A Bio-luminescent Future

Saturday was the annual Halloween Party at the HOF. Pictures will be forthcoming. My main contribution to the party (besides general help setting it up) was in the lighting department. In particular, I contrived to generate mason jars full of a murky liquid that radiated an eerie glow in a variety of colors. Most party goers seemed to be pretty impressed by them. I know I was.

At one point in the evening, I spoke to Elyse about a concept I have that's related to my science fiction novel. In the novel, a small group of people have access to some pretty far out bio-engineering technology. One of the many non-reproductive artificial life-forms they've created is a type of tree/bush that constantly produces small fruit-like organs. These fruit-like bodies produce luciferin during the day and luciferase at night. The enzyme (luciferase) and the substrate (luciferin) combine after dark to generate a soft green (or whatever color you want I suppose) glow and are used as a means of lighting public spaces (and private ones as well, I suppose.)

Anyhow, the point that I'm getting to is that said organisms already exist!

Gay Book Signings Are Not Different From Straight Books Signings!!!

'Twon and I were chatting on the phone this morning. After a while we got off track and started wandering through a discussion of what makes a twink a twink. We bumped into Lance Bass, who kindly offered himself up as a proto-typical (though rapidly aging) twinkbot. Naturally, he was followed (at a respectable distance so as not to get any twink on his smooth, worked out chest) by Reichen.

Distracted by all things Reichen (Did you know that his original name was Richard and that he's not actually a German citizen?) I sent 'Twon on his merry way. Perusing through Reichen's personal website I discovered that he's just written a book on being closeted and in the Air Force Academy.

He wants you (the potential book purchaser) to know that you DO NOT need an invitation (it's at the bottom of the book tour schedule) to attend a book signing. For some reason, I find this amusing. If I ever manage to get something published, I hope I don't have to make this clarification to my potential readers.

Oh, and by the way, in case you were lucky enough to be invited, the appropriate dress for a Book Party at the Broadway Bar and Grill is business casual, not a fishnet thong.

I Have Seen It

My prediction for future episodes of BSG.

Baltar will be put in some sort of position of power over the Cylons as a counter to the loss of consensus that the Cylons appear to be experiencing. This jives pretty well with the original series.

I'm still waiting for the Space Nazi's and the Glowing Angels.

Inflatable Klingon War-Birds

In Robert Jordan's blog, a recent entry talks about how a writer friend had died. One of the works of this fellow that Jordan mentions is "How Much For Just The Planet?" Jordan considers this to be the only Star Trek comedy ever written.

The little gears in my brain start spinning and I think to myself, "I've read what can only be described as a Star Trek comedy. I wonder if it's the same book?" I pop over to Amazon and look the title up. Sure enough, it IS the novel in question, one of only two I've ever consumed.

I'm not sure I would consider it "good" but it does contain a number of hilarious descriptive scenes that to this day occasionally pop into mind when my brain starts wandering. Just to get a sense of what this literary masterpiece contains, here's a short list of things I remember.

• Di-lithium cookies sheets.
• A partially inflated Klingon War-Bird.
• A Pie fight between the crew of the Enterprise and a number of Klingon diplomats.
• A replicator that uncontrollably spits peppermint milkshake all over the inside of a cramped escaped pod.
• An avian-based humanoid star fleet officer that eats what looks like a bird seed ice cream cone.

Good times.