This Is the Best Dinosaur Fossil of Its Kind Ever Found

The 110 million-year-old fossil of a nodosaur preserves the animal’s armor, skin, and what may have been its final meal. The 5-year-old in me, who wanted to be a paleontologist, is thrilled beyond measure. The 49-year-old me is almost as stoked.

And here’s another piece, from Gizmodo, looking at how it “still has it’s skin.

Roll the d20 for damage…

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So I just read this book – Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons by Michael Witwer and my initial thought was that it “Makes me long to find my dice and get a campaign up and running…”

This got me thinking about D&D and role-playing and creative endeavors and all that stuff.

Continue reading “Roll the d20 for damage…”

Steve Valentine’s – MAGIC ON THE GO

Okay, so you all know I am an aficionado of the magical arts. That is to say, I loves me a good card trick. I also really enjoy learning the methods and the  psychology behind a great performance of magic as well. This was often the focus of the many articles I wrote for Magic Magazine over the years.

And now, Steve Valentine, twice awarded by the Magic Castle (lecturer and close-up magician of the year), has started Magic on the Go, a kinda “Netflix of magic” so if you’ve ever wanted to learn from one of the best, now’s your chance.

May the Fourth Be With You: Princess Leia’s Stolen Death Star Plans

PLSDSP_AlbumCoverPalette-Swap Ninja, whom I have never heard of before, is a parody band who focus on geek culture. This year, in honor of the 40th anniversary of Star Wars: A New Hope and the 50th Anniversary of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band they did what anyone would naturally do — mashed up the two.

That’s right, it’s Princess Leia’s Stolen Death Star Plans! #PLSDSP Continue reading “May the Fourth Be With You: Princess Leia’s Stolen Death Star Plans”

Wonder Gal | David Magazine

David May 17 CoverThis month, for David Magazine, I take a look at the new Wonder Woman film starring Gal Godot, as well as a brief history of the character and her creator. Of course, while you’re there, you might want to check out this related article about women in the Israeli army (of which Gadot herself was a member a few years back)

At the same time, there’s some interesting commentary happening at The Mary Sue about the lack of advertising and promotion for this film.

The Shape of Stories

I use the Vonnegut clip which ends this piece all the time in writing classes. It’s fascinating in that we absolutely can map the arc, but it’s the details where it all gets interesting.

Plus, they use a Čiurlionis image in the header, which is just cool!

Source: The Six Main Stories, As Identified by a Computer – The Atlantic

My summer reading list

9801b20afd15afe67902f7cc43eb3e23Last year, Best SciFi Books.com published a list of the top 17 pulp science fiction novels. While I may or may not agree these all qualify as “pulp” they are certainly a great list to get you started reading. In fact, the site has some other great lists, all of which are perfect for fostering the kind of geeky debates I sorely miss. For example, here’s their top 10 underwater SF books (of particular interest to me) as well as the 29 Best Alien Invasion Science Fiction Books and The 23 Best Science Fiction Books by Female Authors!

Of course, if all you’re interested in are the covers, check out this Pinterest page! I wish they were still honestly putting out books with these covers, as opposed to doing it self consciously or with a wink, nod and tongue firmly planted in cheek. Maybe I should write one?

Either way, though, there’s some mighty fine books for summer.

Let the debates begin!

It’s my potty…

618zvoded1l-_sy355_A few weeks ago, Rasa told me she wanted to buy Monki a potty.

Now, Monki was a few weeks shy of 9 months old at the time and, being an American, where potty training doesn’t usually start until sometime after 18 months or so, I figured she was a little early, no matter how smart or clever our baby was.  Continue reading “It’s my potty…”

An Ode…

So I have this Media Pop Culture class and in it, we look at different aspects of pop culture things. Two weeks ago, we looked at music and pop stars and their responsibilities as celebrities. The assignment was to make a music video that had a point to it. They could use any song and any images.

When two students asked if they could write a song, of course I said “of course.”

This is the result.