Grand Cavalcade of Random Links

I got a bunch of 'em this time. With comments!

The Butcher Block: A podcast for fans of Jim Butcher's books. I haven't had the chance to listen to it yet, but it looks like the most recent edition has some commentary on the Dresden Files TV series and its differences from the books, as well as a cut from a forthcoming audiobook version of one of the Dresden novels.

Fly Your Name to Mars: The Planetary Society is putting together a DVD that will fly on the Phoenix Mars probe, featuring a collection of Mars-themed literature and art, as well as the names of all its members and anyone else who cares to submit one. Just give them your name by February first, then sit back and wait for the future Mars colonists to find the disc and read it.

Mr. Deity: Short, humorous videos featuring Mr. Deity, the all-powerful, sort-of-all-knowing creator of the universe. Likely to offend some and amuse others. Or possibly both at once.

The Pulling Report: A 1990 report thoroughly debunking the idea -- then taken with disturbing seriousness by the US justice system -- that a plague of satan-worshipping Dungeons & Dragons players was sweeping the nation, causing teen suicides and other mayhem. Not exactly current events, but as a gamer, I found it interesting reading. Best quote: "If games were anything more than a form of entertainment, everyone who ever won a game of Monopoly would magically become a Donald Trump and good Risk players would have taken over the world."

Star Trek: The Next Generation Recaps: Wil Wheaton recaps old TNG episodes with a near-perfect balance of affection, insight, snark, and humor. He provides a few insider tidbits, which are interesting, but mostly he comes across much like any other fan... albeit more articulate than most. Definitely a Trekkie must-read.

Livermore's Centennial Light: There's a light bulb in a fire station in California which has been burning continuously for 106 years. I saw this thing on Mythbusters, and somehow found myself bizarrely fascinated with it. Fortunately, there's a 24-hour webcam!

What I Did Over Christmas Vacation: What they did was to re-create the movie version of the Battle of Helm's Deep. Out of candy. Man, it's nice to know there are people out there even nerdier than I am.