Happh Birthday to my good friend cyberthorn. DJ, Raconteur, Secret Technomage and one of the two deadliest men I know, if we ever shift to laserguns. It is an honor to know you, sahr.

Howdy Deep Thinkers

When I heard last night the Michael Vick, the Dogfighting QB was signed to the Eagles, the only thing I could think of is my Musical Co-Conspirator Michael Victor.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/52497072.html
Yes, this kind, sweet guy, in a fugue state from alcohol and anti-depressants, completely lost it; stripped like a 5 year old in the torrential downpour, then, checking the doors of the across the street apartment building like the janitor he is, found one open and went rummaging (probably)for dry clothes. And if that wasn't enough, he messed with some persons laptop, and crossed the street back to invade the house of his jerky neighbors.
Any one of these behaviors are so out of character for him that it beggars the imagination, combined, they give the most contrary-to-his-personality impression possible. so he sits in Prison, sedated in the Infirmary, unable to make bail, job disappearing, soon to lose his house and much therein. Absolutely Heartbreaking.

And Michael Vick, fresh out of Prison, for a crime so heinous that challenges the imagination as well, is soon to resume his career in the NFL in this crazy city. His acts could not be attributed to any mediating agency. He fought and killed dogs for pleasure and money. He stopped when he was caught, as Mike Victor confessed only after being mortified to have seen video of his actions, as well as realizing that he had abandoned his work keyring.

What is the quality of mercy here? What of forgivness, and re habilitation. Do you forgive a man for willful evil acts because the law says so? Do you jail a man for allowing his sadness to push him to alter his mental state as to be unrecognizable to his friends and himself??

All I do know is that I stand by my friends, mostly because they are good people. And I allow people to have second chances, as I wish they would allow me the same courtesy. Past that, It's all too complex and sad.

But you should never give in to that sadness.

Dang.

Time to find the How High The Moon video...

Happy Birthday to a good Worldcon friend of mine, the very cool danjite, A connoisseur of vintage cars and guitars, cool music and antipodal living. I'm looking forward to seeing you in the Great Down Under next Worldcon. Enjoy your day!

Howdy Rock-followers

Back from Worldcon, which turned out to be nothing but heavy lifting. The convention center, the Palais des Congress was 4 blocks from the hotel. The center itself was 2 blocks long, with panels being held in the top rear of the building. Always a hike.

Really didn't get to attend many panels, although the one that Stephen Segal invited me to turned into a big hit. Michael Jackson's Thriller video and the effect on current pop culture. Turned into the " I Miss Michael Jackson" panel. And later that night Steve and John Scalzi won Hugo's. As well as Philcon 2009 Artist GOH Frank Wu!

Our party on Thursday night was well attended but couldn't compete with the Chicken and Beef Fajitas (sp?) from Reno in 2011 (the won, running unopposed)or the Actual Bar at the Tor party. It was good for dispelling misconceptions about the location change and we may have convinced a few people to come back.

Now to catch up on too many emails.

Howdy Comedy Fans.

Monday I was up in New York City with a subset of the International Traveling Group (Toni, Linda and Linda's hubby Dave) to attend a taping of the Daily Show. Linda had gotten tickets for the show for Toni's birthday.
Upon arriving and getting in line, we discovered, to our surprise, that the audience participation part of TDS is run like airport security. But Nicer. We were in the general ticket line, there was a VIP and Standby line as well. All work is done by interns and the interns vary in quality from stern (When asked by a standby liner if he had a chance, this intern told them a curt "No") to Awfully darn nice (this intern was ensuring that the line standers were hydrated by passing out free bottles of water). Miss Stern came out frequently to read the rules (no camera's, turn off your phone or get it confiscated...) while glaring at us. Eventually we made it thru the metal detector and inside, surviving two torrential downpours.
The set itself is the size of a regular theater stage with 2 sets of bleachers facing it. Paul Mercurio comes out to warm up the crowd and introduces Jon who talks to the audience for a while. He is funny, very quick and nice as heck, being generous enough to play along with an audience member who brought a script of Jon's NewsRadio appearance as Andy Dick's brother. Then they start the show.
The show is seemingly done in realtime, the commercial breaks being one song long (first break, "Born to run", second "Pink's "So What (i'm a rockstar) third a Weezer song) so I was suprised to see that. Jason Jones made an appearance during the break after his segment.
Bill Kristol of "The National Standard" was the guest. What a surreal worldview the guy has. the interview was long and very good, I recommend seeing it on the site.
And Just like that it was over. Jon comes out to thank everyone for a good show and the studio evacuates.

It was a good experience, fairly seamless. If you have the ability to take an afternoon off and a trip to NYC is no big thing, I highly recommend that getting tickets and seeing a taping.

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your amphetamines…
(to be lj cut later. Sorry)
In quick order.

