Author: Wil

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

Is anyone interested in WWdN merchandise?

Posted on By Wil

Before I put in the time and effort to make some new WWdN merchandise for the WWdN CafePress store, I’m looking for a show of hands: is anyone interested in some WWdN gear, like T-shirts and stuff?

I don’t have the time or desire to run a store myself, or take the risk of buying a lot of stock ahead of time. I would not be doing this for shiny gold rocks as much as I’d be doing it for the fun and to increase the chances that I’d be out in the world doing my thing one day, and see someone wearing a WWdN T-shirt, and to "spread the virus" as Jonathan Coulton says.

Stats tell me that about 200K people are reading my blog (man, that’s a lot and is so very weird) so if about 100 or so of you guys chime in, I think it would be enough to make it worth the time and expense of paying a designer to put something together.

I’m a huge fan of American Apparel, so I’m thinking about moving to Spreadshirt if I do this. Obviously, I’m not going to bother if there isn’t enough interest, though. I am supposed to be writing, after all.

audio greetings from mount needaplotpoint

Posted on By Wil

With Vozme, you can turn any chunk of English text into an MP3 file by clicking one button. It’s far from perfect, and isn’t as clear as using the "speak" thing on my Mac (Oh, Vicki, tell me that you love me!) but it gets the job done quickly and easily, especially if you’re supposed to be working and really want to be screwing off instead.

I just amused myself by converting a bit of my forthcoming Angel One review for TV Squad into a weird robotic voice.

Enjoy: Download mp3_angel_one.mp3
(136KB mp3 file)

(Vozme was found via Lifehacker)

three hours of MTV from 1983

Posted on By Wil

Phoenix Comicon reminded me of the cons I went to when I was a kid, and reminded me of what cons could be — and should be — when they’re run by people who care more about creating a good time for fans, than figuring out ways to separate fans from their money.

I’ll have a full trip report later today, but until then, I have found something HAWESOME to pass the time, or at least listen to in the background while you work. Three hours of MTV, recorded on VHS in 1983, including wonderfully cheedy commercials. I’ve been listening to part one for about thirty minutes, and the nostalgia is starting to overwhelm me.

Part one:

Part two:

Generation X! Rejoice, while the damn kids today wonder why MTV is actually playing music videos.

(from Appelogen via boingboing)

Going Boldly . . .

Posted on By Wil

I just added some pictures to my flickr stream from Star Trek the Tour. My battery died real fast (stupid me for not bringing an extra) so there aren’t many. However, I’m really happy with the ones I got.

This is my favorite, which was taken by my awesome wife:

Going Boldly

"When I was a teenager, I got tired of sitting in this chair really
fast. As an adult, though, it brings back only fond memories. Seconds
before this photo was taken, I typed my fingers across the Okudagram,
using the same series of commands that I made up to send the ship to
warp speed.

Yes, I was such a geek, I invented my own fake logic for driving the
spaceship. When you’re sitting there saying ‘Aye, Sir,’ for hours at a
time, you’ve got to do something to keep yourself entertained, right?"

the pre-con jitters and ramblings about books

Posted on By Wil

I haven’t written much lately, because there just isn’t that much going on around here that I can talk about. I’m writing a lot — not as much as I want to, but still doing it every day — and I’ve discovered that if I talk with anyone other than Andrew about my ideas, they lose the need to be told.

It’s like I’ve said before: there are these ideas, knocking at the door, trying to get into our world, and the way we writers open that door is by writing the ideas down. I’ve also figured out that, for me at least, talking about story ideas is like looking through the peephole so I can describe what I see, but when I try to open the door by writing, whatever was on the doorstep has vanished.

So I can’t talk about the ideas I have, which is what I’d probably be talking about right now.

I leave for Phoenix Cactus Con tomorrow, and I have these pre-con jitters that I haven’t had in years. I’ve never been to this show, so I don’t know what to expect (though I guess they’re conservatively estimating over 4000 people.) I shipped out 160 Happiest Days, 25 Barefoots, and 25 Geeks yesterday to meet me at my hotel tomorrow afternoon. It seems like an awful lot (and I’m not expecting that I’ll sell them all) but I’d rather deal with getting extras back home, than not having enough to sell. I’m bringing out some 8×10 pictures, too, because people seem to like those.

Once the rain settles down here, I’m going over to the office store to buy some sharpies, and then I’ll start packing up my stuff. I’ve gotten really good at packing for cons over the years. You didn’t need to know that, but occasionally I like to share fun facts that make me seem cooler than I am.

If you’re going to the con, I found out that it’s super affordable to get in: $25 for the whole weekend including preview night tomorrow (I’ll be there for preview night, of course) or $20 on Saturday and $15 on Sunday. You know what rules even more than that? Kids under 10 are free! I love that the promoters are doing this, because it makes it an affordable family activity that allows geekdads and geekmoms to help their little geeklings gain levels in, uh, geek, I guess.

If you’re going to the con, and you’ve never been to a con before, you may want to read my GiR "Concerning Conventions" which I wrote after doing several conventions last year.

Here’s the schedule for Phoenix, by the way:

Friday Preview Night:

6:00 PM to 9:00 PM Vendor Room
6:30 PM to 11:45 PM Programming

Saturday:

10:00 AM to 7:00 PM Vendor Room
10 AM to 11:45 PM Programming <– I’m performing at 8pm! Come see me or I’ll cry.

Sunday:

10:00 AM to 5:00 PM Vendor Room
10:00 AM to 7:00 PM Programming

 

And there’s gaming! Did I mention that there’s gaming? Yeah, there’s gaming, and you can get a gaming-only ticket for just eight bucks. Eight bucks! If I hit a lull in signing and stuff, I am so going to the gaming area. While the leak in my roof would rather I didn’t have a lull, the geek in myself sure would like to play some German games, so I’m trying to convince myself that, either way, I win.

I plan to do a lot of conventions this year, partly because I’d like to fix this leak in my roof and finish some work around my house that’s been delayed for over a year, but mostly because I just love going to cons. I feel at home when I’m at a con, and if I don’t take care of my inner geek by going to conventions, he rebels in the most unsavory of ways. Everything I’ve seen about Phoenix Comic/Cactus Con makes me feel like this is the perfect way to kick off this year.

Semi-related, but on my mind so I’m posting it:

If I don’t finish it tonight, I’ll finish Elizabeth Bear‘s Hammered on the flight tomorrow. I really love this book, and can’t wait to review it. Candidates for the next book include Joe Haldeman’s Camouflage, Charlie Stross’ Atrocity Archives or Halting State, or The Science Fiction Hall of Fame anthology from 1970 that I picked up on your (that’s the royal "your") recommendation. I’m also working my way through Wastelands, which is an awesome post-apocalypse anthology, and perfect for picking up and putting down while you’re "really" reading something else. I’m also considering Spook Country, though after Hammered — which is the first post-cyberpunk novel I think I’ve ever read — I may want to go with something different, like maybe Kelly Link’s Magic for Beginners. Or maybe Coraline, which I’m deeply ashamed to admit I own, but have never read.

I just realized that I really like talking about books. Hm. Nice. Maybe I should get back to writing one.