Topics of conversation on first day of our trip included:

• Porn pet peeves
• Egalitarianism in porn, and whether it’s possible in straight porn
• Why gay porn seems much more fun than straight porn
• John’s habit of dating actresses and stewardesses
• Creepy S&M guys who get into that scene because they’ve found a socially accepatable way to hit women.

Currently somewhere between Scottsdale and Flagstaff. A picture gallery is going up here.

So, while I was in San Diego, plans fell together for me to make a cross-country road trip with my best friend John from California to Pennsylvania. It’s kind of last minute, so there isn’t going to be a hell of a lot of stuff here for about two weeks or so. You’re welcome to follow along on my Twitter feed and my Flickr feed, both of which will be updated when possible, and I may manage to squeeze in some posts here and there as time permits.

Until then, behave, be good, and enjoy some of my new Wildcat sketches.

Bimbos of the Death Sun, 1988, Sharyn McCrumb
The thing I find most chilling about this murder mystery set at a science-fiction convention is that, yep, the fandom traits and personalities it describes are still with us. In force.

Theatre of War, 1994, Justin Richards
Some nice sci-fi concepts in here, with considerable focus on Benny, working an archeological dig on a planet whose mono-culture was obsessed with drama, while a big galactic war goes on, waged by a militaristic culture obsessed with drama.
You can see where all this is headed, right?
The mysterious Irving Braxiatel finally shows up, after being alluded to in the 70s, and his presumed connection to the Doctor is hinted at, in the ongoing effort to instill some mystery into the Doctor’s never revealed back-story.

Shame about that cover, though…

Legacy, 1994, Gary Russell
All this time later I’m still disappointed that they didn’t title this The Legacy of Peladon.
So, remember a little while ago, when I said that No Future was a bit of a “Who Nerds Only” book? This book references both previous Peladon stories, Trial of a Time Lord, The Dalek’s Master Plan, and probably a half-dozen or so others I’m forgetting. And it doesn’t care, it’s just a joyous continuity-wank of a book, and I think that’s why I like it more. It’s not trying to be anything other than a big shout-out to Who fans.
It also introduced the hamster-like aliens, the Pakhar, which I irrationally love for their seeming silliness, and brings Alpha Centauri back, who is my favorite character to remind Who-fans that drone on about “gravitas” about.
Plus, Ice Warriors. Hard to go wrong with Ice Warriors.
_{I will not complain if they don’t get mentioned in Waters of Mars, I promise.}

Tragedy Day, 1994, Gareth Roberts
Who as social satire. Very heavy-handed social satire at that. (A boy-band called “Fancy That?” Really?) And then the huge body-count hits, and you start to feel a little bit bad about laughing at the funny bits as it all goes a bit dark and dire.