Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Comic Con 2010 -- Day 4

I didn't have anywhere to be or anyone to meet if I didn't feel like it so I took in a couple panels. I am endeavouring to be a voice-over actor as well as live action, so I went to 2 panels about voice-over. The first one was Cartoon Voices II with working actors in VO. Legends some of them. Like Janet Waldo (Judy Jetson), Tom Kenny (Sponge Bob Squarepants), and others. IMDb lists for these people are really astounding...

The panel was cool, and a bit daunting. These people are so good and so quick witted and funny it makes anyone out in the audience wanting to do it feel inferior. The moderator gave them a script for Cinderella to cold read. Cold reading is where you read a script without ever having seen it. You don't really get a chance to make any decisions, you just go with it. The actors were all given 3 parts to read. The narrator had to use a different voice each time he talked. It was interesting to see how they worked. They went off the script in several places and you could tell, but the ad libs were funny.

I thought about going to the GLEE panel. I know someone in the cast, but she wasn't at the con. I also didn't want to fight the crowd, and thirdly, it would interfere with seeing the other panel I wanted to see; The Business of Cartoon Voices. This is where some of the people from the previous panels gave advice to us about how to get into the VO world. I took notes and will see how I can impliment a plan...

After the panel I called up Zack. We would meet for dinner at a Mexican place in Old Town San Diego. I left the convention at 3 pm and went to pack. I walked the 6 + blocks to my car and was relieved to see it where I left it. I found some good parking on Thursday and hadn't been back to it since Friday morning. Zack called when they were out of the con and I drove my loaded car to Old Town. The food was really good. And those who know me know I'm just trying to feed the machine, but this food was good.

I left San Diego around 10 pm. I didn't want to go home. Life's been stressful and it was so nice to get out of LA and play a bit. It was also nice to be perceived as a professional actor. It's sometimes very ephmeral in LA.

Comic Con 2010 --- Day 3


This was the view from the stage we were on for the panel on acting I was a part of. There were 5 actors on the stage with me and at the next platform were 3 directors. The panel was moderated by Sean Rourke. Each year he does this he gets better at it and more sure about the information and how to say it concisely. As we sat up there we were cracking jokes and making comments to each other as we waited to throw in our 2 cents worth. It was a lot of fun and the actors each had a chance to share what it is we go thru as actors when working some low budget projects.

Now I get nervous talking in front of people. Well, nervous as me. I can be other characters and say memorized lines like they were the first time I'd ever said them, but me saying what I'm thinking as I'm thinking it? Fucking scary. I find I think too fast to get a coherent sentence out sometimes. I stumble over words or create whole new ones. Sigh.

As I was on the panel I kept getting called by a friend of mine, my old roommate Mark. I couldn't take the call. I'm on a panel, talking. So I let it go to voice mail. He texted. I replied and gave him a number for the person who might be able to get him in. My friend Zack who I have been hanging out with was in a meeting and had a pass for him. Mark was waiting in the hot sun for 30 minutes. Zack met up with him outside and was on the phone talking to his publisher. Mark turned white as a ghost, his lips were blue and he was sweating profusely. He said he felt dizzy, walked into the shade and collapsed against a wall!

Zack sent security to get medics. It turns out Mark had heat stroke, basically, but because of other things (liabilty of the convention and his health issues), he was sent to the hospital. 10 hours later he joined us for dinner. Not a good day for Mark, but I'm glad he's ok.

I spent Saturday walking around the halls after my panel dressed as Captain John Hart from a BBC series called Torchwood. My friend Bill was Captain Jack Harkness also from Torchwood. Since we both are good costumers and look like the actors in the show, we had our picture taken a lot. It was fun. As I was walking around in this costume I had a number of people pass me and tell me the actor who played the part, James Marsters, was signing at a booth "over there." So I found where he was signing and his manager noticed me and pointed me out. I walked over to him and we started chatting. He liked the costume and said he hadn't seen many people do it before. He also stood up and looked at the boots I was wearing. As he did I said, "the boots aren't right. They are almost impossible to get right." His manager asked if he could take my picture for James' Facebook page. I said yes. We chatted a bit. It was cool. I didn't get his autograph, or a photo at the professional photo booth. The cost was more than I could justify. He was nice. I did get my picture with him as I leaned over the table talking to him, someone took the photo.

