It's not official, but scientists at JPL and NASA have taken to calling one of the major features on the surface of Pluto . . . Cthulhu.

Starting at the white "heart" in the middle of the image, look down and to the left. The big black patch that starts near the bottom of the "heart" and wraps around Pluto's horizon to the left is "Cthulhu".

The article at the Huffington Post says this about it:

Since Pluto is named for the Roman god of the underworld, the names of its features are receiving monikers based on subterranean and suboceanic characters from fiction and mythology.

One of the dark regions near Pluto's south pole, initially called "The Whale" when first spotted from a more distant photo, has now been dubbed Cthulhu, one of the terrible "Great Old Ones" from the stories of H.P. Lovecraft [emphasis mine]. . . .

Other features have been named for Meng-p'o, the Buddhist goddess of forgetfulness and amnesia, and Balrog, a demon from JRR Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" series. Two features, Vucub-Came and Hun-Came, are named for Mayan death gods. There's also Krun, named for a Mandaean lord of the underworld, and Ala, the Ibo ruler of the underworld.

As I said, it's not official . . . but it could be! The International Astronomical Union, which is responsible for the official naming of celestial objects, often gives naming priority to the discoverers of objects and features. And since the "discovering" scientists are already calling it Cthulhu, the IAU might just decide to go ahead and let that name stand.

Wouldn't that be just AWESOME?!?

Cthulhu = Cult, huh?

Working Class Superhero = Surreal hick power songs

Geek Mythology = Google key myth

Wow. I'm doing SIX SHOWS this month! Three at WesterCon, one at Gam3rCon, and two at BAMF!

Here are all the deets:

July 3rd, 2015 - 2:30 PM
WesterCon show with Allison Lonsdale!
Town and Country Resort 500 Hotel Circle North San Diego, CA 92108
http://westercon68.org/ - Price: $85 (4-day pass) or $40 (1-day)

Allison Lonsdale and I will will be sharing a set at this year's combined WesterCon68/ConJecture 13/ConChord 27 (in Pacific 1), and we will break out a whole slew of our geekiest stuff, ranging in topic from vampires to cyberpunk to Firefly.

July 4th, 2015, 8:30pm (approx) AND July 5th, 2015 - 2:30 PM
In My Humble Opinion performs "Won't You Scatter My Ashes" at WesterCon/ConJecture/ConChord 2015!
Town and Country Resort 500 Hotel Circle North San Diego, CA 92108
http://westercon68.org/ - Price: $80 (3-day pass), or $40 (1 day)

My band, In My Humble Opinion, is doing a performance of "Won't You Scatter My Ashes" at the WesterCon Masquerade half-time (approximately 8:30pm) on Saturday, July 4th--and a SECOND performance at 2:30pm on Sunday, July 5th!

When we performed "Won't You Scatter My Ashes" at ConJecture 2013 and ConDor 2014, we received rave reviews. We're excited to be performing it again--and we're even MORE excited to announce that CD'S OF THE SET WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR SALE! So if you're coming to WesterCon already, be sure to come see the show! And if you hadn't decided yet, this is a good reason to go.

July 9th, 2015 - 6:00 PM
The Gam3rCon Rooftop Concert!
10th Avenue Theater 930 Tenth Avenue San Diego, CA 92101
http://www.gam3rcon.com/

The Gam3rCon show is always a whole lot of fun, 'cause it's on a FRIGGIN' ROOF! I mean, come on, how awesome is that? I'll be playing for an hour starting at 6pm on Thursday, July 9th, which is the first day of Comic-Con. So when you're fed up with waiting in long lines and sweating away your precious water in the dealer's room, come over to the Tenth Street Theater and see a show!

July 10th, 2015 - July 12th, 2015 - 10:00 AM
The Big Awesome Music Festival (BAMF!)
Ruocco Park 585 Harbor Ln San Diego, CA 92101 USA
http://www.theBAMFest.com/ - Price: $15-$50 (for basic ticket)

I will be performing at the Big Awesome Music Festival (BAMF), which is running concurrently with San Diego Comic-Con on July 10th, 11th, and 12th. Tickets can be pre-ordered from their IndieGoGo fundraiser page, here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bamf/#/story

My sets will be 8:30pm on Friday, July 10th, and at 4:45 on Sunday, July 12th.

Ticket prices are discounted for SDCC badge-holders. However, any amount of support (from $5 up) will get you a download of the official BAMF theme song, composed by ME! You can listen to a short version of the song by going to the fundraiser page and watching the video at the top.

The talent lineup is pretty amazing! Me (obviously), The Doubleclicks, Paul & Storm, Mike Phirman, Kirby Krackle, and Molly Lewis. Plus, there will be quiddich matches organized by U.S. Quiddich and an interactive performance by The League of S.T.E.A.M.

If you only ever make it to San Diego for Comic Con, this is your chance to see me perform live! And even if you're a local, this is gonna be an AWESOME show! (Hey, it's right there in the title, after all...)

