#i can see why sg fans ignore this run

[dailydccomics]

the things I endure for you, Starfire, my beloved

Supergirl vol 5 #2-3

[dustedmagazine]

Tim Clarke’s 2021: How low can you go?

Dry Cleaning photo by Steve Gullick

One thing’s for sure: I don’t think anyone expected last year’s shit-show would still be dragging on, more than 18 months later — but here we are. I’ll spare you the personal details concerning why 2021 has been one of the worst years of my life; let’s just say I’ll be glad to see the back of it. Thankfully, musicians keep creating amazing music, to keep us hanging on. As long as this continues, there’ll be plenty of receptive pairs of ears here at Dusted.

Dry Cleaning — New Long Leg (4AD)

New Long Leg by Dry Cleaning

I was supposed to review this one back in April, when my life slipped off the rails. Thankfully Andrew Forell stepped in and did a great job, and Jason Bivins excitedly discovered its charms during our mid-year exchange. It seems absurd to assert that an album saved my life, but New Long Leg certainly made me laugh again, often out loud, at the utter absurdity of our modern existence, while delivering some of the most satisfyingly creative post-punk I’ve ever heard. As a guitarist myself, I can marvel at what Tom Dowse is doing with his SG and effects arsenal in pretty much every song (bar, perhaps, the wonky solo in “John Wick”). And if I had to pick a single song to sum up my year it would be the majestic, bittersweet “Her Hippo.”

The Notwist — Vertigo Days (Morr Music)

Vertigo Days by The Notwist

Back in the late 1990s I visited a friend in Germany, who introduced me to The Notwist’s magnificent Shrink. The Notwist have intrigued me ever since, but the albums that followed Shrink, bar perhaps their breakthrough, Neon Golden, have always felt a little distant, a little academic. On their latest album, Vertigo Days, I noted that they’ve not only enlivened their music with a beating human heart, but have also crafted a propulsive front-to-back listening experience that’s enriched by multiple guest vocalists.

Cory Hanson — Pale Horse Rider (Drag City)

Wand’s frontman goes cosmic country on his second solo album, Pale Horse Rider. The results are absolutely gorgeous, slathered in pedal steel and steeped in longing. Dusted’s Ian Mathers hit the nail on the head in his review, so I’ll leave it to him: “a songwriting sensibility that does feel very personal and emotionally powerful even though there’s not a lot of comprehensible narrative… something you could have a rousing chorus of around a campfire, as long as your party is thinking about the apocalypse.”

The Weather Station — Ignorance (Fat Possum)

Deluxe Edition of Ignorance by The Weather Station

Tamara Lindeman’s latest is a smooth, sophisticated and unashamedly “mature” record that will have Steely Dan fans blushing at how hard it swings. Jennifer Kelly did a great job of covering it earlier this year. Though the album’s primary lyrical theme of facing the sobering reality of climate change runs deep, the album also works beautifully as an exploration of the adult work of steadfastly addressing any hard-to-face facet of reality, whether heartbreak, betrayal or loss. Plus, the deluxe edition, which includes bonus songs, live versions and piano versions, is a worthwhile expansion of the original tracklist.

Ryley Walker — Course in Fable (Husky Pants)

Course In Fable by Ryley Walker

Surviving a suicide attempt and getting clean hasn’t dampened Ryley Walker’s notorious sense of humor; if anything, it’s enlivened his craft. Course in Fable is ample evidence that Walker is evolving into the kind of guitarist and lyricist who possesses the skills and smarts to throw eyebrow-raising twists and turns into his songs at every opportunity, and this set of sprawling, proggy guitar jams contains some of his finest creations to date. Special shout-out to Andrew Scott Young, too, for his star turn on the bass. Check out dusted writer Robert Ham’s take on the release here.

Richard Dawson & Circle — Henki (Weird World)

Henki by Richard Dawson & Circle

Geordie singer-songwriter Richard Dawson has a way of investing all of his music with refreshing humanity, intensity and humor, and this collaboration with Finnish band Circle is beautifully bonkers in the best possible way. In my review, I noted that “Though Henki is certainly invested with humor, Dawson and Circle are smart enough to not push things too far.” It rocks hard when it needs to, employs plenty of immersive instrumental textures, and isn’t afraid to skirt the borders of absurdity.

