. Not thinking about how ridiculous I was being, I bundled up, grabbed my camera and climbed onto the icy rooftop. It was cold, windy & shitty, but I couldn't convince myself to abandon what was now starting to look very amazing.

My camera batteries died about halfway through the eclipse, so I used that as an excuse to get off the icy, cold, dangerous roof. But, I'm happy with some of the pictures I got, and I look forward to the next eclipse (I think the next one visible from where I am is due in May of 2013, so I have time to plan).

Finally, these are the pics I got -- December 10 lunar eclipse.

Look up!

I live far away enough from civilization, at 9000ft in a national forest in Colorado, that the sky is spectacular pretty much all the time. Even when I can't see the stars, there's something cool going on in the atmosphere. Since I started living at this elevation, I've been continually wowed by the night (and sometimes day) sky, so I thought I'd share a few interesting astronomy links, because what's Out There is really fucking amazing.

I get a lot of cool sky news from Space.com, including frequent alerts to upcoming astronomical events. There are a lot of amazing sights to see with or without a telescope. NASA's website is also good for space news, as well as staying up to date on various NASA projects like one of my favorites, the International Space Station. I'm continually awed and envious that there are people living in space right now.

The 'net is loaded with sites full of space pictures, so I'm going to keep it simple. First, check out some awesome Hubble photos from the Gallery at Hubblesite.org. There's a fuckton of other terrfic stuff on that site as well, so browse at your leisure. Then there's Astronomy Picture of the Day, which is, as they say, what it says on the tin, and every day it's something amazing.

For further research I recommend going on a hike during a full moon, gathering your friends together for a little spot-the-satellite drinking game, or getting acquainted with your local astronomy professor. Go study space; it's interesting!

More meming

Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite TV show: B5, season three, "War without End," because it explains so much and it's so epic. It also includes a shot of Sinclair from season one's "Babylon Squared" that makes me weak in the knees. And, it's always great to see Zathras.

Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show: I can't choose between "Infection" and "Believers," both season one of B5. They are both all-around shitty episodes, with lots of heavy-handed preaching and contrived moral angst. Even that might not be so bad, though, if both eps didn't also feature my least favourite character, Stephen Franklin. I really can't stand him.

Day 08 - A show everyone should watch: Nova. Go fucking learn something.

Day 09 - Best scene ever: Two scenes jump to mind immediately. From B5, G'Kar's speech to the council in season two's "The Long, Twilight Struggle." The whole scene is pretty awesome, but G'Kar's bit begins at 1:53.

"No dictator, no invader, can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power governments and tyrants and armies can not stand. The Centauri learned this lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free."

I'm pretty sure I've never watched that scene and not been moved to tears. G'Kar is my hero.

The second scene is from season three of Battlestar Galactica, "Exodus, Part 2." I was floored by how cool the Galactica looked jumping into atmo over New Caprica, then watching the vipers shoot out into flames was holy-fucking-shit awesome.

Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving: Castle. I wouldn't quite say I love it, but I like it a whole lot more than I expected, and not just because of Nathan Fillion (though he is the reason I started watching it).

Day 11 - A show that disappointed you: FlashForward. The potential was so great, the possibilities for creativity and weirdness enormous, but they went the route of the soap opera. Even the incredibly hot Sonya Walger couldn't keep me watching these idiots and their personal dramas. And she is really hot.

More meming later.

Godzilla is very little...

...and the ISS is very far away. Perspective is awesome.

Earth's Atmosphere Top to Bottom

(Found via @spacehack.)

Return to the Warehouse

Season two of Warehouse 13 started this week, with some ups and some downs. Lattimer and Bering are more annoying than ever, or I'm just less tolerant of their particular brand of obnoxiousness. The adults are so much more interesting and competent. I enjoyed seeing Mrs. Frederic in action, though it's unfortunate her driver's toast. However, the trade-off was Artie, so that's kind of a no-brainer. Artie was as delightful as ever, and even if Claudia is a bit hard to take sometimes, I enjoy their exchanges quite a bit.

My next house is going to have an Escher vault, because that was kickass. It was a shame to see McPherson crumble to dust there at the end, but Wells is interesting enough that I think I'll enjoy her. Now I just hope her story doesn't get put on a back burner in favor of a bunch of monster-of-the-week episodes.

I can't help noticing that I don't think Artie's merely cool and smart and awesome; I also think he's attractive. Same with Walter on Fringe. Somehow there's comfort in knowing my Electra complex is aging right along with me... as well as getting a little more eccentric.

The internet knows what I like

I was going to make a bunch of lame excuses for participating in an "internet meme" (one I found on LiveJournal, no less), but I decided, fuck that, it's entertaining so I'm doin' it.

Thus commences the "30 Days of Television LiveJournal Meme"! Follow along as I answer silly, indulgent questions about how much I love TV and want to marry it and have its babies. (Don't worry, I won't drag this out for thirty days.)

