Tom Smith

Turns out that humans are genetically inclined to help one another. Which certainly works for me. If our freakin' government isn't gonna do it, it's up to us.

• This weekend is the eighth Acorn Music & Verse filk in Ann Arbor, run by shadowriderhope. It's not gonna go as long as usual, I suspect, because Christine Lavin is performing a charity concert for MCREST. (She'll be joined by the Mistletones.) Even if you can't make it out there, MCREST can always use help.
• One of my own local food banks is Food Gatherers.
• National food bank finder sites include Feeding America and strength.org.
• kshandra informs us that britgeekgirl and her husband dancingshaman could really use some help. See, dancingshaman has opted not to continue chemo, and he hasn't got long left, and they need $1400 for his cremation. Her PayPal addy is johanna_mead at yahoo dot com. If you can't donate financially, there's a group for those who can give time and energy.
• On a somewhat brighter note, there's a satirical effort to pass a law in California outlawing divorce. Because Prop 8 doesn't go far enough, y'see. Check out RescueMarriage.org.

Any other good causes we should know about? Link 'em up.

Mr. President, we cannot afford this war. (Link to Daily Kos page with video and a link to a transcript.)

Newest Tom Tomorrow cartoon.

Such a deal. Thanks to everyone who's purchased so far.

I'm working on music today, in between minor chores. Call this one an open thread.

Fascinating, fun blog at the NY Times. Check out the latest installment, "Back to the Land".

AmericaBlog turns us on to one of the stupidest arguments against health care reform yet:

... Let's just not pretend, as some healthcare reformers would have us do, that we can easily get more equality without paying the price in efficiency.

Put simply, the healthcare reform bill would make the United States more like western Europe. That may mean more security about healthcare, but it also means that future generations of Americans will likely spend more time enjoying leisure.

Because goodness knows efficiency is so very much more important than the health of your workers and their being able to enjoy some leisure time. I mean, it was right there in the Declaration of Independence -- "illness, wage-slavery, and the pursuit of efficiency".

Do any of these people ever look at anything in a way that doesn't involve bottom-line, short-term monetary profit?

Welcome home, crew.

Until sometime Sunday night or Monday morning, whenever I put the old pages back.

I am making fresh bread to take to my sister and her family.

What are you cooking? Anything? Everything? Nothing? Domino Pizza?

Read this. It'll break your heart. And then sign the petition.

ETA: Stupid fingers, can't type. Link fixed.

I assume some folks are going to start heading for their Thanksgiving destinations today or tonight. I wish all of you safe travels, a wonderful and satisfying holiday meal, and some time to reflect on the really good stuff that we do all have going for us.

• I am thankful for each and every one of you. You keep me sane, keep me honest, keep me going.
• I am thankful for Anne, for a gazillion reasons, not the least of which is making sure I saw Avatar: The Last Airbender, Hikaru No Go, and the Stratford production of Caesar and Cleopatra.
• I am thankful for Leslie, for darn near as many reasons, not the least of which is letting me live despite not having watched a minute of Top Chef this season.
• I am thankful for my Mom and Dad and their spouses and extended families, for my sister and brother-in-law and their adorable kids, and for my brother and his family.
• I am thankful for The Lemurs -- Tom & Karen & Miranda, Mark & Sharon, Matt & Pamela, Gail & Jamie, and the newest members Josh and Sarah & Tim & Alexander.
• I am thankful for the filk community, my other extended family. Hugs to all of you.
• I am thankful for PG Music, Sonic Foundry/Sony, and innumerable other software makers for providing the tools I use to rock my, and hopefully your, house.
• I am thankful for Popcap, Bethesda, Bioware, Id, Digital Extremes, RiffTrax, and Everett Kaser for stealing so much of my time in such great ways.
• I am thankful for all the very nice people who got me to various conventions this past year, and who have invited me for next year. I've been having the time of my life.

I could go on for quite awhile here, but I think I'll let you do that. :) I'll also let you know that, Friday through Sunday, I'm having a sale at Tom Smith Online. Basically, all of the downloadable concerts -- including GAFilk 2001 and MarCon 2005 -- will be $1.99 ($2.99 for the multiple sets, LibertyCon and WindyCon). And all the rest of the download albums will be five bucks each.

So. What are you thankful for this year?

Luke FuMPed. And I heh'ped! (Love the drawing.)

New Muppetry (h/t doodykrista in muppets):

As God is my witness....

smallship1 has a new album. All instrumental. There's a preview track (just below the album cover art). Strings, flute, drums, piano, harp. Nice.