Nala Sinephro — Space 1.8 (Warp)

Space 1.8 by Nala Sinephro

This is such an elegant, intoxicating record of expansive ambient-jazz. Gentle ripples of harp, Rhodes and piano; field recordings; gaseous surges of synth and horns; occasional flexes of a swinging rhythm section — everything seems to emerge and evolve naturally from out of the ether. Quite a trip.

Tonstartssbandht — Petunia (Mexican Summer)

Petunia by Tonstartssbandht

While Nala Sinephro enlisted a bunch of virtuoso jazz-heads to realize her expansive vision, brothers Andy and Edwin White managed to push almost as far out on their own. These groovy psychedelic jams only need drums, guitar and the White brothers’ harmonized voices to stake out a space you can luxuriate in. In my review, I noted that “Given the duo’s reputation as road dogs, having to remain in place during the pandemic clearly hasn’t hemmed in their boundless musical wandering.”

Shannon Lay — Geist (Sub Pop)

Geist by Shannon Lay

There are so many talented folk singer-songwriters around that even the smallest distinction can nudge an album from good to great. In the case of Shannon Lay’s new album Geist, there’s a unhurried radiance to it that really draws you in, lays you down, and reassures you that everything is going to turn out OK. I needed to hear that more than ever this year.

Chuck Johnson — The Cinder Grove (VDSQ)

The Cinder Grove by Chuck Johnson

Big thanks to Dusted’s Bill Meyer for bringing this album to my attention by picking it for our mid-year exchange. Along with Nala Sinephro, it’s been my go-to instrumental album for 2021. Chuck Johnson’s glorious blooms of ambient pedal steel are just one delicious ingredient in this hazy dream of a record, with organ, piano, synths and strings, plus liberal reverb, coming together to create a three-dimensional soundworld that aches with sweet melancholy.

Another Excellent 10:

Circuit des Yeux — -io (Domino)

Constant Smiles — Paragons (Sacred Bones)

Cassandra Jenkins — An Overview on Phenomenal Nature (BaDaBing)

Liars — The Apple Drop (Mute)

Buck Meek — Two Saviors (Keeled Scales)

Mega Bog — Life, and Another (Paradise of Bachelors)

Mess Esque — Mess Esque (Milk!)

Dorothea Paas — Anything Can’t Happen (Telephone Explosion)

Elori Saxl — The Blue of Distance (Western Vinyl)

Matt Sweeney & Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy — Superwolves (Drag City)

[okay-j-hannah]

Damien Haas Masterlist

Damien Haas 💙💜

Buy Me a Coffee?

~

Multishot

Fight or Flight: It’s normally some of the most important decisions that cause that instinctual fight or flight response, and when it comes to deciding if you’re in love or not… do you fight for it? Or fly from it?

Yes or No: Going along with the plan, you and Damien pretend to be a couple for the evening - soon finding it difficult not to wish it a permanent arrangement

~

No Heartbeat: The love a parent has for their child is unimaginable; something that’s profound even if you haven’t met the baby yet… something that lingers even if you never do

The Trimester Race: Have you ever wanted something so bad that it physically pains you that it’s not there? Can you imagine the feeling once it finally is?

Fingers Around My Thumb: They say there are few milestones that a person can experience in their lifetime that stay with them forever... I do believe this will be one of those days.

~

Friendship Test: The balance of your friendship doesn’t depend on whether Damien’s cats like you or not, right?

Relationship Test: Damien wanted to add another girl into his life, making it the geese and you, but whether you would agree to that was an entirely different question

~

Synonyms For Home: At one point you’re going to have to stop running away from every potential relationship; there’s more to life than just stressing about it

Homeward Bound: It is incredibly evident that Damien can’t take his eyes off of you while he does his stream with Shayne, but after being sent out for being a distraction, you watch on your phone as a few blushes and giggles are pointed out by the fans

~

Like An Old Married Couple: The amount of bickering that happens between you two every morning is incredible, especially at how flustered it gets Damien

We Have To End Up Together: The pressure to do something about this crush has got Damien more distraught than ever, possibly invoking the sincere side of you

Fic

A Valentine’s Day Reveal: Damien’s first Winter Games was proving to be much steamier despite the cold, a possible Valentine’s Day game springing up the first recorded kiss with his girlfriend