Oddly again, I don't have a picture of me and Bill in these costumes. Again, no pockets...

Bill had to leave around 5 pm. He was done with the crowds and had a real life to return to. So I went to change into street clothes and catch up with Zack and Joanne. We had gotten tickets to Flynn's Arcade again this year. Disney set up and arcade and event to plug Tron Legacy. It was very cool to see how they changed and expanded it from last year. After Flynn's we went to find food. We walked by this Chinese place, Red Beach? But what drew Zack in was the chance to eat at a table in the kitchen. It was just going to be 3 of us but Zack's Army employer called and joined us. The food was really good and it was interesting to eat in the kitchen. Mark showed up around 10 pm after spending 10-11 hours at the hospital. He took a cab to get back to downtown. He was okay, found it embarassing to have such a thing happen. But he would come the next day to see the convention.

It was midnight and I went back to the hotel to crash...

Monday, July 26, 2010

Comic Con and the Religulous

The Westboro Baptist Church set out to save everyone at Comic-Con this year because they were worshipping Batman and Superman but not God. The thing they didn't count on was the ability of the crowd to very quickly and effectively come up with their own signs mocking them.

As I got to the convention center on Thursday I saw the 4 people from the Westboro Baptist Church on Harbor Blvd across from the convention. There was a dad with 4 signs. The son, 9 or 10 had one (He looked like he didn't want to be there. He would rather be at the beach or the zoo or the wild animal park.). The daughter, 12-14 with one sign (same mood as her brother.) And the mom with 2 or 3 signs. The typical God hates Fags, and Jesus saves, and others.

The crafty convention goers found cardboard and sharpies and made signs of their own. "Batman Saves." with a chapter and verse. "God Hates Kittens," "Kill All Humans," "All Glory to the Hypno-Toad," "God Hates Jedi," and the rather rough, "Fuck God!" The convention attendees crossed the street but were not able to get close to the religious protesters, the San Diego police department blocked the way. They were lucky. I'm sure they never encountered such smart, inventive, or mocking people. They may be used to angry pro-abortion people challenging them, but never would they dream what a well read, creative, nerd can come up with. I felt sorry for them. Well, just a little. I don't have much use for people trying to save me with their beliefs. I'm okay. Really. I figured out my own path thru the chaos. Everyone has to figure out their own way.

They seem to have given up sometime in the afternoon. And I never saw them again for the rest of the weekend. Maybe they went to the beach. I hope so. San Diego is a lovely place. Enjoy it. I wonder what happened when they got back to their church. Will they try again next year, but with more people, or have they been mocked into oblivion?

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/07/22/super-heroes-vs-the-westboro-baptist-church/

Comic Con pictures

Super fan of Incredible Hulk issue # 181. The introduction of Wolverine.
Supergirl promoting some movie...

The light cycle from Tron Legacy. Life Sized!


Lando Calrissian with a Colt 45 beer


This is a huge faux bronze statue of a comic character named Fathom.

I didn't take a huge amount of pictures. Some of the things I was wearing (costumes) did not have pockets. So I didn't shoot thousands of pictures. Also I only took pictures of things I found interesting. I'm a tough room after years of this show...

