(You knew that would be the second title, didn’t you?)

Chapter 2, where I am empaneled and have lunch.

After I wrote part I of this saga, I waited around outside the room for my panel talk, waiting to see if anyone would show up early. No one did, so I did a quick tour of the lobby, and was greeted with the sight of several hundred people in costume eating breakfast, talking, and generally enjoying themselves. Auspicious!

My panel started right on time. We were ostensibly to discuss how things get named incorrectly in science fiction (Centaurus is a constellation, a large area of the sky, so being called a Centauran makes no sense). We skipped over lots of topics, like what’s a planet, what’s a brown dwarf, what do you call an alien– do you use their language, or yours? What about their planet? What if we someday colonize a planet orbiting HD209458… what then?

It was fun, though a bit of a free-for-all. Afterwards, I went to a panel about what happens if we really do find aliens, which was pretty good. My old friend Seth Shostak was there (astronomer, skeptic, alien-hunter, and host of "Are We Alone", a radio show I have a monthly segment on). I have never heard him in this kind of situation, and he is well-spoken and thoughtful, as well as funny (though his puns are awful, which I already knew). Seth and I had lunch together, and we talked about writing, conventions, and we might have mentioned all the low-cut and high-rise costumes we saw wandering about. That too was fun!

I have a little while here before the panel about podcasting (Seth is on that too) so I’m going to wander the dealer room and see if I want to buy a BatLeth or a book or something. I wish I had my camera!

Chapter 1, in which I arrive at BayCon.

So I got up at freakin’ 5:45 this morning after a night of tempestuous sleep. Shower- check. Shave- hmm, nope, Mrs. Bad Astronomer is still asleep. Bigger suitcase than the one I packed last night so I can fit all the crap I’m bringing to the convention- check. Leave in a hurry because I’m running low on time because our puppy puked on the carpet in the middle of the night, and I didn’t want Mrs. BA to wake up to that- check.

So I get on the road, tank up on gas ($3.19 a gallon!), and start driving. I love California driving on the weekends, because there’s no traffic, but I hate California driving on the weekends, because no one is in a hurry, and people who drive 10 mph under the limit just love love love the left hand driving lane.

Nonetheless, I get to San Jose at 8:30, an hour and a half early. Yikes! The hotel won’t let me register until 3, so I have no place to change, to shave, to iron my shirts. Nuts. So I sit in the car to change out of my driving t-shirt and into a nice button-down shirt, and realize I left my belt at home. OK then, I guess I’ll be wearing t-shirts this weekend. And hey– where’s my camera? Probably with my belt. Damnation!

So here I sit in a hallway with a wireless connection, waiting another 35 minutes for my first panel (Where in Centaurus do Centauris Come From?) with no belt, no camera, and no one I know. I’m hoping some big famous author will walk by and start chatting, but so far it’s mostly too-wide-awake fans with a bounce in their step and smiles on their faces. I had forgotten how happy people are at science fictions cons. I’m tired and grumpy from the drive and wishing I had a bed to nap in, but I’m thinking this is gonna be fun.

‘It’s Friday, and I’m heading off to a scifi con, and desperately trying to avoid work, so I’m gonna post about some silly news today.

1) Some cops in the UK raided a guy’s house, and found…a BatLeth. Yes, the Klingon weapon that is actually cool and a bit frightening. It was real, with a metal blade and everything. KePLAH.

2) You may have heard of the NunBun, a muffin with the likeness of Mother Teresa in it? It’s yet another example of dumb religious pareidolia. Anyway, it was on display at a coffeeshop (bizarrely, owned by a Jewish guy) when it was stolen. Well, the perp evidently sent the owner a picture of the purloined pastry in a letter. The only thing in the letter besides the picture were the words– and I love this– "Guess where?". There is a $5000 reward for the bun, et or alive.