Any Objections?: Taking the teasing one step further, Damien demands a Smosh and Order on the grounds of possible minor cheating, solely to see your reaction

Been Engaged: It’s Real Girlfriend vs Work Boyfriend as Damien sits in the hot seat with the biggest bombshell question to make any viewer instantly quake in their seats

The Cute One: Guest starring on Smosh Pit was every bit as fun as you hoped, maybe even a little romantic as a certain Damien Haas flirted during the entire game

The Vague Truth: You’re practically one of the fam as you visit your brother Wes and his friends on filming sets - subconsciously developing a flirty relationship with one Damien Haas

Then The Butterflies: You’ve never had much luck with the guys, never honestly being in love and, at this point, maybe not even knowing what having feelings is - Damien volunteers to teach you what loving someone is like, unknowingly revealing his biggest secret towards you

My Sweet: Normally it’s the sweet and simple things that make you happy - a kind of happy that makes it all worth it in the end

Just a Dream (AU!SIREN READER): Doomed with separate lives, but dreaming of something similar, you save an intriguing sailor from a Siren feeding frenzy - knowing the consequences of being caught to be dire

Prompt

Desperate Wingman: Damien is distraught and talking to Shayne about the date you just landed; but being fed up with the constant talk about the crush, Shayne delivers the ultimate endgame scenario

Exposed: Keeping your relationship a secret has been incredibly taxing while filming, so when a kiss is accidentally filmed and sent to editing, do you run to delete the content or release it for the fandom to see?

The Badass Fever: Being married meant in sickness and in health - even for the stubborn, feverish, professional gameplay hitman of a wife Damien’s got

The Sick Front: Sicky boy Damien is too busy avoiding being a burden that he almost misses an opportunity to get closer to you - luckily the SG members are a bunch of hard-hitting homies

Under the Influence: Why did it have to be that the one time Damien decides to kiss you he ends up being drunk?

Unconscious and Uncoordinated: Have you ever heard the term ‘I’ve fallen for you’? Well, sometimes it’s quite literally!

My Life is a Mess Without You: Damien just didn’t get it - what could he have done that would make you ignore him for so long?

Stains and Sleepovers: Frustrated that you’d scare Damien away with making a forward move, you end up getting into a drunken fit at a bar, enlisting the help of just the boy you wanted to see

Took My Breath Away: You are determined to use your sarcasm to keep everyone away, but something life altering about an accident and this boy Damien decides to change your plans

A Doomsday Date (AU!APOCALYPSE): Your home destroyed and many of your friends gone, the one thing that keeps you smiling in this desolation is dating the man of your dreams - and looking good while doing it

Drabble

First Time For Everything: Drinking games have the funny knack for revealing some sensitive information

Game. Set.: Voicing a wish to pick up dating again, Damien unknowingly presented Shayne with the task of smoothly setting his friend up on a date

Twitch Secrets: Twitch streams were made for content creators and fans - but who knew it could also secretly record blackmail?

College Blues: New job, new city, still in college - you find comfort in your role models at Smosh, confiding in and teaming with Damien to relieve stress

[fairyroses]

ok but going about the logic of comics history isn't it brainy and dreamer a thing in the comics too? like i get that some people have different preference for ships and that's ok what i don't get is why you guys are always saying that if brainy and nia get together he is gonna mess up the timeline but dating kara it is okay isn't that double standard? I mean brainy soon or later have to go back home how do you see that play out if he dating anyone?(And sorry if i sound snappy )

It’s okay anon, I don’t think you’re being snappy. And I’m sorry if I sound frustrated at all, I promise I’m not frustrated with you. I’m actually just frustrated with the show’s apparent refusal to make these really important things clear to people who aren’t familiar with the comics. 

(Though I have to be honest, I don’t actually read comics myself (yet). I just have a lot of friends who do. Most of the things I know about this stuff comes from @kara-querl​, but I’ll do the best I can to explain the basics and hopefully clear up some of the confusing stuff for you. Again, it’s not your fault that you don’t know these things - it’s the show’s fault for not explaining them.) 

Now, as for Brainy/“Dreamer” being a thing in the comics… you’re sort of right, but not in the way you’re probably thinking. 

