PSC: Celebrate Spooky Science!

Posted on behalf of Pacific Science Center

Celebrate Spooky Science!
Halloween weekend is here and we have just the thing for families who want to add some discovery to their trick or treating: Haunted Hikes at the Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center in Bellevue! These popular spooky nighttime hikes take you through the trails at the Slough and give you a glimpse of how the nocturnal side lives. Some of the hourly night hikes have sold out, but we still have openings Friday and Sunday this weekend. Pre-registration is required. Learn More

Learn All About Night Vision!
To get you ready for a Haunted Hike, our teachers have put together a neat little nighttime activity for kids and adults that will teach you all about seeing in the dark. Take a look then come join us for a Haunted Hike!

Science Of BOO! At Barnes & Noble
Visit the Barnes & Noble Pacific Place (only a quick monorail ride away from Pacific Science Center), this Saturday, October 31 for Halloween with Pacific Science Center. From 1-4 p.m., dress up and trick-or-treat from one station to the next creating everything from thaumatropes to masks and fake scars! Lots of prizes and surprises and don't forget to mention Pacific Science Center when you make any purchase; a percentage will be donated to support our programs.

For fun: "Hard Choices" by Tina Connolly - the game

"Hard Choices" by Portland author Tina Connolly was originally published in Brain Harvest: An Almanac of Bad Ass Speculative Fiction. The choose your own adventure flash game can also be found at GUD Magazine (Greatest Uncommon Denominator: Literary + Genre Fiction, Poetry, Art and Articles). Watch out for shapeshifters!

Birkensnake reading tonight at Inner Chapters

The delightfully odd-leaning literary magazine, Birkensnake, celebrates the publication of its second issue with a reading 7:30 p.m., Mon., Oct. 26 at Inner Chapters Bookstore & Cafe, 419 Fairview Ave. N., Seattle (South Lake Union neighborhood) with readings by Matt Briggs, Caren Gussoff, Evelyn Hampton, and Tina Connolly.

Or, read the stories in Birkensnake, and connect with some of the authors' other projects, online:

"Knot" by Matt Briggs, who writes for Reading Local Seattle and the column, "Rediscovered Reading" for Fictionaut Blog;

"Correspondence" by Caren Gussoff, co-editor of Brain Harvest: an Almanac of Bad Ass Speculative Fiction;

"Sag: A Saga" by Evelyn Hampton, editor of Dewclaw, a magazine of prose, poetry, and illustration; and

"A Day Out, With Stereoscopes" by Tina Connolly, who contributes stories to, Escape Pod, the science fiction podcast magazine, and PodCastle, the fantasy fiction podcast.

Boxcar Astronaut for 10/25/09

Boxcar Astronaut #137: Ben Returns!
Greetings, Fellow Astronauts! Poor Ben has been suffering from amnesia for quite some time now. His best friend, Devin is getting desperate. How can he possibly get Ben to remember who he is and all the fun they used to have? Will things ever get back to normal in the backyard? Tune into this week's All New Boxcar Astronaut for the surprising resolution to the biggest trouble ever faced by our backyard heroes!

Steamcon is this weekend, so put your goggles on and take a look at Clockworks: A Steampunk Adventure. And remember to get your scares at SpookyDoofus.com!

I Wanna Read SF Anarchy

Sad to have missed Common Action's panel, "Beyond The Dispossessed: Anarchism and Science Fiction" at the Seattle Anarchist Bookfair earlier this month.

The panel consisted of L. Timmel Duchamp (she's posted about the panel at Ambling Along the Aqueduct), Eileen Gunn, Kristin King, Saab Lofton, Nisi Shawl, and Ariel Wetzel (she blogs over at FeministSF — The Blog!).

They discussed major works of anarchist and leftist science fiction, and anarchist themes in science fiction and the relationship between social movements and science fiction and the transformative power of speculative literature.

Fortunately, there's still time to check out the books, with thanks to the feministsf.net listserv, Ariel Wetzel and Chris Shaffer for the intel.

Here's Common Action's recommended reading list distributed to attendees:
Zainab Amadahy: The Moons of Palmares
MT Anderson: Feed
Iain M. Banks: Consider Phlebas, The Player of Games, Use of Weapons
Octavia Butler: Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents
Samuel R. Delany: Triton
Cory Doctorow: Little Brother, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
L. Timmel Duchamp: Alanya to Alanya, Renegade, Tsunami, Blood in the
Fruit, Stretto
Eileen Gunn: Stable Strategies and Others
Nalo Hopkinson: Midnight Robber, So Long Been Dreaming (Ed.)
Ursula K. LeGuin: The Dispossessed, Always Coming Home, Four Ways to
Forgiveness
Saab Lofton: A.D.
Ken MacLeod: The Star Fraction, The Stone Canal, The Cassini Division
China Mieville: Iron Council, Un Lun Dun, Perdido Street Station
Alan Moore: V for Vendetta
Grant Morrison: The Invisibles
Pat Murphy: The City, Not Long After
Chris Newport: The White Bones of Truth
Marge Piercy: Woman on the Edge of Time, He She and It
Philip Pullman: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass
Kim Stanley Robinson: Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars, Antarctica
Joanna Russ: The Female Man
Nisi Shawl: Filter House
Starhawk: The Fifth Sacred Thing
Charles Stross: Singularity Sky, Iron Sunrise
Michael Swanwick: The Iron Dragon's Daughter
Amy Thompson: The Color of Distance
Brian K. Vaughan: Y The Last Man
Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchelli: DMZ