Comic Con 2010--Day 2


On Friday I wore a costume for 4 hours in the morning/afternoon. The character is called Carnage. He's from the Spider-man comic books. He's a mass murdering villan. Oddly this is the only picture I took of me, and it's only 1/2 of the costume. I didn't think of taking a picture once the whole thing was on. I wanted to get to the convention center. (yeah, I need to do some ab work) Though once I was at the convention center I had my picture taken several hundred times. And you know what? I really enjoyed it. ;)
What I find funny about the costume is that people have their children take pictures with me. I'm talking 7 and younger. I even had my picture taken with a 6 month old baby. He wasn't scared of me at all. He played with my mask as I held him. I suggested they use it for Christmas cards...
I walked around for 4 hours then when I couldn't take anymore of the mask, (the insides are rather Marquis De Sade like to make it so the teeth open when I open my mouth. It gives me headaches) I went to the hotel and changed into street clothes. I got to say that I find it a bit of a let down to go from everyone wanting my picture to no one wanting my picture...

Comic Con 2010- Day One


If you have never been to Comic Con it's a little difficult to describe the chaos and energy of the place. The attendance is anywhere from 125,000 to 180,000 over the course of the weekend. The picture above doesn't really tell you how crowded it can get or just how big the dealers hall is. The dealers room is probably 4 footbal fields long, 1200 feet, and one football field wide, 300 feet. And in that space it's not just comics -- it is now media and television and video games. It's staggering just how much content is trying to get your attention. It's like a bunch of colorful 3 year olds. But more than a bunch, say 300,000 3 year olds. I think I took this picture on Saturday afternoon when there was a very popular panel upstairs. That clears out the hall sometimes...
As you walk thru the crowd, which is sometimes a very slow proposition, you see a cross section of humanity. From the Uber-geek of any type of media, comic, anime, movie fanatic who is obsessed with a thing (movie, comic, tv show) to the casual day visitor. Or the parents who bring the kids who are obsessed with whatever. There are people in costumes. Some I easily recognize, others I have no idea what the fuck they are. There are hot girls in small superhero, anime, movie costumes. There are heavy girls who shouldn't be wearing spandex (it's a privilege not a right). It reminds me a bit of Halloween. It's a chance for women to dress in skimpy clothes and not be judged. They can be leered at and safe at the same time. Name a movie, video game, television show, cartoon, anime, and someone was probably in a costume from that property. When I do costumes, I do recreations of comicbook characters: Spiderman, Carnage, Sabretooth. Though, I just wore a new one from Torchwood, a BBC series, on Saturday.
There is a preview night Wednesday. It's for the 4 day badge holders to run in and get exclusive toys and whatnot from the dealers. Things that are sold at Comic-Con can sometimes be found on Ebay that very day for much more than it was intially purchased for. I've never gone to the preview night. It has become so popular that 3 hour period is almost as busy as the next day will be.
Yeah, I know, I'm not giving you anything specific about day one. I didn't go to any panels for movies or television shows while I was at the con. I'm not willing to spend 2-3 hours in line to maybe get into a ballroom to see the cast of Glee, or Thor, or the Expendibles. I don't really go to be a fan. If there is a movie coming out in the next year that might have something to do with a fan of this type, it will be at Comic Con. And Glee ended up there, I suspect, because the kids who are in the Glee club would attend Comic Con. So they are making a show about the people who attend the convention. They see themselves as geeks, or rather Gleeks.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

How To Survive A

NINJA ATTACK:

When the ninjas enter try to do a ninja trick: Disguise! If possible disguise yourself as an unexpected piece of furniture. Don't hide in a closet or a Hope chest. (No hope there.) If there is something normal to hide in that will be the first place they look. If you disguise yourself as a Chez Lounge, or a Lazy Boy recliner, they won't look for you to be inside one of those. When they get tired of looking for you a weary ninja might sit on you, but don't make any noise. When they are gone, come out of hiding.

TIGER ATTACK:

Firstly, don't be in India. Or at the Zoo. This may seem a simple solution, but by not being where tigers are your chances of suviving a tiger attack improve drastically. If you do encounter a tiger somewhere be sure you don't have any bacon in your pockets or raw meat on your person. Tiger's have a really great sense of smell, and bacon is yummy. Try to confuse the tiger by picking up a stick and saying, "Come on, boy, get the stick! Get the stick!" Throw the stick as far as you can. This may confuse the tiger to go after the stick like a dog. (Who doesn't like a nice game of fetch?) If it does fool the tiger, RUN the direction opposite the stick and tiger.