Day 01 - A show that never should have been canceled: Firefly. In case you've been living under a rock (a rock that doesn't receive a television signal, natch), you're aware this was Joss Whedon's 2002 space western, which aired about a dozen episodes before being canned. If it had been made in Japan it would have been called "Beautiful Happy Space Cowboys," and Wash would have been a robot. I miss Firefly.

Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching: I only care what other people watch to the extent that (what I consider) a good show has the ratings not to get canceled, so I guess I wish more people were watching all the shows I enjoy.

Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this TV season): Human Target. Dramatic chases, exciting fights and things going boom, plus some pretty nice eye candy. Definitely a thumbs up.

Day 04 - Your favorite show ever: Babylon 5. For all its flaws, it has characters I care about in situations that are compelling and entertaining. It tells actual, complete stories over the course of multiple seasons, and has characters who change and grow. A good bit of it is derivative, and even when the writing's at its best it's still pretty hammy, but it tells stories that move me. I've watched the entire series a few times and some episodes I can go back to over and over; it's like comfort food.

Day 05 - A show you hate: I don't really hate any shows, but since I'm no longer living with a TV signal, it's kind of nice to know I'll never be channel-surfing again and run across Ghost Hunters or some shit like that.

Well, I think that's enough for today. Look for more silly, indulgent questions when next I post.

The truth is in a basement lab at Harvard

[I'm taking a chance posting this, I know. It's risky, but I'm too impatient to wait. The thing is, I'm only about half a dozen episodes into season two, so I could be spoiled pretty easily. Please be kind if you share your thoughts in a comment!]

Though I'm late to the party, I have finally started watching Fringe and I'm totally sold. It's entertaining, well-written, creative, humourous, intelligent, and it delivers on the eye candy. I understand where the comparisons to The X-Files come from, but as I mentioned in reference to Warehouse 13, rehashing an old formula doesn't have to be a bad thing. In this case, I'd say Fringe has obvious elements of The X-Files, but I like the more direct approach it takes to unfolding a story. In that regard, it reminds me of Odyssey 5, another creative, intelligent mystery. In fact, many of the things I said about that show apply to Fringe as well.

Having accepted that the impossible can happen in this universe, I've found nothing that's unbelievable enough to pull me out of the show, for all the completely fucked up things they've come up with. I like that some of the explanations for phenomena are incomplete and raise more questions than they answer. And I appreciate that in-universe logic seems to be consistent. You know, I wonder if I'd have noticed that if it wasn't for Lost.

For the most part I like all the characters. Dunham can be a little irritating at times, but mostly I've grown to like her quite a bit. Not surprisingly, I adore Walter. Aside from being brilliant and hilarious and endearing, he makes me want to trip again. As I previously mentioned, I really enjoy his relationship with Peter. Sometimes it gets a little heavy on the sentimentality, but nothing I mind too much.

I also like Broyles a lot, but Dunham's exchanges with him tend toward the really awful for some reason. They nearly always strike me as stilted and formulaic, as though the writers weren't thinking about how these two unique characters would actually relate, as much as they were drawing on a template of Things FBI Agents Say to Each Other. I will concede, though, that it's gotten better in season two. Which reminds me, I definitely liked the relationship between Dunham & her partner Charlie Francis. Man, did season two start on a shitty note.

Something I find surprising about Dunham, and the show in general, is the lack of gratuitous sexualizing. There's no doubt Anna Torv (the actor who plays Dunham) was chosen for the role in part because she's attractive -- we sure don't like our heroes to be ugly. However, Dunham's physical attributes as they apply to her job are pretty much about her ability to kick ass and fire a gun on target. Oh, and her crazy history as Walter & Bell's guinea pig. But still, not about how hot she is. When even the best shows fall back on female characters as sexual objects, it's nice to see writers who eschew such a lazy tactic.

Finally, it would be pretty cool if we found out Dunham is so special because she's some wacky lab-grown hybrid of Walter, William Bell and a time traveling Gene the cow, and not only can she survive traveling between worlds, but she also makes one hell of a root beer float, ifyouknowwhatImean.

Sentient cow farts

What is consuming hydrogen and acetylene on Titan? While it might be your momma, it would be much cooler if it was methane-based life. Whoa.

The horror!

The BP Gulf oil gusher is starting to register in my brain as horrific. It pleases me that some folks are having a good time with it in some clever, creative & fucked up ways. Warning to the delicate, there are a handful of pretty nasty pictures of oil covered animals at that link in addition to the funny. You know, because it's tragic and it's funny. Also, check out BP's PR Twitter feed. What? Of course it's legit.

Look, over there! Celebrity news to distract you from the horrors of the real world! Patrick Stewart became a knight the other day, which custom I think is ridiculous and laughably antiquated, yet is still kind of neat. That's right, my social politics are a mélange of contradictory æsthetics. So, good on you, Sir Patrick!

Oh, in case you haven't cared -- uh, I mean heard, Heroes was canceled. Now all we need is to never hear from it again. Dammit! I mean, all we need is a miniseries to wrap things up. Oy fuckin' vey. Didn't these people watch Peacekeeper Wars? Although if Sylar gives birth through leather pants in the middle of a firefight, I might be convinced to sit through it at least once.