More about LHC

Just when I thought I couldn't love geeks more, this Large Hadron Rap is brought to my attention.

I love geeks.

In case you were concerned...

Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the world yet?

And if you're interested in some "actual information," take a look at How Stuff Works.

The site I wish I'd found before DragonCon

If you like funny t-shirts like I like funny t-shirts, have a looksee at this very funny t-shirt site. Science is the best!

Geek-A-Thon 2008 (yo)

Get yourself a tasty beverage and put up your feet, because this is a long one! Because I wasn't willing to spend $30 to connect to the interwebs from my hotel room, I kept a running diary over the weekend and now you get everything at once (with the caveat that it's all from memory, so who knows what I got wrong). My Atlanta adventure started last Wednesday afternoon, when I flew in and spent the next couple days with some friends. They're excellent people who are wonderful, comfortable and all around really enjoyable to be with, so my geek-weekend kicked off in the best way. Then, to DragonCon!

Day one was mellow, mostly just getting my bearings and catching a couple cool events. I made it to the first Stargate megapanel, which included Cliff Simon (Ba'al), Erick Avari (Kasuf), Morena Baccarin (Adria), Beau Bridges (Landry), Torri Higginson (Weir), and Rainbow Sun Francks (Ford). They were funny and entertaining and it was a dandy time. I followed that up with some wandering around, checking out people and finding out where things were in the different hotels (four now!), and enjoying all the funny t-shirts.

Later in the evening there were videos in the Stargate track room, so I caught some of that. I stuck around long enough to watch the first episode of Sanctuary so I could see David Hewlett, but then I had to turn in because it was late and I'm no fun anymore.

Day two started with a minor (but excessively irritating) personal crisis. Everything worked out fine, but I missed most of the parade, dammit. Luckily, I caught some of it, including pirates and stormtroopers, so that made me happy. I even got some not-completely-awful pictures, which is a nice bonus. This wasn't a big year for costuming for me, mostly because I was lazy and uninspired until the last minute. However, about a week before heading to Atlanta, I got it in my head to finally make the salwar kameez I've always wanted. It turned out great, I wore it at the con on Saturday and I got lots of nice compliments on it.


I made a pass through the dealers' room, which was pretty much the same as usual - funny t-shirts, corsets, comic books.

Then it was off to another SG megapanel, this time with everyone from the previous panel except Avari and Baccarin, and the addition of David Nykl (Zelenka). During the Q&A, an audience-member commented on the apparent number of single people in Atlantis and asked if the actors had any pairings they might like to see. Torri Higginson won me over when she cracked that the closets in Atlantis see a lot of action, and that McKay and Sheppard are hot for each other (I can't remember exactly how she phrased it, but I'm sure there's a clip of it on YouTube by now). *sigh* Now if only the people who make the show would catch up with the rest of us.

After some wandering and food, I hunkered down for still more Stargate, this time a Rocky Horror-style viewing of SG-1's "Window of Opportunity." Man, was that a good time! There was much calling out lines along with the characters, juggling, waving about of toy pistols, and file folders flying into the air. And, really, there's nothing quite like a room full of geeks all gleefully shouting, "In the middle of my backswing?!" Very, very good time.

I finally did something non-SG later Saturday evening, when I caught a Eureka panel. I've mentioned him in regards to DragonCons past, but I just have to reiterate how much I like Kevin Grazier, who is the science adviser for Eureka and Battlestar Galactica. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's my new science crush. So, there were questions and discussion and no spoilers for the new season. All around, quite entertaining.

Day three started early, with me actually awake and at a 10a panel with Cliff Simon. I could listen to him talk for hours. An interesting thing he shared is that he works with a dog rescue group in LA, which was a nice thing to learn. I have pretty strong feelings about how we treat the creatures we share our homes and our lives with, and it always encourages me when that's an issue that's important to people who have the ears of others because of their celebrity status. He also spoke quite a bit about growing up in South Africa, why he left there, and how very much he appreciates living in the US.


Then came more aimless wandering, followed by a Battlestar Galactica panel with Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek), Michael Hogan (Tigh), James Callis (Baltar), Aaron Douglas (Tyrol) and Colin Corrigan (who plays a background character I'm just not familiar with). They were all delightful to listen to, but I have a serious weakness for Saul Tigh, so getting to see Michael Hogan was a hardcore squee moment for me.

[Michael Hogan, James Callis & Aaron Douglas]

I followed that up with another pass through the dealers' room, this time successfully finding a t-shirt for my significantly awesome other. I didn't find anything for me, but I'm not especially acquisitive, so that's okay.

Sunday continued with a little video interlude in the Stargate track room, featuring clips from shows and movies Stargate actors have been in. Some of them have done some... interesting work.

I wrapped up Sunday night at a three-hour long panel on Stargate slash that I enjoyed tremendously. It involved good discussion on slash writing in particular, with many concepts that could just as readily be applied to fanfic in general, all in a very excellent atmosphere. I also got to put some faces to names I had seen on the internet, which is always a nice thing.

Then came Monday, the last day of the con, and yet still more Stargate. This time it was a megapanel comprised of Francks, Bridges, Simon, Jewel Staite (Keller), Baccarin, Nykl, and Avari, and it was a wonderful way to wrap up the weekend.


I finally packed it in with a quick perusal of the art show, then a final run through the dealers' room to get a couple things.

Of course, everywhere, any time day or night, the peoplewatching was fantastic. Again and again, I was bowled over by costumes that were stunningly original or excellent reproductions of movie, TV & comics characters. I was also just tickled by how incredibly friendly geeks can be. As much as I stood in line (and there were a lot of lines!), I rarely had to entertain myself and I had some great conversations with people.

Since the funny t-shirts are a highlight of the con for me, I'll share a few stats....
The funniest t-shirt I saw all weekend: Tell your mom sorry about last night
A close second: I wish my lawn was emo so it would cut itself
The t-shirt I picked up for my significantly awesome other: Got this shirt for my girlfirend (awesome trade)
The t-shirt I ended up getting for myself: Real tears excite me
(No, I wouldn't say that fits my usual style, but it sure made me laugh when I saw it.)

Finally, my friends collected me from the hotel Monday afternoon and I spent that night & yesterday morning with them, then headed back north yesterday afternoon, to be greeted by a happy partner, an absolutely ecstatic dog, and three cats who variously yelled at me, acknowledged me like I'd never left, and seriously snubbed me for a few hours. It's good to be home :)

My photos are up on my Flickr site, divided into Costumes, Parade and Guests.

Another DragonCon come and gone, and another year to wait and prepare.