The good news is that I had a fantastic time in the Galapagos Islands, and I got back all safe and sound.

The bad news is that in one evening of being home, I killed two of my three computers.

The iMac G5 may have fried its power supply. I'll be taking it in to the shop tomorrow.

The Linux-based Eee has been far more insidious. In an effort to actually, you know, open and use removable drives and whatnot, I used the well-hidden terminal screen to break out of the proprietary locked GUI so I could use the proper Xandros GUI behind it.

Unfortunately, there was so little space left on my hard drive that now the Eee can't boot at all... the new KDE file doesn't have space to open. Thus, the Eee is now gets stuck in a loop at the boot screen.

I can get into the BIOS and change drive priorities, so I tried making a couple bootable Linux USB keys with my remaining MacBook Pro. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about Linux or bootable USB thumb drives to make the things actually bootable. (This would probably be easier if I had a second PC around, as there are products out there that will make bootable USB drives, but none run on a Mac.)

I thought of hooking up the drive to run it as a slave to my MacBook, but the Eee only has three USB ports and an Ethernet link. Without a booting OS, I can't think of a way they could help.

I could wipe the drive and start clean, but I would lose a quarter of my Galapagos photos (!!!) and all of my Galapagos diary (!!!).

So, my questions to you, dear readers:

a. Is there anyone out there with a stronger knowledge of Linux that could walk me through a solution, or

b. is there anyone out there with a working bootable USB thumb drive that they could loan to me for five minutes while I dump files off the machine?

Thank you. I've spent the entire evening grouching at computers instead of spending it with poor Cajones, who hasn't seen me in a week and a half.

Caught three shows on Sunday night, and three shows on Tuesday night. Yay!

Got rained on a lot on Sunday night after the last show. As in, I would have been drier if I'd jumped into a lake. Boo!

Dance of the Whisky Fairie: The Scrimshaw name is gold at Fringe, so it's no surprise that this show is excellent. Sarah's dancing and Joe's storytelling blend nicely to make a fine, funny, and engrossing show. See it!

An Intimate Evening With Fotis: Mike Fotis sits at a desk and tells stories about his life. Incredibly funny, as Fotis always is. Special bonus: Jen Scott accompanies his tales by providing Beatnik-style double-bass riffs in the background. See it!

Roofies in the Mocchachino: Slam poetry artist Michael Shaeffer performs a dozen or so of his clever, humorous, and often multi-layered poems. Subjects include Chewbacca, Guitar Hero, Muppet sex, and defiling the body of Tupac Shakur. The rhythms in his voice alone are worth the price of admission. See it!

Sun Tzu, The Art of War: The actual text of Sun Tzu's Art of War, as illustrated by a team of comedic ninjas. The No Refunds Theater Company (who gave us Kung Fu Hamlet) applies the shotgun theory of comedy here: while not all of the jokes stick, enough of them hit home to make a fine whole. Plus, there is mambo. See it!

Shakespeare's Land of the Dead: Shakespeare plus zombies, with the special bonuses of a truly clever script, a large cast, real costuming, and good production values. Would have offered to helm a film version of this show if I weren't already attached to a dozen other projects. See it!

Herocycle: At several points during the show, Cajones turned to me and said, "Fringiest Fringe show ever." I can't disagree. May be the weirdest mash-up I've ever seen in theater. Take a script created entirely out of quotes by either Evel Knievel, the people who knew Evel Knievel, or Joseph Campbell. Add aerialists, a wheelchair, and musical theater. Stir with the swizzle stick marked "avant garde". Oy!

Or, even better, search YouTube for video of the show. It's out there.

Some parts work, some parts don't quite make it. Either way, it is certainly fascinating in its utter strangeness. Plus, the three dancer/actor/acrobats that make up the cast are all excellent on the technical level.

If any of this description intrigues you, see it! (Must be seen to be believed, really.)

Poll #1232815 New baby on the way!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Windelina is in labor! Clicky on your sentiments:

Poll #1232803 Nefarious Plans Afoot
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Click any and all that apply.