Had a cold for about a couple of weeks. It started to go away, but then the Polar Bear Plunge came along and a week later I was fully involved again. As much as I hate the very concept, the Flu shot will be taken next year. And yes, I know they suck at predicting which flu will be “the” flu the shot will combat; I’m getting it anyway.

The Polar Bear Plunge was another mad occasion. I convinced my friend Miss Sara to come along and witness the madness. The night before, we went looking for dance club action in Atlantic City and saw the Harrah’s Hotel doing its imitation of a video screen. I’m a huge sucker for animated lights so over we go. Turns out that the club is called The Pool, it _is_ a pool (huge, kidney shaped and surrounded by smaller pools and club-style cabanas) and uses the animated side of the hotel as “club lights”. Outstanding!

The day of the Plunge is pure chaos, we run into various friends from work and make our way to the bar. T minus 10 and we go back to main tent to find it empty, someone jumped the gun and everyone left early. Making our way through the crush of onlookers, we hook up with two girls dressed like Beer Garden waitresses (St. Pauli Girl). At the shore, we alternate going in and taking pictures. It is Glacially Cold and wonderful, at the end, Sara and one of the Girls go in for the legendary “Double Plunge”. As I stand in the water, my legs actually try to seize up on me. “So this is how shock works” I realize.
Back to the bar for drinks and we head to the hotel (in Mamora NJ) to shower, change and nap, planning to go back for the evening festivities… and sleep till the next morning. That was hilarious., evidently the energy requirement for dipping yourself in the cool, cool waters is astronomical. Next time, a huge breakfast first!

Jeff Mach’s Wicked Faire was an interesting experience. A lot of my Philcon friends go to it and we decided to hold a Promotional Event on Saturday night. The faire itself is an clash of cultures adult flavored event with a little something for everyone over 18. lots of steampunkery, gothism and delights for both eye and ear. The hotel always freaks out about the display of free living and as a result killed most Friday parties, Saturday, the word party was verboten and Promotional Event was used. I dj/vj and we ran with a mostly full room till about 3:40 am. It was good, We made a lot of new friends and Proved that Philcon is not dead, or even merely stunned.

Finally, Philcon 2009 is on track, we have secured L. A. Banks as our Special Guest and I’m very happy about that. I asked her at a local event while I was fully in the grip of a cold. So things are progressing at a nice pace. First committee meeting is this month and we are a go!

... as soon as I can manage time a little better.
Reports Coming on:
the (uncommon) cold
Polar Bear Plunge
Wicked Faire
Philcon 2009
and the usual "whatcha been dooin'? " info.
We thank you for your kind forbearance.

Howdy

Yes, it's that time again where I throw myself into the freezing cold ocean to prove a certain amount of unkillability. The Polar Bear Plunge is a Mardi Gras-like event in Sea Isle City on Feb. 14. I went two years ago and had a blast, but didn't stay for the festivities. This year I have a hotel room and will be eyewitness to the shennanigans after the big event. Expect a full report, or Join me if you dare!

http://www.lacosta-seaisle.com/product_info.php?products_id=28

2 years ago...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockrobertson/sets/72157594549364782/

Howdy

This is a special shout out to people I know, both well and barely.

Happy Birthday to itsallmishegoss, my guide to things science-fictional organizations in nature, and all around Homegirl. Long May You Wave!

Happy Birthday to friend-of-so-many-of-my-friends popfiend, who I have seen many times and met once. Have a rockin' day, sir.

And I might add, What's up with all the fight videos that YouTube is gluing to my videos???

Howdy Somnambulists

I have been wanting/trying to have a lucid dream for about 10 years now with limited result. A Lucid dream is a dream where you realize you are dreaming and try to direct the content of the dream. Usually, it is something inside the dream that brings you to the realization that you are dreaming, such as a talking dog. I think it's called dreamsign, a good lucid dreamer will use it to get to the lucid state.

Usually I just wake up, or go into dream paralysis, a completely useless state where you regain consciousness, but retain the paralyzed state that your body goes to during sleep for protection. (Sleepwalking is what happens when that failsafe doesn't work) You lie there, locked in your body, panicing, until you drift back into proper sleep. Useless.

This time, I was walking down a suburban street, when a noise above me makes me look up. I see the Starship Enterprise (NCC-1701D, if you need to know) Zip away, ala, the opening of the show, into the bright blue sky.

"Cool", I think to myself, and continue to walk.
Again, a noise causes me to look up. Now, a much bigger ship covers about half of the sky. "Hmmm," I think, "That's a bit much", wondering how safe a ship that big hovering over tract houses is when it hits me: there are no such thing as starships (yet)! I'M DREAMING!

...and I don't wake up!

I'm standing there, dream moving around me, pondering what just happened. I've finally here. What do I really want to do?

I want to Fly. I jump into the air... and keep going.