There is one version of Brainy (from a comics run called the Threeboot) who ends up with Nura Nal, aka Dream Girl. I’d highly recommend reading this summary of their story on twitter (just prepare yourself, because it’s a looong thread, and also, uh, the story is probably not what you’d expect it to be… especially towards the end). 

However, Nura Nal is not Nia Nal. They’re two completely different characters, and both of them very much exist in the CW show’s universe. A lot of people watching SG don’t seem to know about this distinction (because the show has not outright explained it yet), so when they hear that Brainy had a relationship with “Dream Girl” in the comics, they assume (like you did) that Brainy/Nia is a comics canon couple like Kara/Brainy is. But that’s not actually true. 

Nura is also the reason why so many people are worried about Brainy/Nia messing up the timeline. But more on that later.

For future reference, this is Nura (with a bonus Brainy in the background):

She’s not really anything like Nia, in either personality, looks, or her dynamic with Brainy. They have basically the same powers (though Nura could never shoot “dream energy” out of her hands), and the writers seem to have borrowed aspects of Nura’s relationship with her sister Mysa for Nia and Maeve’s storyline, but that’s pretty much where their similarities end. 

(The rest of this is gonna go under a cut, because it’s a LOT of information. I know you didn’t ask for a meta, anon, but that’s just kinda what happened, sorry. Hopefully it’s not too overwhelming.)

Nura is a descendant of Nia, the character that we have on the show. She lives in the 31st century and is a member of the Legion of Superheroes, just like Brainy. The fact that Nia is Nura’s great-great-etc-grandmother has been confirmed in multiple interviews. Here’s a quote from Queller (one of the show’s EPs) from SDCC, before the season even started airing:

Hints about Nura were dropped in the show as early as 4.02 (which was probably close to being filmed around the time of SDCC). In that episode, Brainy asked Nia if he already knew her because she “looked familiar”, and then there was that look of recognition on his face when she told him her name…

Then in 4.08, when Alex asked Brainy if he knew about Nia Nal in the 31st century, his only reaction is this:

Because it’s not Nia that he knows, it’s Nura. But he didn’t want to reveal too much about the future by saying that. 

However, Brainy isn’t perfect, and eventually he slipped up. He accidentally called Nia “Nura” later on in the episode, showing how closely he associates them in his mind.

This is the moment in which Nura’s existence was officially made canon on the show. 

There’s also the moment towards the end of 4.08 where Brainy told Nia that she “contains greatness,” but he couldn’t tell her how he knew that. This isn’t directly a reference to Nura, but it stands to reason that Nura is the “how” answer to how he knows this about Nia/her family.

Nura is also presumably the person that Nia and Brainy were arguing over in 4.13, whom he refused to talk about. (Tbh, I think the fact that the show apparently skipped over Nia first learning about her descendant is a grave oversight, because for non-comics fans it probably appeared to come out of nowhere.) 

So, just to be completely clear: Nia has never been Brainy’s love interest in the comics (in fact, she doesn’t even exist in the comics at all - she’s an original character created for the show), and Nura, Brainy’s actual love interest (again, specifically only from the Threeboot comics run) definitely 100% exists in the CW show’s universe. We know this because there have been multiple references to her on the show throughout the entire season. 

Based on the fact that Brainy is so familiar with how Nia’s powers work and how to train her, it stands to reason that he and Nura are rather… close. We just don’t know how close yet, because Brainy refuses to say anything about her to either Nia or us, the audience. At the very least, they’re teammates and friends. At most… well, they were engaged in the Threeboot, so…

So, to get back to your original question about shipping: From what I’ve seen, the fact that Brainy and Nura had a romance in the comics is actually a big reason why a lot of comics fans don’t ship Brainy/Nia. I can’t speak for everyone obviously, but I know that for quite a few people, the idea of Brainy dating Nia basically feels like him dating his girlfriend’s great-grandma (especially since Brainy’s references to Nura have made people wonder if they might actually have a romantic history on the show, too). It’s not quite on the same level as Marty McFly’s mother trying to kiss her own son in the first Back to the Future movie, but it’s still just… kinda squicky in a smiliar way, you know?

