Do The Sci-Fi Jive!

It seems like Sci-Fi has long been the realm of the Geeks: well, move over Geeks, 'cuz the Nerds are movin' in on your AstroStarTurf.* Only the Geeks have given such a bad name to the genre (here I am invoking images of skinny, pimple-headed boys lusting after purple alien mutants with big tits) that the Nerds refuse to acknowledge that they are even in the same hemisphere. This article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ** notes the rising popularity of once-marginalized "Science" Fiction--cheesy TV, movies, and books are now Television classics, Films, and Literature--then asking if this signals The End of Sci-Fi as the Geeks know it. From the new Battlestar Galactica to Serenity to Michael Cunningham's Specimen Days, Nerds are elevating the geeky discourse, transforming cardboard characters into real friends and foes, refusing to let a strange or otherworldly setting take the place of an actual story. Now, if You're like me (and I know You are, my loverly Blatherscopians!), You are wondering, "Would it be such a bad thing if it were The End?" I, for one, would never wish an End to the wonderfully awkward community of Imaginators creating new realms with their minds--it's the awkward part I would like to see made graceful. Gracefulness comes from comfort--comfort with one's self, one's mental capacities, and one's society. This requires the courage to examine one's self and current world in the hope to understand it, and possibly change it. Science ain't nothin' without Heart.

*Geeks have a vast depth of knowledge in a subject or area, usually related to the possibilities of science/mathematics/computers/military history/other inane, highly specific areas of history; this often borders on psychotic obsession. Geeks are marked by a lack of knowledge of current social convention (although many are fluent in Klingon dining habits or Arthurian jousting rules), including fashion, slang, and nominal conversational skills. Nerds are very similar to Geeks in interests, but have the general command of social skills and better hygiene. Also, due to this increased social awareness, Nerds will also champion the more artistic aspects of applied science, math, history, etc. in the form of the Arts/Lit/Poetry/Drama/Music/Dance, etc. Geeks might be among us, but Nerds ARE us.
**Does that seem like a horrible name for a paper to anyone else? As in, "the intelligence in Seattle is finished, done, kaput"?

Sock-Puppets: No Longer The Innocent Pastime of Innocent Children

...Or even those annoying Fandango commercials. Now it's the domain of assholes on the Internet who create "a fake online identity to praise, defend or create the illusion of support for one’s self, allies or company." This isn't illegal (nor should it be, unless they are spreading lies to boost stock sales or some such nonsense), it's just embarrassing--how lame and insecure do you have to be to converse with your own alias in order to stroke your Ego? Par example: according to The NY Times, John Mackey, founder of Whole Foods, "wrote as Rahodeb, 'I like Mackey’s haircut. I think he looks cute!'”

*Picture brazenly stolen from the blog/site of Pdx artist Khris Soden, whose stuff is awesome! Check it out! (I will, of course, remove artwork immediately, if asked.)

Sump'than Purty

Hey, Blatherscopians, ya know how I, like, like books? This exhibit* shows off some lovely forays into Book Making, including this book-box by Sue Allen, an artist from our very own Oregon. Ms. Allen captured 16 moments over 4 seasons in our very own Portland Japanese Gardens and committed them to these wonderful screen prints. The rest of the exhibit is full of fun thangs, like 3D books shaped like owls. Be sure to hop over for a quick peek.

*Thanks to Bookgirl for the link.

Paying for Procreation

This gets a big "Hmmm..." from me..... The money goes solely to mothers, rather than families? What about average education/income of the sponsored mothers? Children of immigrants born on German soil are NOT considered citizens, and the citizenship process is lengthy and expensive, so this appears to entice "native" (i.e. Aryan) women to reproduce. The whole thing smacks of Orwellian Baby Farming. Don't get me wrong: I am a big supporter of government subsidies for children's' health care and education, as well as tax breaks for families (whatever the family make-up may be). It just seems like Germany is trying to combat a dwindling population of natural citizens by buying the wombs of the poor and undereducated.

The Decider Decides To Forsake Children

Plant this pretty little Bush in your garden and watch it grow! No Child Left Behind, unless Said Child can't pay out $250-$600/mo privately. Yes, friends & countrymen, this man is Divinely Inspired to do What's Best For Our Country.

Bitchin' Witches Rock!