PLANE CRASHING:

Well, the really easy answer is "don't fly." But that doesn't get you to Europe and Europe certainly isn't coming here anytime soon. If the plane you are on is crashing, fuck getting into crash positions with your head tucked between your legs. You are still in and attached to an aluminum death tube. Stand in the center aisle, ignore the squawking flight attendants telling you to sit down over the PA system. Look out the window. It's going to be tough to judge while descending at hundreds of miles an hour, but when it seems like you are going to impact the ground, JUMP!
The plane will be a fireball of destruction around you while you are suspended in the air for the moment the plane is striking the ground. When you land on your feet, exit thru one of the massive holes torn in the fuselage.


Legal disclaimer:Come on. Do you really think any of these ideas are going to keep you alive? Geez...

Excerpts from a Cat's Diary

DAY 752 - My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the mild satisfaction I get from ruining the occasional piece of furniture. Tomorrow I may eat another houseplant.

DAY 761 - Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded, must try this at the top of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair...must try this on their bed.

DAY 765 - Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body, in attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of, and to try to strike fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was...Hmmm. Not working according to plan.

DAY 768 - I am finally aware of how sadistic they are. For no good reason I was chosen for the water torture. This time however it included a burning foamy chemical called "shampoo." What sick minds could invent such a liquid. My only consolation is the piece of thumb still stuck between my teeth.

DAY 771 - There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smell the foul odor of the glass tubes they call "beer".
More importantly I overheard that my confinement was due to MY power of "allergies." Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage.

DAY 774 - I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit. The bird on the other hand has got to be an informant, and speaks with them regularly. I am certain he reports my every move. Due to his current placement in the metal room his safety is assured. But I can wait, it is only a matter of time...

Day 786 of captivity. I wait by the door for my captors to enter in hopes I can slip out, but damn them, they enter with their foot leading the way and slip in. All the while taunting me with "Good kitty." They know my name is not Kitty!

Day 793 of captivity. There is another captive here. Been here as long as I can remember. She's useless. Afraid of her own shadow. Hides in the closet most of the time. I told her to dig a tunnel while she's in there, but I don't hear the sound of digging.

Day 799. I tease them with my pretty fur, so close to pet and yet I run away when they reach for me. Haa haa haa! I'm so cruel to them. That will teach them to hold me against my will.

Day 801. The water comes from a small waterfall in the porcelain canyon. I refuse to drink from any other source. Not without a food tester! It could be poisoned! Everyone knows you can't poison running water.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

The Man With No Heart

Dick Cheney, 69, now has a pump next to his left ventricle which is pumping blood because his heart can't do the job anymore. He has a battery and needs to be recharged every night to keep him alive. (Oh, if he only went camping and got stranded for 5 weeks...) Funny thing about the pump, it makes it so there is virtually no pulse or heart beat in a number of the patients. It's kind of like a pump for circulating water in a fish tank.

He had his first heart attack at 37 years old. He has had a total of 5 heart attacks. Yup, 5. His heart surgeon was shocked that Cheney was still alive. Well, as the movies prove:

Evil doesn't die.

Think about the world. What would it be like if he had died 32 years ago? The Middle East would be quite different. The Iraq War would probably never have happened even if 9/11 had happened. And 9/11 might never have happened if the President, which might not have been Shrub, had paid attention to the intelligence reports about flight schools... Also he and Rumsfeld, back in the early 80's, came up with a manifesto for dealing with the Mid East that got us where we are today.

5 heart attacks can't kill this man, and I know someone who died at 40 from heart failure. But he was a good guy.

BP Stops the Oil.

BP installed a plug and apparently stopped the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico since the accident happened 85 days ago.