3) The face of an alien has been seen in a duck’s X-ray. Yeah, more pareidolia, but I think the most interesting aspect of this is that someone took an X-ray of a duck’s gizzard.

Must be a slow news day.’

Now that the world is still here, I have some fun things to attend to. This weekend, I will be at the BayCon science fiction convention, generally talking astronomy, debunking bad guys, and shilling my book. Authors Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle will be there, which is cool, though I don’t have any official events with them (yet somehow I will manage to spend some quality time in the guest lounge at some point, I imagine). Actually, while rooting through my closet a few minutes ago, totally by coincidence I found my old old copy of the role playing game "Ringworld" based on a classic series of books by Niven. I’m bringing that with me to get signed.

So, there’s lots to do. Here’s a list of my official stuff:

• Saturday, 10:00 a.m.
  Panel: "Just Where in Centaurus Does a Centauri Come From?"
  G David Nordley (M), Cris Fitch, Phil Plait, Jim Terman

  Use and misuse of astronomical nomenclature in science fiction. There are real places out there, with real names–sometimes several real names. Nomenclature has evolved in the past and may keep evolving, but some names are taken. Phenomena have names too, and, well, there are subtleties and borderline objects that are just weird.

• Saturday, 4:00 PM
  Panel: "Podcasts: The Next Generation"
  Laura Majerus (M), Margaret Bonham, Hugh Daniel, Phil Plait, Scott Sigler, Seth Shostak, Martin Young

  Radio to TV to Cable to Internet to Podcasts? Will Podcasts rule? Where will we go from here? It’s a new way of getting published and getting even closer to your audience, and there’s some wonderful stuff out there.

• Sunday, 2:30 PM
  Kaffee Klatsch: Phil Plait

  I’m guessing here I will drink coffee and debunk things that need caffeinated debunkings.

I’m planning on having fun. I’ll have internet access, so if I can I’ll do some live blogging while I’m there.

‘

Well, today is the day, once again, that the world won’t end. I’m shocked, shocked, that the comet fragment predicted to hit in the Atlantic causing a seismic event and an ensuing tidal wave hasn’t materialized.

Of course, the day’s not over yet. But I’m pretty sure how this will turn out.

Anyway, the purveyor of doomsday this go-round, Eric Julien, will no doubt mostly disappear into the noise until some new event comes along that he, or someone else, can scare people about. The one lingering question will be, was he honest, or was he a conman? It’s hard to see how he could make any money off this, so I’m guessing he is an honest man. Wrong, and seriously scientifically deluded.

Still, I can’t help thinking he blew it in another way, too. Given that he had a vision that the Earth would be destroyed on May 25, 2006, he shouldn’t have gone with a comet to destroy the Earth. He should have gone with the Vogons! After all, today is Towel Day.

Don’t Panic image from grnluvbug. Towel tip to sanguinity, a commentor on the Pharyngula blog for the heads-up — literally — on this one. And as an aside, that comet in the cartoon above… to me, it looks like John Kerry. It’s actually from a newspaper back in 1910 when Comet Halley passed the Earth.‘

Here’s why I love the way Rebecca Watson writes:

Then one day I read an actual description of what homeopathy is. Imagine a neighbor you’ve known for a few years. He’s quiet and always says hello when you see him in the yard. Then one day the cops knock on your door and start asking you questions: have you ever seen him in possession of large amounts of hamsters? Do you hear strange “squeaking” sounds coming from his basement at night? Has he ever asked to borrow your wood chipper? You are shocked to discover that your quiet neighbor, who you never really gave a second thought, is bat-sh** insane. Your neighbor is homeopathy.

See? I would have said something pithy like, "Homeopathy is crap". I guess I don’t have that Skepchick touch to my writing skills.

‘

That image is a five-minute exposure of the Shuttle Endeavour launching from Florida in November 2000. I could go on about the mission and what it accomplished, but really, it’s just a very cool picture.

For the full-res version go to airliners.net.

Hat tip to LOLWOW.com.’