Yes, I'm back from San Diego, and I've found new meaning to the word "exhausted". That still doesn't explain why I'm awake at 4:26 AM, but oh well.

I'll do a full text report later, but for now, I give you a few images to sate your curiosity...

( In Blur-O-Vision! )

The EEE sees the Mac.	The Mac sees the EEE.

Yes, it will be the tiny laptop that will accompany me on the San Diego trip, and any trip where I only need the ability to check e-mail and Internet. Hooray for small electronics!

Of course, I keep thinking of the beetle typewriters in Naked Lunch attacking each other... I better go light on the bug powder this week.

I snapped these two photos within the last couple weeks:



I love the Uptown Theater.



This one was from Willow Creek a couple weeks ago. I think someone at the theater was constructing sentences...

Those of you who attended Opening Ceremony at CONvergence earlier this month may remember the 30-second PSA that opened the festivities:



I cut this together on the morning of July 2nd with about a half-hour's worth of work. On July 11th, I posted it to YouTube under the CONvergence channel. (http://www.youtube.com/user/convergencecon) If you go to the video's main page, you'll see I included details about the source footage (which is Gappa, the Triphibian Monster) as well as the fact that the source was in the public domain.

Well, this gets posted to YouTube three days later:



It's an anti-McCain attack ad from the SEIU. While swiping footage from Gappa is hardly anything I originated, it also features a snippet of the Wilhelm scream, which I also added to my 30-second PSA. The second ad also features most of the shots I used, as well as additional footage.

Coincidence? Possibly, as the turnaround was very short, and my ad only had 63 views as of tonight... but it's a weird coincidence.

What's more amusing is that at least one advertising blog has picked up on the weirdness of using the Gappa footage in an attack ad, as the creatures in the actual movie were simply misunderstood undersea parents looking for their caged baby.

Thanks to JManna and Windelina, the Asylum's two most important rooms (Cajones' studio and the bedroom) are now cooling to livable temperatures. While it would be nice to borrow a third window A/C unit to make my studio less oven-like, it's not a necessity.

Thank you to everyone who offered their window units to us! We're incredibly grateful for your help. Batman is incredibly grateful for your help. And, last but not least, Batman's inker is especially grateful for your help. (Ever tried inking a comics page that has been steeped in sweat? Probably not, but I assure you... you don't want to do it.)

Update to my prior post, in which I lamented that The Asylum currently has no air conditioning:

The entire furnace is dead. It's apparently much older than we thought (about 17 years old), and had multitudes of problems aside from the blown fan motor. The circuit board had shorted and rusted, and the furnace was cracked in multiple places.

Repairs would cost over $1,000, which means we might as well just replace the damn thing.

So, good news... new furnace! Bad news... unexpected large bill, plus lack of A/C for several more days.

This brings me to my LJ Hivemind Question:

Does anyone out there have a single-room A/C unit that we could borrow? While I presume most of you are using such things for yourselves during these dog days of summer, there's the off chance that someone has a window unit stuck away in a closet somewhere.

Basically, we need to keep Cajones' studio cool. He can't draw Batman if he's sweating on the paper -- the oils in human skin can really screw up the inking.

Thanks in advance, Hivemind!

During the hottest week of the year thus far...

...the Asylum's air conditioning died.

I'm... not happy.

To be fair, the A/C unit is fine. It looks like the fan on the furnace blew, and the A/C unit has a shutoff circuit that detects if the furnace fan doesn't kick in after 30 seconds. But still, the net result is no A/C.

It was 87 degrees in our house at 2:30 AM this morning. 87 humid, nasty, stagnant degrees F.

So totally not happy.

This is an open call for any video footage of CONvergence events from the last 10 years. In particular, I need footage from 1999-2003.

Also, if anyone took additional footage at the Killer B's Improv Movie Show this year, I'd love to have a copy. At the moment, it looks like we don't have any recordings of the vocal performers from the first couple minutes of the show. (Jerry's camera was taping the music, and my camera started recording after the DVD started playing.)

If you have any such things in your possession, let me know.

