Author: Wil

Author, actor, producer. On a good day, I am charming as fuck.

A Little Summer Reading

Posted on By Wil

Uncertainty: Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and the struggle for the soul of scienceYesterday on Twitter, I joked: "Trying to read a book about Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, but whenever I look for it, it moves."

The book I was talking about it called Uncertainty: Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and the Struggle for the Soul of Science

It's wonderful, and I highly recommend it. It's one of those rare books about physics and science that is entirely accessible to people who aren't total math nerds (like me.)

While I'm talking about books, I thought I was recently re-reading Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things
… but it turns out that I'd confused Fragile Things with Smoke and Mirrors
in my head. I'd only read the first two stories in Fragile Things back when I bought it last year, so once I got past them, it was like I had a whole new book to read.

(BECAUSE I DID GUYS.)

It's sensational, and if you've ever wanted to find out why people like me adore Neil's writing, it's a great place to start.

one small step for man

Posted on By Wil

Ken Levine, on the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing:

I honestly don’t remember whether we saw video or just heard audio
when Neil Armstrong made his historic first step. You’d think that
would be indelibly imprinted in my brain but it’s not. I’ve seen the
video so many times since but that first time – I just can’t tell ya.

What I do know is this: 450 million people around the world heard it.
And they heard it at the same time. For the first time in history the
entire planet shared a monumental moment together. A moment of awe and
disbelief. All the hardships of the world, the various wars, famines,
poverty, social injustice, discrimination — they were all put on hold,
as if God pushed a pause button. What was more profound – man setting
foot on the moon or that moment of absolute global unity?

Ken's blog is great, especially if you are a writer, a baseball fan, or enjoy television history. If you're in the maximum overlap of that Venn diagram like I am, it goes into the "essential" folder in the old RSS reader.

Colin Ferguson and me, on acting

Posted on By Wil

This was filmed by one of the producers, near the end of a very, very long day on the set of Eureka:

We're obviously having fun and being silly, but there is an element of truth to what we said: we have a good time when we bring these characters to life, but it really does require a great deal of focus and dedication. One of the reasons I loved working on Eureka so much was the cast and crew's ability to have fun and stay relaxed, while remaining focused and working hard to make the very best show we could make.

Remember that my episode, All The Rage, premieres this Friday at 9pm, on the network formerly known as Sci-Fi!

If you could ask the cast and creators of Big Bang Theory anything, what would it be?

Posted on By Wil

This Friday, I'm moderating the Big Bang Theory panel at Comic-con. The entire cast will be in attendance, as well as series creators Bill Prady and Chuck Lorre. We only have an hour, which always goes by faster than we think, so I'm going to start out with a handful of my own questions before I invite questions from the audience.

While preparing my questions, I've talked to some friends of mine who are fans of the show, and I also thought that I had a unique opportunity to reach out to a larger audience, right here on my blog.

So: If you could ask the cast and creators of The Big Bang Theory something about the show, what would it be? What are you interested in knowing from them?

Ask your question in a comment here, and I'll take some of them with me to the panel this Friday.

Edited at 8:52am 7/22: Wow, over 200 questions and comments! Awesome. I used your questions to get some idea of what fans of the show (well, this is a small sample size, but you're the ones who responded, so you get to speak for the entire audience) wanted to know. I picked out a couple of specific questions from some of you, too.

You can keep commenting here, but any questions you ask I won't be able to use, because I have to get on the road in about 15 minutes, and my questions are now chosen and locked in. But, sincerely, thank you for taking the time to contribute here; I feel more confident and secure about moderating this panel now than I did 24 hours ago.

The w00tstockSD and comic-con 2010 FAQ

Posted on By Wil

In just about 48 hours, I head down to San Diego for w00tstock and Comic-con. Here is my effort to answer questions about both:

w00tstock

Q: Are tickets available?

A: Yes. You can get them from Ticketbastard, or from the box office.

Q: Ticketbastard says there aren't any seats! Do I have to stand for the whole show?

A: No. Ticketbastard is stupid. This is a seated show, for your comfort.

Q: Ticketbastard says the show is sold out!

A: Yeah. Ticketbastard is fucking stupid, an evil corporation that we all hate, and they're lying to you.

Q: Woah. Why so angry?

A: Because it's bullshit that Ticketbastard makes you pay almost as much in fees as you pay for the ticket. I don't know a single performer who doesn't hate that damn company.

Q: So if I buy my ticket at the box office, it costs less, and I don't give any money to an evil corporation you hate?

A: Now you're getting it.

Q: But what if the show sells out before I can get to the box office?!

A: That's always a possibility, but I think it's unlikely. There are a couple hundred seats available right now, so if you get to the box office around the time it opens, you should be fine.

