What would the beloved geek webcomic XKCD, James Randi, and I have in common?
This, from today’s strip:
Mike Stackpole will be a guest at Randi’s meeting TAM 5.5, being held January 25-27 in Fort Lauderdale! I’m the Master of Ceremonies.
And thus the circle of geek is complete.
If you went to BadAstronomy.com and found yourself here, never fear: the BA Blog has moved to its new home at Discover Blogs. The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking and all that) is still online, too.
Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
Contact me: The Bad Astronomer "at" gmail "dot" com
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January 7th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Don’t forget Ron Paul…
January 7th, 2008 at 9:59 am
That webcomic is excellent! I use a lot of the guy’s strips in my Physics class.
January 7th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Rattling somewhere around my bookshelves, I’ve still got an autographed hardcover set of the first Timothy Zahn trilogy, which were the very first of the ‘new’ Star Wars books.
Out-geek THAT, buckaroos!
(And now, having thrown down the gauntlet, I have no doubt that many of you will…)
January 7th, 2008 at 11:02 am
billsmithaz:
> Out-geek THAT, buckaroos!
Does my autographed set of “The Best of Creative Computing” (volumes 1 through 3) count?
What if I add the fact that he personally autographed them for me, and I didn’t buy them from someone else?
January 7th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Actually, it’s a pedantry of geeks.
January 7th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
I remember Stackpole when he was getting his start with BattleTech books.
January 7th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
billsmithaz:
> Out-geek THAT, buckaroos!
> (And now, having thrown down the gauntlet, I have no doubt that many of you will…)
At a local gaming convention, both Stackpole and Zahn were featured guests. I generally run a Star Wars Miniatures Battles game (the old West End Games one, not the newer Wizards of the Coast collectable mini game) and presented Zahn with a poser.
http://swmb.thedolittle.com/gallery/minis/Thrawn.jpg
http://swmb.thedolittle.com/gallery/minis/Noghri.jpg
You see he never described the skin color of the Noghri, and when West End Games/Simtac produced the metal minis for the game those of us who played the game didn’t know what skin color to use. He very wryly said, “That looks good!” and so I have always claimed I painted the “official” paint scheme for the Noghri.
January 7th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Timothy Zahn is by far My personal favorite, not that Stackpole is bad, not at all! he’s really good! but I like Zahn’s style the best.
Anyway, I would really REALLY like to be there! Just so that Phil and Mike could sign some of the books I have (yeah, I have the BA book, no chance to take a pic with it tho…)
January 7th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I’ve read some Michael A. Stackpole’s books, and I like them very much. And they always get science right, which is really good!
Some of the Star Wars battles in those books are much cooler than the others just by the fact that he applies science and tells some details that others don’t: melt metal from a ship forming countless perfect spheres in space, aerodinamycs affecting the flight of a TIE in atmosphere… Things like those.
January 7th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Don’t forget Ron Paul…
Yeah, I’m *real* worried about Paul. (rolls eyes)
“”When we become believers, it’s as if we have signed up to be part of God’s Army, to be soldiers for Christ.” — Mike Huckabee at a church in Windham, N.H yesterday (Sunday).
Further quotes from the smirking hick (as Christopher Hitchens calls him):
“”When you give yourself to Christ, some relationships have to go. It’s no longer your life; you’ve signed it over.”
He likens being Christan to being in the military: “There is suffering in the conditioning for battle. You obey the orders.”
Y’all noticed Huckabee won Iowa, right?
January 7th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
billsmithaz:
> >Out-geek THAT, buckaroos!
Ken B:
>Does my autographed set of “The Best of Creative Computing” (volumes 1 through 3) count?
I bow to the master…
January 7th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
xkcd is one of the best geek webcomics ever. At its best, it is THE best. I have everything he’s ever published. Seriously, it’s all on my hard drive: 383 images dating back to 2005.
I mean, with stuff like this going on, it has to be something special:
http://blag.xkcd.com/2007/10/01/the-meetup/
January 7th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
billsmithaz:
> >Out-geek THAT, buckaroos!
Ken B:
>Does my autographed set of “The Best of Creative Computing” (volumes 1 through 3) count?
A friend of mine easily beats both: He’s got a copy of the Magic: the Gathering card “Naked Singularity” signed by none other than Kip Thorne. Game over, man, game over.
January 7th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Talk of Mike and autographs in close proximity reminded me of:
http://www.michaelastackpole.com/?page_id=11
Mike’s autograph policy.
January 7th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
And here I thought it was your shared fear of velociraptors.
January 7th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Let us NOT forget the Great Kevin J. Anderson! I his autograph on my Hardback copy of “Dark Saber” , NOT as cool as Zahn’s , but cool none-the-less!
January 7th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
I wish my copy of Kernighan & Ritchey was signed, then I’d be -REAL- ;-D
Havin’ a good time at the AAS, Phil?
Rich
January 7th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
I am blanching at people praising Star Wars books. I read the Zahn ones. When I was in highschool. They were passable.
RE: Huckabee post above: QFT man (I I could QFT). That guy is scary bad. Take the zealotry of GWB and couple it with a guy who’s quite smart. Shivverrrrrr.
January 7th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
@Quiet_Desperation
In all fairness, those military type comments of Mike Huckabee’s are straight from the Bible, and are quite metaphorical. See, for example, 2 Timothy 2:
You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well. Share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving in the army gets entangled in everyday affairs; the soldier’s aim is to please the enlisting officer. And in the case of an athlete, no one is crowned without competing according to the rules. It is the farmer who does the work who ought to have the first share of the crops.
Would the analogy of the athlete or farmer be any less offensive?
Incidentally, it was thinking like Huckabee’s that led to the formation of the Salvation Army.
[Disclaimer: First, I'm sick today and my tone may come over far grumpier than it was intended. So please don't take this post the wrong way if that's the case. Second, I live in Australia and only have a passing interest in US politics. I do like that Barak fella, though. Ron Paul hasn't been mentioned in the mainstream media over here. Third, I'm sick and prone to waffling. So I'll stop now.]
January 7th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
— OneHotJupiter said, “Let us NOT forget the Great Kevin J. Anderson!”
Depends on which books you mean. The Dune stuff is… feh… but the Saga Of The Seven Suns is a lot of fun space opera. He works best when he’s playing with his own toys.
— cammoblammo, “First, I’m sick today and my tone may come over far grumpier than it was intended.”
No problem. I know the quotes he used are some standard issue bible thumping, but the issue is the fact that a front running presidential candidate is using them. Me no like.
— cammoblammo, “I live in Australia and only have a passing interest in US politics.”
Australia is on my short list of retirement destinations.
January 8th, 2008 at 7:19 am
Michael Stackpole is a a Hero of mine, it’s in his X-Wing books in which he created my favorite Star Wars character EVER, Erisi Dlarit.
I love her.
January 8th, 2008 at 11:57 am
That’s funny, I have said those words verbatim to a woman before… Oh to be a geek.
January 8th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
You don’t stop being obsessed, you obsession just changes…
I once boycotted shows that made fun of Harry Potter. Now I write letters to presidential candidates about supporting space exploration. It’s essentially the same.