Friday, February 29, 2008

The Call's Coming from Inside the House!!!


So critics are calling Hillary Clinton's new ad, which warns about Obama's inexperience in a crisis, her "Daisy ad," referring to the famous LBJ ad in which he implied that Goldwater would cause a nuclear war. Personally, I don't think the Daisy ad was out of bounds, and I see nothing wrong with Clinton's ad. Both tell people to look at the consequences of the choice they will make.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Richard Hatch at Wondercon 2008


I remember seeing Richard Hatch at a small science fiction convention in New York City seven or eight years ago. He was there talking Galactica and signing autographs; I mainly remember that as I was leaving the restroom, he was rushing in to one of the stalls to change clothes for his presentation.

So, it was nice to see him with a table at San Francisco's Wondercon February 22. He was right next to his fellow original Battlestar Galactica alum, Herb Jefferson Jr. (who played Boomer to Hatch's Apollo). I apologize for not having a photo of Jefferson; it turned out blurry (new camera).

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Overheard at Wondercon 2008


The Wondercon comics convention came to San Francisco this weekend. Loooong lines and about 3 million vendors made the exhibit floor a very busy and slightly uncomfortable place.

But there was much to see. In this photo, you see a friendly storm trooper giving directions to people waiting in line. (Interestingly, when I showed up, the line for people who had pre-registered was at least twice as long as the line for people who were registering on-site.) I have other photos and an odd video I'll be posting, as soon as I figure out what's wrong with my troublesome new camera.

On the exhibit floor, I passed the booth of someone (an artist? a comics publisher or editor?) who was talking to two college-age men, presumably comics artist-wannabees. The artist/publisher/editor/whatever was holding up their business card and noting all the things their card had that a business card should have -- name, phone, address, e-mail. But, he said, "Your art on the card stinks." Brutal. I grimaced for the two young men and moved on, but later they passed me, and I overheard one of them saying to the other with apparent pride, "I just got a critique from _______ _______!"

I hope the other things the professional had to say were more helpful (and more professional) than telling him his artwork stinks.