Anybody have any new music they want to promote?

ETA: Zander clued me in about the preview.

I seem to be going to a buttload of cons next year.

The links list at my LJ (and TSO, later today) has what I have so far. There are one or two I need to confirm the dates of, and a few I have to confirm my attendance at (for instance, if I don't do GenCon this year, I will get to NASFiC -- stupid GenCon, changing their dates mumble mumble).

Meantime, I'm looking at the possibilities of house concerts along the way for some of these, particularly with the Wiliamsburg, Biloxi, and Dallas loops. Anybody interested in hosting?

New Moon, new FuMP.

This is one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen.

Any whacked-out vid you need to share?

With my li'l Enterprise DVD-1701 from Target (many thanks for that heads-up, ericcoleman). I am affirmed in my earlier opinion: This is, by far, one of the most MST/riffable movies to come along in years. In a good way, because the film is also so very entertaining. So many chances and so many opportunities.

But. It's also just good.

Vulcan just got et by Nero's black hole, and Uhura asks Spock, "What do you need?" and Spock, with so many emotions boiling just under the surface, says, "I need everyone... to continue performing admirably."

For all of its many flaws, especially with the damn time travel which has only been done right once ("City on the Edge of Forever"), there is so much to love about this movie. And the Uhura/Spock relationship is amazing. And, if I may say so, eminently logical.

Any other new vid we need to know about?

Two out of three, that is.

I had a fantastic time as Filk GOH of WindyCon. And I was lucky enough to have incredible concert sets, with great audiences and a lot of energy. Two of those sets, the Friday and Saturday evening shows, are now available as Live Show downloads -- $2.99 each, or $4.99 for both. Recorded by sethb, these are each about 75 minutes of music and banter. Special guests for the first set include ericcoleman and Jason Neerenberg of Toyboat and violinist Amy McNally (sweetmusic_27).

Got anything new you'd like to pimp/promote? Link 'em up.

ETA: Amazing how four misplaced characters can screw things up. If your links weren't working, they should be now.

The concert yesterday afternoon went pretty darn well, I thought. Just before that, I caught the first half of Luke Ski's, and he was in fine form and having fun. After, I hung out in the hall for awhile, talking to many nice people (including Bob Passavoy, who I never see enough of). Then I went back up to the room for awhile.

I'd got it into my head that the Masquerade was at 9:00. Well, at 8:20 I was getting ready to go down, and I looked at the program book to see where it was, and discovered that it was at 8:00.

I was downstairs by 8:25. Got backstage literally three minutes before I had to go on. Fortunately, it was before, so I got up there smoothly and got right into it... as it was announced that the masquerade winners would be announced after 9:45.

So I'm suddenly committed to an hour and fifteen.

Noooooooo problem. Rocked the house. I've done almost four hours of concert this weekend, with only two repeats ("Two Guys Kissin'" and "Rocket Ride").

Then I went to the open filk for a bit. Bill Roper, Kiki, Matt, others. Some guy noodling very well with a banjo. A new kid, Ray I'm pretty sure his name was, wrote a song yesterday morning, and he's got a very soft voice but the song was good and his guitaring is also good. Another new person, a young girl about the same age, did a couple of songs I presume are some kind of alternative folk-rock. Nice voice, good stuff.

Today: packing up, hanging out by the dealers' room for awhile, Closing Ceremonies, home.

How's by you?

Just getting ready to go downstairs. I've had a bad headache all morning, and I just had a burger, which helps. But not as much as the ibuprofen.

The set last night was incredible. If today's 3:00 is anywhere as good, I'll blow out the walls. Eric and Jason of Toyboat did join me on stage for "PQR", and Amy McNally and I got a standing O for "Dervish", and Eric played drums again for "Rocket Ride". Gooooooood noise.

How's your weekend progressing?

Definitely some potential.

All weekend. Bunches of nice folks already seen and talked to, including Uncle Vlad, Pat Sayre-McCoy, Cassie, Steven Silver, etc., etc., etc. Spent time talking with Bill Roper, Jodi Lynn Nye, and Phil Foglio. Got hellos from Bill Fawcett and Mike & Carol Resnick (who were also at my Dragon*Con banquet set and told me how good it was, whoo hoo), met Toastmast Christian Ready and the lovely Kaja Foglio. I had the guitar to play in the Con Suite, but the conversations were too varied and enjoyable for me to feel good about interrupting them. 'Salright. I've got all weekend.

