If you don't know what I'm talking about when I mention the T'inator, I linked to it in the Annex a week or two or more ago. And in the sidebar on this page, there's a link that says "Mr. T pities this fool." Click on it to reach enlightenment. Or to see the best version of this page you can see.

And don't forget to click on link-colored phrases . . . those are soundfiles, too! (I didn't notice that the first few times).
posted at 9:43 AM Central Time <link>

I'm really not complaining, though. Honest.
posted at 9:37 AM Central Time <link>

Dangit! I missed the CD release party for the new Tim Malloys album last night. I completely forgot about the show (actually, I never heard the details originally, harrumph, but heard vague mentions of it and kept meaning to visit the website, etc). 'Course it's not as if the band doesn't play all the time. And they're opening for Boiled in Lead at tomorrow's St. Patrick's Day show.

Scott Raun just emailed me this link: The Rocky Horror Muppet Show.

I'm not sure further commentary is necessary or required. posted at 1:51 PM Central Time <link>

Musing: It seems like this year more webloggers have linked to the Tiptree award results than they did last year when one of our own-- weblogger Raphael Carter-- won the award. Then again, maybe it's just 'cuz there are many more weblogs this year.

(Y'all have read Raphael's fabulous book, though, right? And the Tiptree award-winning piece is fascinating and is in a wonderful anthology that I recommend highly). posted at 1:49 PM Central Time <link>

A fine new profile of Michelle Forbes [via The Links]:

'I miss Homicide terribly. I loved being there,' she reminisces about the Baltimore homecoming for Tom Fontana's Emmy-award winning series. 'It was just so wonderful to be back there and see this cast of characters, which I think is the most extraordinary cast that has ever been on television--that's my personal feeling.'

I suppose it goes without saying that I agree with her. She's been one of my favorite actors since her work on Guiding Light and Star Trek:TNG.

Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson are suing NBC [via The Links]:

The suit, filed this week in Los Angeles Superior Court, accuses the network of fraud and breach of contract for the way NBC handled the 1994 syndication sales for their much-lauded drama series 'Homicide: Life on the Street.'

It just occurred to me that both of the people (other than me) who've contributed to Windowseat Annex thus far will be in Minneapolis this weekend. That's saying something since one of 'em lives in Omaha and the other in Pittsburgh. And I don't think they've ever met each other. Will have to do some introductions at some point if our paths intersect. posted at 11:23 AM Central Time <link>

A friend sent me the URL for this Onion story with only the subject line of "Oh no!"

Oh no, indeed. posted at 11:21 AM Central Time <link>

Is anyone else confused by the new Victoria's Secret ads which show extremely scantily clad women and say "bare your body in a whole new way"? What new way? Skimpier underwear? Huh? This is new?

Perhaps everyone is supposed to be too distracted to listen to the words that go with the pictures. My bad. posted at 10:54 AM Central Time <link>

If you're still considering pre-registering for Minicon, though the deadline was yesterday-- we will accept registrations at the Minicon meeting or Minn-stf Pool Party on Saturday. Bug me if you need more info.
posted at 8:48 AM Central Time <link>

Science fiction writer John Sladek passed away earlier this week. I never met the man, but I knew he lived in the Minneapolis area and I enjoyed at least one of his books (Bugs). Sad to hear of his passing. The Star Tribune has a decent obituary. posted at 8:47 AM Central Time <link>

New version of Calypso-- my favorite Windows email client-- has been released.

Actually, version 3.1 initially came out in February and the most recent release contains mostly minor bugfixes, but I figured it's worth mentioning 'cuz I probably didn't get it mentioned back in February.

By the way, more and more people are telling me to avoid Mission to Mars at all costs. So I think I shall (or at least I'll wait 'til late run or video). posted at 8:44 AM Central Time <link>

So imagine my surprise and delight when a friend ICQ'ed me the URL for gabwhacker.com and I found that it's a site with a Scottie Dog Art Gallery and pictures of cheesy Made in Japan Scottie artifacts and dog stories and a small press and cutting edge web jokes.

