Peter Hodges

Someone likes BSG a bit too much, I think.

Popular Science has a feature story about some BSG geeks who have built a fairly functional Viper cockpit in order to play a flight sim based on the television show.

Of course, if I had this in my living room, I’d think I was pretty cool.

Here in my home state of Texas, the TSA is eager to show that they are the boss of transportation. Their latest fiasco involves forcing Mandi  Hamlin to remove her nipple piercings before being allowed to travel on a plane from Lubbock, TX to Dallas, TX.

“I wouldn’t wish this experience upon anyone,” Mandi Hamlin said at a news conference. “My experience with TSA was a nightmare I had to endure. No one deserves to be treated this way.”

Let’s not debate the merits of nipple piercings here. The simple fact is that they are items of jewelry. People are allowed on planes with earrings, nose studs, and god forbid, tongue piercings, so what’s the big deal?

Hamlin said she heard male TSA agents snickering as she took out the ring. She was scanned again and was allowed to board even though she still was wearing a belly button ring.

Truthfully, what’s the difference between two nipple piercings and a belly button ring? The story surrounding this sounds remarkably fishy. Were I a betting man, it is my take that Mandi Hamlin is the victim not of overzealous TSA thugs personnel but of an adolescent prank. While it may be true that her appearance drew undue attention to herself (nipple piercings suggest a less than mainstream appearance), her treatment at the hands of the thugs ”agents” assigned to guarantee the security of our skies is both reprehensible and questionable.

The modern-day Gestapo TSA Web site suggests that body piercings are only removed if a person refuses a pat-down search. Her attorney, Gloria Allred, said that Hamlin was not offered the option of a pat down. Allred has sent a letter to the TSA’s Office of Civil Rights and Liberties as a means of formal complaint.

(The TSA has an Office of Civil Rights and Liberties? Isn’t that like Hitler having an office for the promotion of Jewish Culture?)

Think Patrick Rothfuss got gypped out of a Hugo nomination? You can still vote for him in the Locus Awards. He’s in the category for “Best First Novel.” If you are an active reader in the science fiction community, there are some impressive nominees this year in other categories as well. If you’ve read the works in question and you liked them, I would encourage you to vote.

A valid email address is required for your vote to count.

Below the cut is the continuation of our interview with Patrick Rothfuss. Our questions are a bit more whimsical in this section as we loosened up during the course of the discussion.

One final note: The first question in this interview was asked before the Hugo nominations were announced. Like several bloggers in the industry (including John Scalzi), we were surprised that Patrick was not nominated for a Hugo award. In my opinion, this is a travesty. I’m not taking away anything from the folks who were nominated, but I think that the best fantasy novel in a long time deserves the nod.

With no further ado, here are the rest of Pat’s answers. Continue Reading »

If you need a primer, here it is.

Seasons one and two were beyond awesome; the first and last of season three was excellent, but the middle of the season made me think the writers had lost their way. If you missed any of them, season three is now on DVD.

If you’re curious about season four, UGO reports on the BSG Press Conference [Fixed - Ed.] held in NYC. At the press conference, Edward James Olmos, who plays Admiral William Adama, had this to say:

It’s devastating… don’t watch this program; it’s not an easy ride.

Creepy! My personal hope is that Starbuck is not a cylon. We’ll see, won’t we, Precious?

Special thanks to Graeme McMillian and his blog for the BSG tips.

Interviews: The month of April is full of interview goodness! We have Tom Kratman, author of A Desert Called Peace, Carnifex, and Caliphate, followed by S. M. Stirling, author of The Sunrise Lands and other books too numerous to name chatting with us. If you’re a fan of military science fiction, April is the month for you! Stay tuned tomorrow for the completion of Patrick Rothfuss’ interview with us.

Reviews: We’re looking at several reviews in the next few weeks. We’re going to talk about Mike McPhail’s anthology Breach the Hull, Charlie Stross’ Merchant Prince series, and Scott Lynch’s Red Seas Under Red Skies.

Podcasts will be resuming next week. After much discussion, we’ve decided to podcast Loss of Innocence in its entirety over the rest of the year. We’ll take occasional breaks to feature work from Kate or from short stories written by yours truly so that we break up the long narrative. The “O’Leary Letters” will be woven into the narrative at appropriate locations, so if you’ve been a fan of Kate’s recent foray into literature, don’t miss the rest of the story.

If I can continually show enough participation in these threads, I’m going to start a small giveaway (likely a new trade paperback) twice per month.

As usual, place your captions below.