• Friday 6:00 Lilac A & C - Technobabble Quiz
• Friday 7:00 Lilac B & D - Opening Ceremonies
• Friday 9:30 Junior Ballroom A - Tom Smith Concert (Very Important! This is listed in the program book as being me and Eric Coleman's band Toyboat. It isn't. We simply didn't have time to get things together. But I very much want to do this next WindyCon, and having a full year of set-up should give us the time to get it right.)
• Saturday 3:00 Junior Ballroom A - Tom Smith Concert (a completely different set)
• Saturday 9:00 Lilac A & C - Masquerade (I'm doing halftime)

I don't think I have anything else, but ya never know. ;) Also, Amy McNally and Luke Ski have concerts, and there are a bunch of other fantastic folks running around, like Author GOH James Blaylock and Fan GOH Chris Garcia and Phyllis Eisenstein and Eric Flint and Bill Higgins and Jim C. Hines and Gene Wolfe and and and and and.

So, who's gonna be here (or is here already)?

And she's got a rock-solid argument.

Yesterday, in the Clash of the Titans thread, the new catchphrase (Moist: "Is that the new catchphrase?") from the trailer, "TITANS... WILL... CLASH", prompted devospice to respond: "AUDIENCES... WILL... SNORE...". Then redneckgaijin started riffing on it:

STARS... WILL.. WAR.

SHAWSHANKS... WILL... REDEEM.

HUDSUCKERS... WILL... PROXY.

APOLLO... WILL... 13.

GOOD... WILL... HUNTING.

This struck me as hilarious. So let's play.

• BOURNES... WILL... CONSPIRE.
• ROCKYS... WILL... BALBOA.
• CITIES... WILL... SIN.
• MEN... WILL... IRON.
• Nothing seemed to work right, but there's gotta be a double involving STARRING... WILL... SMITH. (Jayzus. IMDB says he's not only working on sequels to I, Robot and Hancock [okay, I liked Hancock] but a prequel to I Am Legend.)

Have at it. Keep it to maybe five.

ETA: Got this from Frank Hayes:

What the @#$%! is wrong with you young people? Not even a single instance of...

DANGER...WILL...ROBINSON ?!?

--cranky ol' Frank

Whatever you call the day, it's dedicated to the appreciation of those who have defended our land, our people, and our freedom.

To all of you, past, present, and future: Thank you. Thank you for giving of yourselves -- of your talents, your passion, your blood, your lives. And please do not take it as a slight when I say: Someday I hope your jobs become unnecessary.

Peace.

Ray Harryhausen's last film, Clash of the Titans, was... kinda sad, really. Cast from hell, script from there too, and SFX which looked unbelievably dated next to Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and even the original Battlestar Galactica. Harry Hamlin's first big role, as a gay lawyer who turned out to be a Greco-Roman hero. Or something. Sir Laurence Olivier, gumming the scenery. An interesting and tragic character, Caliban, utterly undermined by the obvious swap-outs of the real actor and the stop-motion figure. A flying R2D2 named after a swollen lymph gland.

My gaming buddy Peter Christian referred to it at the time as Flop of the Meatloaf, and that's stuck with me ever since. It's not that I dislike it; it's just... there.

Thus the news that it was being remade was met, on my part, with a confused shrug. I have learned, however, never to underestimate the lack of brains, taste, or originality in greenlighting Hollywood filmage. The new version is all CGI and breathtaking landscapes with lens flare and dirty armor and yelling and slo-mo (instead of "bullet time", maybe we should call it "arrow time" or "slingstone time", except that leads to "swing time", "swing parade", and "swing choir" and we're back to Harry Hamlin as a gay lawyer). Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, a lot of guys who look as if they're about to tell me This... Is... Spartaaaaaaaa.

Anyway. This mythic adventure opens March 26, 2010, and it goes a little something like this.

Thoughts?

The fan-made prequel.

( Now! Behind a cut 'cause it got too long.... )

Today is the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. Here is how cool they are: They make me like Elmo and Adam Sandler... together, even. If you want to link up to any particular favorite video clips, go for it; I'll start with "Rubber Duckie, "Bein' Green", and "Batty Bat".

The big video release today is Pixar's Up (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition + Digital Copy and 4 Disc Combo Pack with Digital Copy and DVD [Blu-ray] Anti-Planned-Obsolescence Edition). There's also Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days and, if you haven't got a version already, Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut (integrating Tales from the Black Freighter, Under the Hood, and possibly some other live-action footage). Anything else just released we need to know about?

Happy Birthday, Neil Gaiman!

