We have arrived in Duluth a few days before a big air show, and the Blue Angels are practicing all around our hotel. It would be terrible if we were trying to sleep, but right now the frequent “whooooshes” are entertaining.
Unfortunately, I only brought my macro lens kit with me, none of my long lenses, so this was the best I could do, even when they were doing low altitude flyovers of the hotel parking lot.
Mary and I are going to spend a few lazy days near a big lake, and we’re also going to hang out for a bit with Iris. She’s been offline for a year and a half, for a good reason. Anyone have any questions, best wishes, etc., that they’d like to pass along?
I might also do a little spider hunting. A Great Lake must have Great Spiders, right?
It’s this puking, pooping toy.
what the actual fuck is going on anymore pic.twitter.com/9EtlWJHwgd
— 🌊 vestron tez 🏳️🌈 (@_BMW_750LI) July 13, 2019
Ugh. Revolting. What kind of twisted, foolish person would want one of those?
Oh, yeah…we have a cat.
I’m supposed to appear on this show, titled “What’s peeving PZ”, on Sunday at 3.
I’m not sure what to say. When am I ever peevish? I am a pillar of placidity, calm and imperturbable. I am like the Buddha. I can’t think of a single thing that has irritated me, ever.
Summer, and my sabbatical, are slipping away at a terrifying pace.
The thing is, the teachers are probably more terrified of the end of summer than the students, so this cartoon is a bit off from my perspective.
I am OFFENDED. There’s this collection of pulp magazine covers featuring cephalopods, and they’re terrible.
Look at this one: I have a thousand questions. Why are they exploring an alien planet in skimpy clothes? Why is the man wearing a space helmet, but the woman apparently doesn’t need one? Why does the cephalopod have its mouth in the wrong place, and why does it have teeth?
Nice headlights, octopus-man. Also, why is his human face a couple of stories tall? Does the artist know nothing of perspective?
This is the worst one of them all. It’s asymmetric, with some arms on the left improbably long, while the ones on the right looking different. It’s got this hunchbacked, bug-like look with appendages coming off the mantle. This was drawn by a person who apparently never saw a cephalopod.
I swear, I’m going to stop this time-machine and turn it back 70 years just so I can slap a couple of bad artists.
OK, here’s a cosplay gallery from last weekend.
I recognized a few of the costumes, but that wasn’t what I was into. You know, there’s a heck of a lot going on during a con like this. There was the costume pageantry, the mainstage stuff. I wasn’t into that. There were the musical performances; not my thing. There was board gaming. No, pass. There was video gaming. Completely missed it. There were SF & horror movies playing nonstop. Tempted, but I didn’t feel like sitting down for a few hours. There were anime sessions, which again, I am not into. There were interactive kid demos. Nah, I’m too old. I missed 90% of the con.
I did get into a whole lot of panel discussions, though. That alone kept me busy for four days.
It’s a diverse bunch there — you might find something to entertain you there next year.
At first, it was cute. Her parents are big ol’ nerds whose idea of fun involves sitting in front of a keyboard (I have no idea where my daughter got this habit), so they got grandbaby Iliana a keyboard of her own. She looks so happy being just like Mommy and Daddy.
But there’s been an alarming progression. Now Iliana has gone all cyberpunky, bathing in the glow of the LEDs and gazing raptly into the digital future. I guess I’m going to have to get her some mirrorshades for Christmas, and before you know it, she’s going to be demanding cybernetic augmentation, an Ono-Sendai deck, and shiny new eyes from Nikon.
She’s a lucky girl…I mean, transhuman.
Convergence is over, we made the long drive home, I am now ready to flop down and pass out…except I’ve got to get organized for field work tomorrow.
Well, how I plan to spend my day. I might get carried away on a whim or stumble across something unexpected.
11:00am-12:00pm @ Hyatt 2 Greenway HI Weird Biology
12:30pm-1:30pm @ Hyatt 4 Great Lakes A2 N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy
3:30pm-4:30pm @ Hyatt 2 Greenway HI Books to Read Right Now
5:00pm-6:00pm Magic Schoolbus Party Room (5123) spider salon
7:00pm-8:00pm @ Hyatt 4 Great Lakes A3 AMC’s The Terror
8:30pm-9:30pm @ Hyatt 2 Greenway CDE Paranormal Minnesota
9:00pm-9:45pm @ Hyatt 1 Nicollet Ballroom Pounded in the Tingle
11:30pm-12:30am @ Hyatt 2 Greenway B ASMR
I’m presenting at the ones in bold. I’m bringing Common House Spiders to the Salon, I plan on that being more of an interactive demo.
I have the least confidence about making it to the ASMR panel. I’m curious, but it’s late and I might fall asleep. Actually, if I popped in I wonder if I’d find the entire audience asleep.