Yay! A rather simple reaction to a tragedy. But I heard recently from a friend the same thing had happened in the Gulf in the 79 with the Ixtoc I spill. I was too young to be paying any attention to this so I had no idea it had happened before. So back in the 70's how did they (the combination of oil company and government) stop it? The well was in 160 feet of water. They used a lot of the same tactics for this leak. But those were kind of successful in reducing the flow of oil from 30,000 barrels a day to 10,000 barrels a day. It started in July 1979 and was capped March 23, 1980. 9 months. That's a long time to be spewing oil.

So this well was spewing 85 days, 16 hours, and 25 minutes. An esitmated 184,000,000 gallons of oil. I don't know if anyone really will figure out how much oil spilled.

I'm just glad it's got a temporary fix so it can be permanently fixed. I wonder if BP will drill a well in the area. For an exploratory well, it seems like it was pretty damn successful.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Um, Not a Fucking Chance

I was working today at the Pacific Ampitheatre which is in Costa Mesa at the Orange County Fairgrounds. (That's a lot of capitalization!)

Around noon someone called us over to stage right. I didn't know why, but went over. We had done the rigging quickly the day before and we were doing the odds and ends. This venue is an outdoor space, maybe a 50 foot ceiling with a light canopy over the top of it 50% sun proof. (can you tell? I'm vamping for suspense!)

When we got stage right there was the powerful and unmistakeable stench of DEATH. We looked at where they were pointing on the ground. There was a liquid and maggots on the ground which had fallen from 50 feet up. Apparently something was decomposing in the steel. The previous day I notified the house there was a beehive in the steel down stage right, near the top. A call was made. The geniuses thought that whatever was dead in the steel was killed the previous day and was now a juicy dripping thing dropping maggots stage right.

Unfortunately, I know things don't decompose that fast, and you usually don't get maggots that fast either. It takes a week or so to get maggots. But with the heat, I could be wrong.

This next bit is a recreation of a conversation.

"Go up there and see where that's coming from." said some dude.

"No." I replied. "It's not a hook, a chain or a motor. I'm not going to climb up there and see what fucking died. Not in my job description." And those who know me know quite well, I don't do anything I don't want to.

Quite seriously, what did they expect someone to do, reach into a hole in a hot steel structure filled with something rotting for a week or two to pull it out? This ain't a fucking reality show where people do gross things for money. It's reality. Get someone who deals with this type of thing because I ain't doing it.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Disneyland 2010


The yearly ritual of going to Disneyland when Jaz is in town happened yesterday. It was some of the usual suspects. Ray, Becca, Jaz, & me. Plus some new people. Kurt, Atticus, his son Brady (4 years old) and Louise. In this picture are Jaz, Ray, Becca, me, and Brady is the short one.


Getting to Disneyland is always an adventure. Traffic, parking, etc. When we got into the park we found Atticus and Brady. Being 4 years old and 39.5 inches made it tough for Brady to go on anything that might be fun for an adult. Minimum height was 40 inches. The people at the line tried to help, but even stretching with his arms up, he was too short. He was turned away from Space Mountain, Soaring Over California, and some others. However, Atticus and I did bamboozle the people at the Silly Swing ride and got him on. He rode with me, which Atticus said was an honor. Brady doesn't warm up to people very quickly sometimes, but I am magic with kids.


On the swing as we started going up and around Brady started to get freaked out. Atticus said to take his hand and talk to him. That calmed him down. He was turned away from me but I was told his face was still a bit worried. It was a short ride mercifully. 1.5 minutes tops. After he got off the swing Brady said, "Let's do it again." Then Brady rode with me and Jaz on the Toy Story ride. 53600 was my score. Not bad, but I was holding him in my lap, aiming while he pulled the trigger.


We split up groups a few times as we did things Brady couldn't. We did Indy ride, Pirates, Big Thunder. I wanted to go to Tom Sawyers Island while they went on the Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain. I'm now glad I went to the island. On Splash Mountain they got soaked. The log turned a corner and the contents of a lake sloshed into the ride soaking them. I caught up with them afterward. They were wringing out their clothes, emptying their shoes of water.