And as if that weren't cool enough, turns out the site's proprietor is Carmen Carter-- a writer who penned a Star Trek book that I liked back when I was far too into Star Trek.

The site's got a cool name, too.
posted at 10:43 AM Central Time <link>

I was brought on by my mother as her carry-on
She had me in the toilet when the seat-belt sign was on
I crawled up to the captain down at the other end
I hid under the seats that's where I played pretend
And I ate the wild pretzel and the nuts that fell
And the screech of brakes was all I knew for my schoolbell
And I know I've got the whole world at my feet
In my window seat
- from the song "Windowseat" by John Wesley Harding off of his Awake album. (I decided on this domain name before the song came to be, but I love the song all the same)
posted at 3:25 PM Central Time <link>

Yes! You can preview songs from the forthcoming film soundtrack for High Fidelity. Including a new song from John Wesley Harding. And songs by The Kinks, Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan, Evlis Costello, Stereolab, Stevie Wonder, and others.
posted at 3:20 PM Central Time <link>

I've seen plenty of negative reviews of Mission to Mars, but so far I've seen some positive reviews from science fiction fans like Michael Rawdon and Bill "Whump" Humphries (to pick two fans out of the crowd who've expressed opinions re the movie on their webpages). [Since originally posting this, I've heard from some sf fans who really didn't like the film].

I almost went to see it with my friend Al on Saturday, but the theater was packed so we bailed on it and saw Wonderboys instead. Which we figured was probably the right choice. Will have to catch Mission to Mars sometime, though (even if only so I can kvetch about it later).

Maybe I should see if any of my Minn-stf friends want to form an expedition to see it.

Speaking of Minn-stf . . . there are two new mailing lists for Minn-stf members (anyone who's ever attended a Minn-stf party is considered a member) and their friends: events and natter whose names alone should tell you what they're about. I'm on both, of course. Nattering and eventing away. If you're in the Mpls area and have at least a passing interest in sf, you might find at least events worth a shot. Or you'll want to check Einblatt.

(Which reminds me, I've got a list of people I should really nag to make sure they've registered for Minicon. See my babbling entry below on the topic if you haven't yet).
posted at 12:30 PM Central Time <link>

WouldYouBelieve is, of course, a Get Smart webpage [via strange brew]. Excellent! I wanna know why it's the year 2000 and I don't have a shoe phone yet. Oh wait, cell phones that aren't built into shoes are probably more practical. D'oh.
posted at 12:06 PM Central Time <link>

Saw The Whole Nine Yards last night. Went in with fairly low expectations and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the movie. Matthew Perry, Bruce Willis, Michael Clark Duncan, Amanda Peet, Kevin Pollak, and Natasha Henstridge star in a crime comedy. Willis plays a hitman who moves in next door to a dentist played by Matthew Perry. Oh, I forgot, Rosanna Arquette plays his hideous wife. It's not as predictable as many of these kinds of films are (though I had much of it figured out pretty quickly). It's fun. Worth seeing at matinee prices (as I did) or at a late run theater or on video. Especially if you like Willis and/or Perry or the rest.

Also saw Wonderboys this past weekend. Michael Douglas, Frances McDormand, Tobey McGuire, and Robert Downey, Jr. star. With Katie Holmes, Richard Thomas, and Rip Torn. Directed by Curtis Hanson (of L.A. Confidential fame). I've not liked Douglas in many pictures for quite a few years now, but he's good as a scruffy, confused writer and English professor. It's a strange film and it doesn't have anything particularly profound to say, but I liked it a lot. Enjoyable while it lasted. Lots of neat little moments, I laughed probably more during it than Whole Nine Yards, though they're completely different kinds of comedies. Loved Downey, Jr. in it and it just makes me wish he'd get his act together so he could act more. Worth seeing at matinee prices and late run or on video. Possibly worth seeing for full price if you want to see something that isn't about a mission to Mars. Though it's not a film for everyone.