I'm on the Pacific Surfliner at Van Nuys station as I write this. I'm on the first leg of my trip up to San Luis Obispo to watch a burlesque troop called SLO Tease put on a show. Why? Because one of the dancers, Crocodile Tears, is doing a sword dance to the tune of "Hey There Cthulhu"! :)

Taking the train is awesome. Free muffins! Free coffee! Free snacks!

FREE WINE! Holy smokes, who gives out free wine anymore? Seriously.

Anyway, I just felt like checking in. I'll be on periodically, so emails and LJ comments will still reach me in a reasonable time.

Apparently there's a guy in G+ who a) believes himself to be the Archangel Michael, and b) has taken it upon himself to launch a crusade against Cthulhu in general and my video in particular.

No, I'm not going to name him, because, seriously, the guy is laughable. And unhinged. And it's not nice to make fun of the laughably unhinged. And besides, attention is what this guy wants. I only bring it up because I thought you all might find the situation amusing. ;-)

With apologies to Whedon, Whedon, Whedon, and Tancharoen.

EDIT 12/16: Okay, so apparently the shout out to the authors wasn't enough of a clue as to the tune. This is to the tune of "Bad Horse Chorus" from Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

Cthulhu Cthorus

Cthulhu! Cthluhu! Cthluhu! Cthulhu!

He sleeps beneath the ocean ’til old gods come to reign
He placed that awful notion deep inside your brain
So give him your devotion, or he’ll drive you insane
I take that back! It isn’t true!
His devotees are crazy too.

Cthulhu! Cthulhu! Cthulhu! He’s big!

He’s neither good nor evil; he’s just beyond our ken
He sleeps, but we believe he’ll one day rise again
So make you way, good people; your time is at an end
The stars are right! The tales are true!
Ph’nglwi M’glwnahf! Praise Cthulhu!

ConJecture/ConChord just released the programming schedule for the upcoming con (October 18th through 20th), and here is my schedule for it:

[EDIT: I'm no longer on the Turning Fandom Into Fame panel, as it's opposite the Kazoo Awards. Also, I'm now moderating the Concept Albums with SF Themes panel.]

Friday
5:00pm in Brittany: Ebert Was Wrong: Video Games Can Be Art with Belle, Neal Hallford, Donna Keeley, and Morgan Lair
10:00pm in Windsor Rose: Kazoo Nominee Song Circle (if I'm nominated, and probably even if I'm not)

Saturday
11:00am in Brittany: Look What They've Done To My Song, Ma! with Ursus Aureus, Lee Gold, Kay Shapero, Nick Smith, and TOM SMITH!
1:00pm in Chanticleer: Totally Tasteless & Tacky Revue hosted by Tim Griffin
3:00pm in Eaton: Don't Forget Your Towel: The Enduring Legacy of the Hitch-Hiker's Guide with Thomas Benson, Amy Berner, Neal Hallford, and Gary Westfahl
7:00pm in Brittany: Concept Albums with SF Themes (moderating) with Clark Chimp, Sue Dawe, and David J. Peterson
10:00pm in Chanticleer: Concert: In My Humble Opinion with Don Parrish-Bell, Randy Parrish-Bell, Wolf Klauschie, and Aedwyrd.

Sunday
11:00am in Clarendon: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to R'lyeh (moderating) with Esther Friesner, Morgan Lair, Allison Lonsdale, Mark Miner, and Eric Rand
12:00pm in Chanticleer: The Kazoo Awards
2:30 in Chanticleer: Concert: Allison Lonsdale and Eben Brooks

I hope to see some of you there!

I didn't post about it on Sunday like I should have, but the H.P Lovecraft Film Festival Kickstarter reached its goal of $8,000 on Sunday morning with four days to spare!

Yay! I'm so very happy! :D Thank you to everyone who contributed! You are wonderful, wonderful people.

This year, I'm actually schedule to perform at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Los Angeles at the end of September. However, their Kickstarter to raise the funds to put the festival on this year has only one week left to go and over $3,400 left to raise! So please, pass the word along about this Kickstarter campaign to anyone and everyone who you think would be interested in supporting it. It means a lot to me and to hundreds of Lovecraft fans who attend this thing. Thank you!

EDIT: Apparently, not everyone can see the embedded widget below, which has the link to the kickstarter. So here's a plain link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/906612014/hp-lovecraft-film-festival-and-cthulhucon-los-ange

Also, they're now up to $5,139 collected, so they need $2,861 more!

UPDATE 2013-AUG-07 08:47 PDT
I've changed the order of some of the lyrics and changed one spot that I think needed it.

-------

I normally don't listen to Daft Punk that much, but their song "Get Lucky" has been on the radio a lot recently, and ... well, you know how it goes.

Getting Geeky, music by Daft Punk, lyrics by Eben Brooks

Here's a woman dressed like Phoenix; she builds gadgets like the Batman
Superheroes, electronics; geek culture's where it's at, man. Uh-huh!

We've come too far to give up who we are
We're each our own star, and this place is all ours

He's up all night playing cards
She's up all night with the bards
They're up all night for the stars
We're up all night getting geeky

He's up all night D&D
She's up all night to party
They're up all night to be free
We're up all night getting geeky

We're up all night getting geeky (x4)

( rest under the cutCollapse )