I'm FLYING with a big smile on my face. Suburbia scrolls by below me, houses, people, cars, pets, it's all I ever expected.

I suddenly decide faster is better, so I wanna fly faster. Big Mistake. It all falls apart, the scene changes, back into regular sleep I fall. Ah well

BUT IT WAS GLORIOUS!!!

Howdy

Woke up this morning and made a backup of my dreams to play later during the day on the Isymb. The toilet said that I should eat more protien and drink more water. Well, yeah. And no, I don't let it (or anything else) talk. A paper report of my sins are fine, i don't especially need to hear it. The jacket was thick and warm on the peg so I guess it's cold outside.

It's cold, but I took the catiglide to work. Most people take the car or pack, but I always like to fly in cold weather, nice thick air. As I waited for a launch slot, I experienced the news. Had to turn the jacket down some inside the cockpit, it's an old jacket and not location aware.

Sky was pretty clear as I expected, just a few packs hugging the streets and the occasional glider off in the distance. As I dropped to the plant, AirTraCon projected a near zero wait or the evening commute, GroTraCon, not so lucky. I could see why on my descent, all those nice warm cars moving like a clockwork ballet under GroTraCon control.

Jacking in at work, Got a call from another Methu. Looks like he stopped around 40, his eyes said somewhere around 90 or so. You really can't disguise experience in the eyes, no matter what other age signs you mask. Wanted to know about the high power transmission we're woking on, the waveguide stuff feeding the antennas. nice guy. I suggested Tele-p but he just stuck with the phone. Some of the other Methu go for that "appropriate tech" trend, but I'm not so catholic. So we had a nice "Chat".

It's mom's' birthday, so us kids are going to Tele-P her for lunch. Jean found a 30's Miami enviro so we'll meet and take Mom there. Simulated Cubans (the sandwich) and sunny sidewalks will lift her spirits. Who knows, maybe Dad wil jack in to join us. He got the his jack to hang with mom in the Verts, but he'd rather be in the back yard, gardening.

More Later

Howdy

I've been back from Arisia for a while and life has kept moving!
My thanks to Jill Eastlake and the Arisia Crew that generously gave me a backstage view of running the con. I ended up doing and impromptu VJ set at the Sat. Night Techno Dance. Lots of learning and lots of fun. Drove back in a classic Snowstorm and got 37 mpg (due to having to drive at about 45 mph for long stretches of CT) Also big thanks to radiofreerlyeh and the whole T3&JL crew for hosting me and itsallmishegoss for tech support.

This past weekend was a family meeting about medical issues, featuring my youngest brother's family, newly returned from an overseas posting. He completes the trifecta of all of us boys living overseas for a few years. His kids are _so_ tall and those Robertson genes are in full evidence. It was the usual Loud Fun Time, punctuated with a speakerphone call to my parents. They loved to hear the racket we were making.

Before I left, I secured Frank Wu for artist Guest of Honor for Philcon 2009. He is crazy fun and a good fit for the Philcon Experience that we want you to have.

So, Happy Year of the Ox. I hope the Chinese New Year brings more goodness than the western new year did. Hope Springs Eternal!

Howdy Sci-Fi fans
(sci-fi, pronnounced "Skiffy". Generally deragatory, use "Science Fiction" or "SF"

I'm at Arisia, had breakfast with the chair, went to a division head meeting and am being schooled in _so_ many other ways. I am one tired humano.

It's all for the good, I'm learning on how to throw a Conference that people of all ages and Fan types will come to. I'm thankful for the oppertunity to learn, everyone has been so nice.

In conclusion, If you are here, say hi if you see me. I'll be everywhere.

Sorry to vent like this, our regular service will resume in a moment.

Evidently, as I was composing the last post, the mother of a friend of mine _just_ collapsed and died.

She had just lost her father six months ago.

The lesson is clear: Hold tight to the ones you love, for they could be literally be gone in a moment.






Comments turned off. sorry.

Howdy.

Wait till at least Feb.

Getting well and tired of this. Lost another co-worker, again someone that I know.

If you see Death or The Angel thereof, tell them I've been watching "The Grimm adventures of Billy and Mandy" and I am about to go all Mandy on them.

(The Grimm Adventures are a cartoon about two kids, one of which (Mandy) outwits Death (Grimm) and turn him into their manservant. Mandy is so bad-ass that the one time in the series she smiled, it destroyed reality.)

Howdy

News from China of a man who fell backward into a Panda enclosure while playing catch with his son using a tiny stuffed panda as a ball. When the panda noticed him, it went over for a taste...

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/01/12/vause.china.panda.attack.cnn

Earlier in the year, a Panda shelled a un-observant visitor like an oyster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy7xCXF-Bp4

Our lesson today: a bear is a Bear, no matter how cute. Have you seen the claws on a Koala???