The CONvergence YouTube channel is up and running:

http://www.youtube.com/user/convergencecon

I'm uploading video goodies on a daily basis at the moment, which will hopefully continue for quite some time.

I'm also trying to keep track of other CONvergence-related YouTube videos here, which should show up in the "Favorites" box. I'm searching every couple days for new material.

Go have a look-see!

In the comments:

1) Quick, tell me about your favorite CONvergence moment from this weekend.

2) Post your favorite image or video from the weekend. (Or more than one if you like.)

3) Link to your CVG-related stories, photos, and/or videos.

Let's see if we can make this post so dense with CONvergence lore that not even light can escape.

I'll be posting my own tales before the weekend is out. And boy, do I ever have stories...!

...that isn't CONvergence-related?

Cajones-drawn Iron Giant

This was a convention sketch drawn at Motor City Comic Con earlier this year.

If you've been reading this LJ for a while, or if you've followed the Minneapolis comics scene, you'll know of a Scooby Doo writer named Terrance Griep, who moonlights as semi-pro wrestler Tommy "The SpiderBaby" Saturday. I adore Terrance, who is an extremely funny man.

What happens when Terrance gives a comics industry interview... as his wrestling persona?

http://www.jazmaonline.com/interviews/interviews2008.asp?intID=126

Recommended reading! Highlights:

"Oh, I feel more like a super-hero when I wear tights in public and rescue fair championship belts from the blubbery waists of villainous pretenders."

"Most wrestling fans will tell you I'm a villain, but I'm merely misunderstood. Something like Venom, the Sub-Mariner, or Rob Liefeld, I have my own sense of morality and honor--it's just too complex for most wrestling fans to comprehend."

"Someday, within any given organization, I hope to hold simultaneously a cruiserweight, heavyweight, tag team, and women's championship."

He also mentions his encounters with Cleo and friends at Fallcon. Go read!

One of our CONvergence cohorts has an open position at her company. She's looking for a web designer. (She has programmers for the nuts-and-bolts stuff. She primarily needs an interface and graphics design-type person.)

Let me know if you're interested, and I'll put you guys in touch.

Post 3 things you've done in your lifetime that you don't think anybody else on your friends list has done.

See if anybody else responds with "I've done that."
Ask your friends do this in their journals to see what unique things they've done.
Also, comment here with your three so that I can see just how frakking cool y'all are!

1. I have had my bald head patted by a very curious Harlan Ellison.
2. I've accidentally eaten part of a lab dissection. (This happened after took the trachea of a sheep and blew into it to manually inflate the lungs... What? Why are you looking at my LJ that way?)
3. I did the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs.
3. While in high school, I wrote a feature-length comedic film adaptation of Graham Green's The Power and the Glory. (Yes, footage does exist. Kerros says he has it.)

(I'm doing more than three, 'cuz I'm on a roll. I like my weird life.)

4. I've stood face-to-face with an angry musk ox.
5. I've lived in a tent in the Arctic Circle for a month.
6. I've spent a weekend in Gibraltar with a case of gastroenteritis and a hotel room full of various species of cockroaches.
7. I've had Man-Bat drawn on my skin with a Sharpie marker, courtesy of an actual DC Comics artist.
8. I've eaten spaghetti with a pair of Sharpie markers, while speeding through traffic in Chicago.
9. I've stayed awake for eight days straight. (Oddly enough, not by choice that time...)

Okay, back to work...

I need proofreaders who can give me final notes by 8 PM tonight. If you are interested, drop me a line.

Peter Sellers covers "She Loves You" by the Beatles:
http://www.petersellers.org/media/German.mp3

More where that came from:
http://www.petersellers.org/sounds.html

...and rest mighty, Mr. Carlin. You were truly genuine, and genuinely one-of-a-kind. Thank you for taking a stand. Thank you for decades of stand-up that can be crass and smart at the same time. Thank you for making us think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTyzTJTNhNk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrXvDXVhqfU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h67k9eEw9AY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCz0-HY1TLU

... and many more.