I know many of you Blatherscopians have been Harry Potter fans since The Beginning; well, The End is nigh, and signs of its Apocalypse are among us: the 5th movie just opened in theaters (very pretty, I must say), actor-embodiment Daniel Radcliffe is old enough to show his Harry Potter in public, and wizards are branching into the Magic of Music. If you think punk rock is Magical.

Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys, The Whomping Willow, and The Remus Lupins all try to cast a spell on You with songs such as "Smoochey Smoochey Pukey Pukey" and "In Which Draco Malfoy Cries Like A Baby." This is an incredible punk-lit-music-nerd movement, the like of which has not been seen since...well, Wagner, actually. I heart the nerdy adoration of literature. Especially nerdy adoration that spills out as song.

THE Must-Have Summer Reading List of the Year

...comes from The Onion, of course! Whether you are an atheist gynophobe, a devotee to nudie photojournalism, or are into historical fiction that re-visions the last generation of male mass-murders as sexy ladies, this list is For You.

Remember Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Books?

They just got a grown-up, pop-art twist*. Stenciled all over the sidewalks of San Fransisco's Mission district is a love story told in stammering snatches. You, the Reader, control the Fate of this he/she romance. "She Loves The Moon" (by art collective The Strangers) begins in two separate locations--either "She leaves her lonely apartment" or "He leaves his lonely apartment"--the characters will eventually meet, but events pull them apart; they have a chance for happiness later, but... [dum-da-dum-dum-Dum!] anything can happen in a choose-your-own-adventure.

I heart this idea! I kinda want to do this to my driveway/garden path. Probably won't, though: the Laziness always wins.

*Thanks to SiLLee for putting me in The Know!

Double Your Pleasure

That phrase really does sound dirty, doesn't it? Anyway, check out this lost marvel of the 1920s: a Steinway piano constructed with a double keyboard. (The Times link also has a brief video of it actually being played. And this link gives more info about the thang actually works.) I love this kind of crap! The Impossible is Possible when one dares to dream! Huzzah for the Human Spirit!

Hiatus Happens

O Blatherscopians, my Blatherscopians! Can you forgive a 2-week snub? Like any other Petulant Supplicant, I have excuses to offer: Illness and Heat have me assailed. Forgive my pomposity; I am in a ridiculous production of Purcell's ridiculous 17th-century opera Dido & Aeneas--the appalling libretto (of the first English opera ever) is rife with phrases such as: "and make not in a hopeless fire a hero fall." I play the hapless hero--that's right, I'm a Big Boy now! This production, despite its gorgeous voices, makes me to incredibly frustrated that I have a hard time remembering that the rest of the world is Good.

Then I go home and read about the latest antics of the Bush Administration and the waves of despair almost crush me.

Yet Beauty remains in our ravaged world--a new Caravaggio has been identified; yesterday's sunset was magnificent; my dogs are still sweet--so I think I shall keep my chin held high for another Day.

Hurrah for Wackiness!

All you Blatherscopians know how Zerd loves her some Wacky. ('Specially Theatre-folk makin' the wack.) The commedia dell'arte is alive and well...in the Land Down Under.

Speedin' Thru The Readin'

Soooo, I have a bunch of reviews to post--somehow, for every book that makes it on to the official To-Be-Read list, I seem to stumble across other X-tras that must be read Immediately. But that is another (several?) post. This post is mostly to let you, my diligent readers, know that I have not abandoned you and posts will be forthcoming. Sooooo, this is a really Lame post. But your patience will be rewarded with pearls from my pen....Oh, yes. Pearls.

And there is lots o' other crap to ketchup on! My Tacoma/Seattle trip, what a slime monster Dick Cheney is, some solid movies, magnificent games, and the music of my life (that tiny thang). Oh, and I almost choked/stabbed my larynx To Death with a grain-sized stray piece of plastic that got into my s'ghetti at dinner tonight. All that flashed in front of my eyes was $$$$$$$$ (I've spent too much on my voice to go THIS way!).

In the meantime, here's this super-cool thang you can do with old, pallid books to get new, shiny books. And some seriously silly...well, you'll see. N-joy!

For The Fun

Trippy, id'n it? Sculptor Richard Wilson somehow convinced a building owner to let him cut an egg-shaped hole in the structure and make it revolve. Wilson calls his piece "Turning the Place Over"--it doesn't get much more British than that.