My Friday concert at WindyCon was going to be TomBoat, i.e., me and Toyboat. Reasons of time and practicality deep-sixed that for this weekend, although we really, really want to do it soon (I hope CapriCon, possibly not till DucKon). So, I was gonna drag out a bunch of stuff I don't usually do. Any requests? ("Heat of the Blood" is excluded from this offer.)

Dragon Age: Origins rocks really hard. It's funny: the forums are filled with people who can't get it to load, patch, work, nothin' (I've had no problems, apart from a single crash to Desktop); they complain because it's too hard, too easy, too old-school, too innovative, they hate that it's party-based, they want multiplayer and MMO; they say that the graphics are dated, and point to the game being in development for years. But BioWare did what they wanted to -- they created a new game world, which I think looks very good, with a superb, detailed story filled with rich characters and cool plot twists and astonishing detail. It's not a loot-fest, a click-fest, a FPS with orcs, or anything besides what it is. It's tough, at least to a duffer gamer like me; I set it to Easy, and I'm still getting slaughtered in some fights, the first or second time through. But dang is it rewarding, shocking, and fun. If you're interested, I think you will like it a lot. If not, no big.

What's goin' on in your quadrant?

... this might help to put things in perspective.

It's been running around the 'Net all weekend, but here's the convenient YouTube version:

I admit it. I think she's sexy as hell. Sometimes she goes overboard on the perky, and sometimes her voice grates; she's freakin' ubiquitous in the book and magazine sections of the grocery store, and damn near it on food packages.

But.

This is just being a good human being. Even if they're getting TV footage out of it.

Today's a really good day to kick in something to your local food bank. If you don't know where it is, visit your grocery or supermarket -- they should have some information at least, if not a full-blown donation program. Or visit Feeding America. Or some other place, which I'm sure you'll mention in comments. ;)

'Cause that's really what the abortion issue comes down to.

I was kinda sick in the middle of the night. Likely reflux; I'm a lot better now, if not perfect. But it's scary.

Today is such a pretty day, though: mid-60s, sunshine, and the smell of wood from someone's grill coming through the window. Tomorrow is supposed to be just as nice; there will be barbecue. Oh yes, there will.

And Prilosec.

How's your weekend?

This may be the funniest thing you'll see all year. It's 8½ minutes long, but really worth it.

Shooting at Fort Hood, TX leaves 7 dead, at least 12 injured, and one of two shooters still at large.

ETA: Numerous updates on dKos.

ETA2: At least 9 killed, maybe 30 wounded. Live video coverage on MSNBC.

Because Matthew Shepard Can't, and I Can - THAT'S why.


(nicked from chaosdancer)

Okay, so Dragon Age: Origins is not my favorite computer RPG of all time.

But it is in the top five.

The others would be, in no particular order:

• Ultima IV
• Final Fantasy VII
• The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind
• Neverwinter Nights

NWN2 and TES: Oblivion almost make the list, but not quite. (Although I'd never played an archer-assassin-type character before TES4, and I love love love that. But I've never got the hang of melee combat.) And I have great love for Diablo II and Sacred Gold, but they're more click-fests.

What are your favorite computer RPGs? Any style, any platform.

Peachy. As if we didn't have enough to fret over, hughcasey informs us that a cat has been confirmed to have H1N1. So, you can give it to your cat; your cat can give it to you.

Maybe I'll just stay inside until May.

What's your score?

Tomorrow's forecast for Ann Arbor includes rain and snow showers.

I ain't ready.

I mean, I can handle it. Shovel's on the porch, space heaters and comforters are accessible, non-sandal shoes have been Febrezed within an inch of their lives. I'm just... not ready for it to be winter yet.

How about you?

It occurs to me that a few things have happened about which I should tell you.

( Lotsa stuff behind the cut.... )

This is simply great. Many thanks to everyone who helped out, and especially those of you who found about it from here.

Today begins National Novel Writing Month. Anyone doing anything for it?

Open till 11:59 EST tonight. Several other auctions are still open as well. This post has the details about paying a winning bid and such.

Many thanks to all involved. We did it, and more.

What are you or your kids going as?

Okay, here's a cast you never thought you'd see: Ashley Judd, Billy Crystal, Julie Andrews... and Dwayne Johnson:

I don't know if studios have realized yet The Rock's biggest asset as an actor: He can make anything look like it's gonna be a good movie, or at the very least like he's gonna be good in it. Bravest performer I've seen in awhile -- he has no fear of making himself look ridiculous.