And a few further resources:
Anarchism and science fiction, A reading list by Ben Beck
Fifty Fantasy & Science Fiction Works That Socialists Should Read
Feminist Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Utopia: http://feministsf.org/

Chris Shaffer, on the feministsf list, also compiled a some recommendations mentioned at the panel including audience suggestions. Here are some of them:
Suzy McKee Charnas: Walk to the End of the World
Samuel R. Delany: Stars in my Pocket Like Grains of Sand and Dhalgren
Harlan Ellison: 'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman
William Gibson: Idoru
Sarah Hall: The Carhullan Army
Cecelia Holland: Floating Worlds
Saab Lofton: The Strange Case of Sarah Manlove
Paul McAuley: The Quiet War
Rohinton Mistry: A Fine Balance
Alice Nunn: Illicit Passage
George Orwell: Nineteen Eighty-Four
Joanna Russ: The Two of Them
Joan Slonczewski: A Door into Ocean, Still Forms on Foxfield
Bruce Sterling: Islands in the Net, Maneki Neko

Just for laughs: Corn Pops Zombie Commercial

Corn Pops vs. Zombies. Yes!



If any of you readers out there are inspired to come up with a Halloween treat based on Corn Pops and having a zombie theme then go ahead and post them in the comments.

PSC: Animation Festival Slated For December

Posted on behalf of the Pacific Science Center:

Pacific Science Center again welcomes Animaticus Foundation for the 2D or Not 2D Animation Festival on December 5, 2009. This year promises another amazing line-up of cutting edge animation. With the full day pass you can check out all films submitted to the festival, Pacific Science Center's Animation exhibit, attend the awards presentation and cap off the evening with the North American premiere of Secret of Kells, introduced by director Tomm Moore and art director Ross Stewart.

→Learn More

Kung Fu Grindhouse: Night of Terrors

Kung Fu Grindhouse will be presenting "Night of Terrors" zombie fest featuring "Dead and Breakfast" at 7pm, then "The Dead Next Door" at 8:30" and finally the epically Italian "After Death" at 10pm.

When: Monday, October 19, 2009, 6:00 PM to 12:00 AM PDT

Where: Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave., Seattle, WA 98107 (Ballard District)

Boxcar Astronaut for 10/18/09

Boxcar Astronaut #136: Gotta Go Back in Time!
Greetings, Fellow Astronauts! Poor Devin is at his wit's end with Ben's current state of amnesia. In his desperation, he turns to the only one in the back yard with the power to help Ben, Robot. What drastic and potentially dangerous action does Robot suggest? Will Robot's plan destabilize the very fabric of space and time? Keep reading Boxcar Astronaut each and every week for all the answers!

Also with Steamcon just around the corner some of you may be interested in Clockworks: A Steampunk Adventure, so give it a look. And remember to get your scares at SpookyDoofus.com!

NY Times: Even Rabbit Droppings Count in Nuclear Cleanup

I wonder if I am the only one who thinks of Night of the Lepus when reading this NY Times article regarding the clean up at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation:

Even Rabbit Droppings Count in Nuclear Cleanup

It's a pretty interesting article that's worth checking out.

Cheers ~ Jim

Boxcar Astronaut for 10/11/09

Boxcar Astronaut #135: Diogee’s secret origin!
Greetings, Fellow Astronauts! Our hero is still suffering the effects of amnesia, failing to recognize his faithful dog, Diogee. It's up to Devin to try to jog Ben's memory by explaining to him how Diogee got his unusual name. Is the bond between boy and dog stronger than the amnesia? Can anything bring Ben back to normal? Is there any hope? Keep tuning in to Boxcar Astronaut for all the answers!

And be sure to get your scares at SpookyDoofus.com!

Boxcar Astronaut for 10/04/09

Boxcar Astronaut #134: Are you ready for some football?
Greetings, Fellow Astronauts... or should I say Quarterbacks? Strange things are afoot in the backyard ever since Ben fell out of the tree and bumped his head. With his memory gone, Ben's mind has begun to forge a new persona. Gone, it seems, are the whimsical days of imaginary spaceships, toy blasters, and plastic space helmets. Now Ben's attentions have turned to touchdowns, field goals, and padded football helmets. Is this the end of life as we know it in the backyard? Can Devin find away to get Ben's memories back? Will we have to change the name of this strip to Box Score Quarterback?! Find out all the answers in the weeks to come in Boxcar Astronaut!

PS: Boxcar Astronaut artist Marc Lapierre will launching a new webcomic on Monday called Spooky Doofus. It can be found at http://www.spookydoofus.com. It's a comedy that takes place in a world populated by all sorts of classic monsters like werewolves, ghosts, vampires, fishmen, etc. They all live everyday lives like us mortals. They hold down jobs, go on dates, hang out with friends, and all that fun stuff. For this week Marc will be posting new strips Monday through Friday, then after that the comic will be on a Tuesday and Thursday schedule.