Nura’s existence is also what people are typically referring to when we talk about Brainy/Nia disrupting the timeline. If Brainy were to get with Nia, then that would essentially erase Nura from existence. We know that Nia’s timeline would get seriously messed up if she got together with Brainy, because she has a traceable lineage of descendants going at least 1,000 years into the future. If Brainy got in the middle of that, if he changed Nia’s destiny by allowing her to fall in love with him, then that whole timeline - Nia’s entire legacy, which Brainy is clearly familiar with - would be drastically altered. 

What kind of person would Brainy be if he agreed to date Nia, knowing that doing so would erase Nura (and her sister Mysa, and anyone else related to them) in the 31st century? Knowingly and willfully wiping out an entire lineage, including someone that he personally knows and cares about? Does that really sound like something Brainy would do?

This is probably the biggest reason why Brainy/Nia just doesn’t work for a lot of us, particularly comics fans who have caught all the Nura references so far this season. It’s not about personal ship preferences - it’s about character consistency, specifically Brainy’s. We don’t want him to get with Nia because doing so feels wildly selfish and out of character for him. 

(In fact, Brainy interacting as much as he already has with Nia personally stresses me out, because by pushing her to be a superhero and training her himself, he’s already altered her timeline in some unknowable way. We just have to hope he knows how far he can push it.)

We’ve already seen Brainy caution Nia about them potentially creating a paradox, and it seems like they’ve had a similar argument to this one at least once before off-screen. He must know what the dangers of doing something as serious as getting romantically involved with her would be, because he listed them all off to Alex and Kara in 4.08:

His Keanu Reeves movie quote excuse in the most recent episode (4.15) was flimsy at best, but when he says that he and Nia can never be together, his tone of voice noticeably changes to become more serious, making it obvious that he means it. 

With all of that stuff in mind now… do you see why so many of us are confused and even upset by the promise of more “will they/won’t they” for Brainy/Nia? 

Why would the showrunners make Nura’s existence canon if they’re not going to even touch on the issue of how Brainy and Nia getting together would obviously erase her? It’s almost like the Brainy/Nia thing has to conclude with them not ending up together, because otherwise, what does that say about Nura, and the future that Brainy knows? It would change a lot - Nura, who has existed in the comics since 1964, would be GONE - and given how much Brainy has been shown to care about the future and the timeline, I just can’t see him going along with that. I just can’t. (And neither can a lot of other people.)

But of course, this is Supergirl we’re talking about here, so I don’t have a ton of faith in the EPs or writers. They could very well just ignore all that stuff and shove Brainy and Nia together anyway. So, this isn’t me saying that Brainy and Nia will definitely not get together. After all, I don’t write the show. 

This is just me explaining why a lot of people don’t think that this Brainy/Nia storyline makes sense, given the show’s own references to Nura, as well as their establishment of Brainy as a character who cares deeply about the timeline. Brainy dating Nia would directly contradict both of those previous writing choices. 

And why would the writers do that? Why would they directly contradict their own setup? Fans who are familiar with Nura and have picked up on all these clues are just frustrated because we don’t understand this. 

TLDR: Brainy/Nia is not comics canon. Nia Nal is the ancestor of Nura Nal, Brainy’s actual love interest from the comics, who also exists within the show and lives in the 31st century. And Brainy/Nia getting together would erase Nura, and thus mess up the timeline. 

Okay, that was a lot. Hopefully that cleared some things up for you about both the comic history, as well as the whole Brainy/Nia timeline issue. I’m gonna address the rest of your questions more briefly bc I’m tired now lol. 

Why won’t Brainy getting with Kara mess up the timeline like it would with Nia?

The simplest answer to this one is that we don’t know what the future is supposed to hold for Kara. The Legion made a point of saying last season that their knowledge of the events of Supergirl’s future are vague and largely unknown. We don’t know anything about her having any descendants, or a specific legacy that needs to remain intact like Nia clearly has. (If they didn’t want to create this problem for Nia, then they didn’t have to establish those things for her either… but they did.) 

What about Brainy going back to the future eventually?

I kind of already talked about this whole thing here, so you can just read that post to see my take on it. The bottom line is, I don’t think that’s the biggest issue here, largely for BTS/casting reasons. Basically, I think it’s very unlikely that Brainy is going to go back to the future anytime soon. And because of that, I don’t think it’s really necessary to bring it up as an argument against either Brainy/Nia or Brainy/Kara. 