On Tom Sawyers Island, part of the park I hadn't been to in years, I was surprised to see it had been taken over by pirates. Not much money to be made in the last Tom Sawyer movie or TV series Disney did in the 50s. So they built up a lot of caves and rocks, a grounded pirate ship, a huge hoard of treasure, and a few tie-ins to some Johnny Depp movie. When I was on the island 24 years ago, My friend Terry and I were climbing trees and the rock towers. A kid on break from high school working at the park for the summer told us to stop climbing the trees. We were a bad example for the kids. Our reply to this kid we were older than was, "There's no sign saying we can't climb the trees." The next year I went to Tom Sawyer's island, there was a sign saying not to climb the trees or rocks! Ha!


Lunch at Disneyland. We made reservations to eat at the Blue Bayou. It's the restaurant I'd seen while on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Never ate there. Didn't eat there this time. We looked at the lunch menu outside the restaurant. It didn't have prices listed (a bad sign). Just food. When we sat down I looked at the menu. The cheapest thing I would like, since I don't really like cajun food, was the $30 monte cristo sandwich! It was voiced by me and most everyone else that this was not what I expected nor was willing to shell out for lunch. This probably happens a lot there. The server gave us 2 options for something similar and close by, and at least half the cost of the Blue Bayou. We walked out past all the people waiting in the lobby. I wonder if they knew how much it cost. We went 20 yards to the place the server mentioned. I was still appalled by a $16 monte critso sandwich, but I went with it. The entertainment at lunch was making Brady laugh. Which was easy since he is 4 and we are all silly actors. Dinner was cheaper. $11 for sandwich and bottled water. I think Disneyland could let everyone in for free and still turn a huge profit from food and merchandise.
California Adventure has a new show. A water extravaganza with screens for projection created by mists of water. It has maybe 200 fountians that are moveable, adjustable; lasers, flame thowers in the middle of the lake and all this water. It was really cool. Advice! get a fast pass early so you can see it from the front. I saw it from the side and it was still very cool. It will probably run for years so there's time.
It was a good time. Didn't get sunburned, and had fun with fun people.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Small World --- hee hee hee

In an odd twist, I just learned someone I know and worked with recently is friends on FB with the screaming bitch that lived above me. I was instrumental in getting her evicted. I'm not going to bring it up next time I talk to him, but I'm sure she said something about it on FB and how she is a victim. blah blah blah.

Yeah, that sounds callous of me but I'm not that concerned.

I looked at her profile and saw what her current city was. Good. Those dogs can bark their fucking heads off in another state. And she can scream her fucking head off at the dogs. I wondered where she ended up because I hadn't seen her in months and months.

I sometimes look around on FB to see who knows who and I am amazed how small the world online is. I'm also amazed that some of these people don't protect their security settings better. Identity theft is easy thanks to FB.

Update: Because it's simple, I went back on her FB wall. It took a very long time and I eventually failed to get past mid-April. There were a lot of posts, messages from God and things that made me think she was abducted by aliens and replaced with a pod person. Because none of her posts were anything like the Hateful Screaming Bitch I've lived below since I moved here. Not going to try again. I just don't care what she may have posted as she was being evicted and why.

But, really, who on FB posts the darkness that may be lurking in their soul? The hateful shit that would shock people and make them never talk to you again. That's not what FB is about. It's light and airy. The best face of you for the world, and friends to consume.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Comic Con!

I get to go to Comic Con again this year as a panelist. This year I'll take a laptop with me and maybe post in this blog as I go. I'll see how it all works out. I've never done the mobile thing before. When I was posting from Sweden that was from the hostels I was staying at. And I wasn't able to do the pictures at the same time.

I like going as a professional. I get in for free. This year I found out late I would be on the panel again. When I was unsure I looked at the website. SOLD OUT. All memberships. This was kind of shocking. A few years back there was no limit to the attendance and consequently it was freakishly crowded. Like U2 at the Rose Bowl. They changed the policy to keep the mob to something manageable.