I'm delighted by this page which contains lyrics to all the Muppet songs from the Muppet movies [via /usr/bin/girl].

If you're a fan of Homicide: Life on the Street and you want a souvenir from the show . . . you could pay ridiculous prices for props and scripts and t-shirts and stills on eBay (okay, some of the stuff there is worth the price they're fetching, but much of it is out of control).

Where was I? Or you could buy copies of scripts from Homicide and other shows from Script Shop for reasonable prices. (And yeah, I've ordered from them before and I was pleased with their product and service).

You can also still order Homicide merchandise from emerchandise. They've got t-shirts and jackets and mousepads and shotglasses and other stuff. For Homicide and plenty of other shows and movies. I've been really pleased with their products and their customer service, too.

And I've recently developed an unhealthy addiction to eBay. I must be stopped.
posted at 1:43 PM Central Time <link>

I love my cable modem.
posted at 1:37 PM Central Time <link>

Speaking of software, the final release of Opera 3.62 for Windows is out. Woohoo! Now if they'd just get the Mac version out already . . . (much as I like iCab, it's no Opera).

I'll post links and/or rambles about what's going on in my life here as I see fit. Still getting back in the swing of things. Still contemplating a redesign. Still trying to decide if I want to focus this weblog on certain topics or be more journally or more webloggy or just go with the flow. For now, I'm going with the flow.

And speaking of Minicon and the Boiled in Lead show and weekend events-- the Minnesota Science Fiction Society's annual Pool Party is on March 18th at the Radisson South Hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota. Party is generally in one or more of the poolside suites at the far end of the pool, it starts at 2pm on Saturday and runs until whenever it ends (often well past 2am). If you've ever thought about checking out a Minn-stf party (we have 'em twice a month, usually in members' homes), Minicon, or a related event; but haven't done so yet . . . this is a good way to get your feet wet, meet some people, etc. And if we scare you, you can easily flee the scene. Er. And no, many of us don't actually use the pool at the party.

What you will find at the pool party? Food, drink, discussions. Poker, sometimes. Music parties, sometimes. Gaming, sometimes. Origami this year, or so I'm told. Some folks in the hottub and/or pool. Food. Drink. Discussions. Dinner expeditions to area restaurants with groups of friends (new or old). And did I mention the food and drink and discussions? Oh yeah, I'll be there probably for the whole thing (except possibly for an hour or two if I leave the building to get dinner). And I may even be helping host the event. Stop by and say "hi" if you're in the area.

Anyway, I highly recommend the show as well as the other little acoustic gig BiL is doing earlier in the day (the show link has info on both). I'll be there, as ever, as always. One of my fave events of the year, it's generally over far too soon.

Why attend Minicon 35? Well, we've got some great guests-- writer Maureen McHugh, artist John Berkey, and fan Lenny Bailes. There'll be great places to relax and eat and drink and socialize. We'll have a cool dealer's room full of spiff stuff as well as a fine art show and an even finer exhibit of John Berkey's art. There'll be good coffee drinks and wonderful music, too (of the performance kind and the casual music circle variety). Great parties. Interesting and stimulating panel discussions. All this, plus Jane Yolen will tell bedtime stories (y'know, she's been called America's Hans Christian Anderson, right?).

Highlights from last year? A talk about the "fannish accent" (who knew that science fiction fans talk differently than the rest of the people in the world?). Ask Dr. Mike--wherein John M. Ford answered serious and silly questions in amazing ways. Neil Gaiman and other fine folks discussing all things Batman. Jane Yolen's bedtime stories. Octavia Butler talking about her work as well as discussing the classic sf story "The Cold Equations" Bruce Schneier's lecture on spy technology. And all sorts of other cool stuff.

Anyway, it's a cool science fiction convention. It's held Easter weekend (this year that's April 21-23) at the Minneapolis Hilton (it's a good idea to reserve a room if you're going and haven't yet).