And finally, with regards to the whole “why do people keep saying that Kara/Brainy is THE comics canon ship when other ships like Brainy/Dream Girl also exist in the comics?” thing, which is kinda the whole point of your ask from what I can tell, I recommend that you check out this post and these tweets, which (briefly) outline all the different versions of Kara and Brainy that have existed in various media over the past 60 years, and how many of them have ended up with each other. (Spoiler Alert: There’s a very good reason why most comics fans are also Karadox shippers.)

So, in conclusion, can people ship Brainy/Nia if they want to? Of course. People can ship whatever they want. I ship Brainy and Winn after all, even though that’s not ever going to be canon, because I like their dynamic and shipping is supposed to be fun. If people want to create fanart or fics or whatever for Brainy/Nia, then they can totally do that. My issues aren’t with what ships people personally prefer. My issues are with what the actual show is doing in canon, especially within the context of the entire Supergirl mythos. 

Look at it this way: If the show doesn’t have Kara eventually fall for Brainy, then CW Kara will be the only version of Kara who had a version of Brainy in her story, and did not fall in love with him. 

Like, wow. Talk about going against history.

[eregyrn-falls]

Headcanon: Ford is a Period Accuracy Stickler at SCA events, but also 100% goes to Renn Faires dressed as a member of a Starfleet away team. After Dipper shows him Stargate and SG-1, he does that, too.

Oh my god.  Okay.  I had to mull this over for a bit, but here we go.  (This got long!  Sorry!)

YES, I could totally see Ford being the kind of snarky asshole (and I say that in the fondest possible way!) who would wear a Starfleet away team uniform to a RenFaire.  Complete with a working tricorder that he built himself (possibly with Fidds’ help).  (Re. SG-1, I can’t decide which I like more: the idea that yes, Dipper marathons the series with him and Ford loves it; or, of course, Ford actually met SG-1 during his dimension-hopping.)

Now, with regard to SCA events… hmm.  What popped into my head was Ford adjusting his glasses and saying, “That’s why it’s called the Society for Creative Anachronism”, with that raised eyebrow and slightly condescending tone, you know?  Not least because if he was that much of an Authenticity Maven, then he wouldn’t be able to wear his glasses, and we all know he’s probably blind as a bat without them.  (Yes yes, I know, that or he would choose a period in which he was allowed to have some kind of glasses – which he would research meticulously – but the thing is that I’m not sure that college Ford would be able to afford a custom pair of period glasses.)  After all, one of the early taglines for the group was “the Middle Ages not as they were, but as they should have been” (or, “could have been”), which was meant to cover everything from trying to leave behind the perception of the medieval period’s sexism and racism, to allowing for modern conveniences where possible or necessary (the biggest Authenticity Maven in the world is not going to refuse to use a real bathroom).  For a lot of Scadians, “emotional authenticity” is more important than material authenticity, and there’s a realization that that means emotional authenticity as described by the participants (who are, after all, modern people, and each of whom brings their own desires to the group).

But another reason I feel like Ford might be into authenticity when it suited him, but ignored it when it was inconvenient (which, let’s face it, describes 90% of the SCA then and now), is because the early SCA after all was one part “medieval” and one part “we all love Tolkien and we kind of want to have a big LOTR cosplay party”.  While it’s obviously never explicitly said in canon that Ford is an epic fantasy / Tolkien fan, I extrapolate his enthusiasm for DD&MD to conclude that he was (given how strongly LOTR influenced the development of D&D). 

So I kind of feel like Ford would have gotten into some things about the SCA that encouraged attention to authenticity, but that the overall appeal to him (as for many people) is the way it allows for the recreation of the “good stuff” while ignoring the bad stuff or the inconvenient stuff.  I mean, if you want super strict authenticity, the Civil War reenactors are right down the road. 

What would Ford have been into, in the SCA?  I have to think about that some more.  But I already have a few ideas.  (Disclaimer: I’m supposing that Ford and Fiddleford would mainly have been able to attend some SCA events during their college years.  After Ford moves to Gravity Falls, I feel like he’d be too busy, and too alone, to do it.  And once Fiddleford shows up in Gravity Falls, the impression I get is that they’re both too busy and there’s barely any time for them to have the occasional DD&MD session, let alone devote the time necessary to find and go to events.  However, this disclaimer is also for the fact that I feel you kind of have to stretch a point to suppose that Ford had any time for the SCA during college, given he was taking such a ridiculously heavy class schedule in order to complete both his bachelors and doctoral degrees in only 6 years.) 