Happy Summer Solstice!

In honor of Summer (the season, goofies, not Summer Glau the actress who played "River" in Joss' short-lived but brilliant TV series Firefly--obviously, you Sci-Fi heads), I want to pass on a list of Good Things (in no particular order).

1. Who doesn't love cake? Especially fancy-schmancy dancey-prancey cakes, such as People's Cakes From Every State. My favorite is #22 (Michigan). No, wait! My favorite is #13 (Illinois). No, wait! #20 (Maryland). Oooo #23 (Minnesota)! Or #27 (Nebraska). Or #30 (New Jersey). Also, #43 (Texas). And #47 (Washington). Nevada (#28) is funny--gotta love that in a cake. But #5 (California) is just plain creepy. And #14 (Indiana) looks like the roses are bleeding chocolate. Mmmmm....salvation thru salivation?

2. The quixotic struggle to remember forgotten books. This lovely blog aims to do just that. Ain't that sweet? Although, it really just makes me feel like our puny attempts at immortality are a vain show.

3. Exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!! 'Nuff said.

4. Shopping for pretties. Some of my favorite sites: Elsewheres (soooo many pretties!), Mighty Goods (which is how one finds the pretties in the first place), Kimbooktu ('cuz it fills my book-nerdy heart with glee), Nama Rococo (for all my wallpaper lusts--trust me, this is not your grampie's wallpapers), Shop SCAD Atlanta (support those starving artists!), Sparkability ('cuz children ARE our future--although spending that kind of money on playthings can generate my gag-reflex), and My Shoppee Bag (the clothes are cute, and the translations of Japanese into English are even cuter).

5. Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle. It's magical.

6. Surfin' the inter-web for blogs that make me laugh. Some of 'um are funny on their own merits (example: Jesus Christ's Cool Blog, all about his adventures with his lamb, Karen, and occasionally the Holy Ghost, Doris) and some of 'um are funny because I am a condescending bastard (example: this libertarian dude who talks about defending himself against his neighbor's nuke). Other good blogs: 50 Books (funny woman turning her wit on books and life--sample: "It's a kind of a miracle, isn't it. But, like, a shitty miracle." ); Opera Chic (hilarious scoops on the austere world of opera--h4xx0r style, omg).

7. The number "seven". It's my favorite.

8. Dawn Upshaw. She's a modern goddess. These are her two most perfect recordings: The Girl With Orange Lips and Gorecki's Third Symphony: Symphony* of Sorrowful Songs. Although, I can find no fault with her recording of Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (with which, I might humbly add, I ended my Master's Recital, for all of you whom I might not have alerted, or met, in time to come).

9. TED. (No, fellow Buffy fans, not her erstwhile robotic stepfather-to-be; g*d, you guys sure have Joss on the brain today!) As a big fan of Ideas, this organization is sewwwwww kewwwwl! I heart them. There is plenty o' great shizz on their site. Watch, watch, my monkeys! Other good spots for, ya know, thought: NPR (my heart explodes with love!), Salon, How Stuff Works (for all you inquistive minds out there), and Video Jug (which shows "how-to" videos on purty much anything you could wish). Neat-o, ya know?

10. Given how much I heart books, Powell's City of Books earns a shout-out, simply because it is...well...a frackin' City of Books. I can lose myself in there for days. I always carry a spare toothbrush, just in case.

11. Speaking of toothbrushes**....Flossing. For some reason, this nightly ritual has become supremely comforting to me. I know it's weird. I know.

Ahhh, nothin' says "solstice" like Listmania!

*I accidentally typed "Sympony" the first time around. Hee! Pony.
**The plural applies to "brush" not "tooth". The more you know.

To Prick the Conscience of a Nation

Blatherscopians! A call to pens! I believe y'all know how big my soapbox is, so after a Hard Day's manual labor, I feel too x-austed to pull it out. So I will simply link to a book and a blog About Which You Should Care. I'm tired of feeling helpless, and until I figure out something More I can do, I will write to my congressional leaders, influential business persons, and even that frack head the President. The opinions of the American public shouldn't be gathered solely in polls; "They" need to see that their constituents are flesh and bloody outraged. I can't help but believe that our country would be a significantly better place if everyone took 15 minutes a week (h-e-double hockey sticks, 15 minutes a month!) to weigh in on this grand experiment called America.