Q: But standing in line sucks.

A: I hear you. However, standing in line for w00tstock means you're surrounded by your fellow nerds! How fun is that?! Someone could, for instance, start an ad-hoc LineCon. You could play games like Zombie Dice and Pieces of Eight! Think about how the possibilities! Also, , and I heard that there may be ice cream for people in line.

Q: WHAT?!

A: Yep. I guess I should say that again –

Q: And put it in bold!

A: Well, I'd never think to do that myself, but since you suggested it … , and I heard that there may be ice cream for people in line.

Edit: Quick addition/clarification to this: Len Peralta, creator of Geek A Week, says, "ThinkGeek will be giving away the cards at SDCC, but at w00tstock, I'll be the one giving them away – when they purchase a poster.  It's a Free Gift with purchase sort of deal."

Q: What if we don't get to the line early? THEN WHAT WILL WE DO?!

A: I don't know, man. It's a big, scary world, filled with uncertainty.

Q: Okay, okay. Fine. So, when does w00tstock start?

A: Doors open at 6:30pm, and the show begins at 7:30pm.

Q: Where is it?

A: 4th and B. You know, you could find all this information out at the w00tstock website.

Q: Is this going to be another one of those 3 hour shows that's really 5 hours?

A: No. We promise it won't be that long. We know you have lots of comic-conning to do, and we won't keep you out too late.

Q: I heard the show is 21 and over. That sucks! Why did you do that?

A: It wasn't our choice, and we didn't know until the venue was booked that it was 21+. We're really sorry that our under-21 fans can't come to the show. Like Save Ferris sang, it sucks to be under twenty-one. (If it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty unhappy that my kids can't come and see the show.)

Q: Bah. I don't want my damn wiener kids listening, anyway.

A: I know, right?

Q: So who's in the show, anyway?

A: I'm glad you asked. Here's something I cut-and-pasted from the w00tstock site:

And we’re pleased to announce our first volley of guests:

And of course Wil, Adam, and Paul and Storm will all be performing,
and there will be a meet and greet after the show.

A: Oh, and also? There are surprise guests and other fun things we haven't told you about.

Q: Yeah, I saw that Surprise guests thing in the cut-and-paste. Jesus, Wheaton.

A: Sorry. My bad. I'm excited because I know who the surprise guests are.

Q: Can we record this show?

A: As long as your recording doesn't interfere with anyone else's enjoyment of the show, yes. Also, we ask that you release whatever you record or photograph under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license.

Q: I have a stack of pictures I'd like you to sign after the show. Will you do that?

A: Within reason, we're happy to sign things for you after. I can only speak for myself, but if you bring me a big stack of things, I'm going to tell you to pick one. If I don't do that, it slows down the autograph line (which averages about 2 hours after each show).

Q: What if I wait until the end?

A: The last thing I want to do after performing for three hours and signing for two hours, is sign a big stack of things. I have my limits.

Q: Man, that's a real dick move, Wil Wheaton.

A: I'm sorry you feel that way.

Q: Hey! I'm a different person, and I totally understand!

A: Ah, I see your different font styling. Very nice. Thank you for understanding that I'm a human being with limits! That's awesome.

A: Okay, I think that covers most of the FAQs about w00tstock. If you have more, leave them in comments, and I'll do my best to answer them.

Comic-Con

I'm kind of all over the place at Comic-Con this year. I'm on four different panels across two days, and I'm doing one signing on Friday.

Here's my schedule:

Friday:

11am – 11:45am: signing in the Warner Brothers booth in the exhibitor's hall. I understand that Warner has made some Evil Wil Wheaton posters for me to sign and give away. I'm not sure what their rules are, because I've never signed for a studio like this, but I would expect they'll want me to only sign their stuff.

12:45pm-1:45pm: The Big Bang Theory panel. I'm moderating! I'm going to spend the first few minutes asking the cast and executive producers some questions of my own, then open the floor to fans.

8:45pm: I'm introducing the screening of my episode of Eureka, All The Rage.

Saturday:

11am: I'm on the Leverage panel. Holy shit, I was invited to be on the Leverage panel!

2pm-3pm: I'm on The Guild panel. Axis of Anarchy RULES!

At the moment, that's my entire schedule. There's a small chance I may add one signing on Saturday, but the details of that are being worked out.

You may have noticed that I didn't list the halls where those panels are. That's because I don't know, and I'm counting on someone pointing me in the right direction and telling me, "If something gets in your way … TURN!" I'm sure the program or website can give you the information that you seek.

Okay, that's all for now. If you have on-topic questions, go ahead and ask them here; I'll be here as long as it takes for me to drink this Futuremug of tea, and then back again a little later after I walk my dogs.