I go in costume sometimes. I am a Master Costumer in the world of convention masquerades. I mainly do recreations of movie, TV or comic books characters. Characters I'm the right body type for. Which is generally the athletic type.

I like the characters that are masked. Like Spider-man. Because then you can wander around completely anonymous. It's a lot of fun to talk with people and then see them later when out of costume. You can have a conversation and they never realize that you were Spider-man an hour ago. Okay. I'm a big geek. When I was at Dragon Con in Atlanta in 2002, me and my friend Terry wore a number of costumes. Dragon Con is strange to me. There really was nothing to do there. So all we did was walk around in costume and have our picture taken. We called ourselves Paparazzi Whores. We couldn't walk 2 feet without someone wanting to take our picture. It was kind of intoxicating to have that much attention.

So at Comic-Con I'll have the Spider-man costumes, and I just made a new one from the BBC series, Torchwood. Captain John Hart. He was played by James Marsters. Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Simple costume, but a lot of work (sewing, dyeing, leather work...) and expense... I don't do costumes that are uncomfortable or hot. It's crowded at the Con and if you are uncomfortable, you won't have a good time.

Should be fun.

Friday, July 2, 2010

BP Spill

Firstly. One mile is 5280 feet in length.

Secondly. A barrel contains 42 gallons.

April 20th started the worst oil spill in US history. It's a deep water well in the Gulf of Mexico.

So many things have gone wrong with this from deregulation of the oil industry; from the previous presidential administration; to the hubris of the oil companies to think that nothing like this would ever happen. The amount of oil gushing into the Gulf has been underestimated from the beginning.

The lives ruined. The economy suffering. The wildlife killed. Fix the damn pipe! Right?

But that isn't easy. It's one mile underwater. Doing anything at that depth is very difficult.

I grow tired of the story in the news, but I am waiting breathlessly for the whole thing to be solved.

Simply put, I want, hope and pray it gets resolved quickly.

Cars For The Blind

In the news today there was a story about researchers working on making a system that would give blind people to ability to drive. This would come in the form of a car that has sensors to notify the blind driver if they are near someone or something.

I'm not sure this is a good idea. Let me play Devil's Advocate here.

I live in Los Angeles where the majority of people on the road drive like they are stupid, distracted, or bat shit crazy. There are no sensors that could be created to deal with the random acts of rude, impatient, or stupid drivers encountered every damn day in Los Angeles.

So let's say some auditory sensor tells a blind driver there is some car or obstacle close by and they need to react. How do they react? How much do they react? They can't see how much to move away or slow down. They can't see what the obstacles are. When stopped on the 405 would the sensors in the car be overwhelmed by everything around it? Would the system then overwhelm the driver with crazy amounts of information? They are boxed in, and then a motorcycle splits the lane at 80 mph. What does the sensor tell the driver? How does the driver react to a split second threat which is now gone?

Driving requires sight. You need ot see what is happening not just immediately around you but a hundred yards to a half mile down the freeway. If there is a car doing something crazy, drunk or stupid in front of you, you need to see it so you can slow down or take action to avoid the crazy driver. If a driver is blind they can't anticipate the things they can't see that are not within the cars sensors.

Also, how would you know where to turn into a parking lot? Judge the distance and speed you need to slow down to make a safe entry into said parking lot? How do you park? Parallel park? How does the car tell you that a stop light has changed or is changing from red to green or vice versa? Or see someone is running a red light right after it changed for the blind driver? There are so many visual cues that drivers see, process and act upon without even realizing they are doing so. When I drive, I look for motion and movement from the sides to anticipate what might soon be happening.

Technology would be better suited to create a car that can drive itself. Complete auto-pilot from start to stop. Let the blind have one of those cars. But it could also be given to the elderly, paraplegics, epileptics, people who have 53 DUIs and shouldn't drive.