One obvious thing that I think might have drawn Ford’s attention, and that he would have been good at, and I think could have been an outlet for his “authenticity” side, would have been the scribal arts.  I could see him getting really into creating authentic tools, and learning period book-binding techniques – which he later puts into practice in Gravity Falls, when he makes his own journals; and which would have served him during the portal years.  (After all, when he emerges from the Portal, he’s still got a quill pen in his pocket.)  With his artistic abilities, I think he would have been really good at both calligraphy and illumination.  And I also think he would have really enjoyed researching period manuscripts, with the bonus of that being a way to study how medieval scholars recorded information about the kind of “anomalies” he would go on to study.  You just KNOW he’d get excited about bestiaries and had all these theories about how those monsters might really have existed.

I actually also think Ford might have really gotten into performing as a storyteller.  The SCA does not have as strong a “performance art” or live role-playing component as some other similar organizations.  People do adopt medieval(ish) names and “personas”, but the extent to which people perform in-character as their personas or according to an interpretation of medieval manners is extremely variable.  But, we do see that even into the present, Ford retains some fondness for getting into a character and performance – such as when he’s being DM (Princess Unattainabelle?).  And as someone interested in folklore, he’d have a lot of legends and stories to draw upon. So I could see him standing up at a bardic circle and doing the storyteller schtick.

Meanwhile… those weapons!  I actually think that they weren’t all necessarily for show, especially the crossbow.  As @a-million-chromatic-dreams headcanoned recently, it seems like Ford really started getting in shape once he started college.  So I could see him being drawn into the fighting side of the SCA.  If, at the time, he was really getting into the idea of becoming more athletic, and more capable of defending himself, I could see him trying heavy-list fighting.  (Which, in the SCA, does involve padded weapons and homemade armor, but the hitting is real, even though heavily regulated.)  I’m not sure if he would have stuck with it. I know plenty of people did it, but wearing a helmet while also wearing glasses is a huge pain in the ass.  I could certainly see him getting really into archery, though; and I could see that crossbow as being something he built himself (again, as an outlet for an interest in doing some things authentically).  (I admit that this fits in with my perception of Ford as more of a distance fighter, as opposed to Stan, who is a hand-to-hand fighter.  Ford certainly seems capable of hand-to-hand, but he clearly has a preference for using guns.)

One last thing that I think is kind of interesting with regard to imagining younger Ford interacting with nerd culture in general (under which umbrella I absolutely include the SCA), is that because scifi fandom and related groups like the SCA are heavily comprised of a lot of nerds, who often felt (and were!) bullied for their interests, there certainly tended to be a general acceptance of and even celebration of the unusual.  And this was especially true in the early 70s, when fandom culture is a lot more limited and insular because it is not widely advertised (by means of the internet, for example); and when fandom culture is intersecting with the general counter-culture of the time.  All of that is to say, I think Ford’s six fingers would have been more of a positive in that group, than a negative.  I think that could have resulted in some of the early positive reinforcement that later led him to make anomalies his life’s work, and to proudly use his six-fingered hand as his identifying symbol (such as on the journals).  

I can totally see him running around, adopting “Stanford the Six-Fingered” as his SCA name (because rules were a lot more lax in those days, and it wasn’t as unusual for someone with a medieval-ish-enough sounding name to just use their real name and append a cool epithet to it), wearing a red cotton broadcloth tunic with the gold six-fingered hand on it.

Whether or not it was very likely, I’m finding that a pretty endearing image. :)

[mikegchambers]

Goodbye Data Center, Hello Agility!

Business leaders need to understand cloud technology with minimal nerd talk — “what’s in it for me?” and their business

The remaining infrastructure team is trying to decide on whether to convert the data center into an indoor parking lot or a wine cellar

Somewhat painfully, I’ve been banging my head on the same walls for the last 20 years. Every time I’ve seen a meteorite headed for the business, whether it’s the Internet, the rise of mobile, or machine learning, it can be hard to convince the Powers That Be that accelerating change and disruptive technology is really a thing. As Ray Kurzweil fans will know, humans are horrible at mentally processing exponential growth and we underestimate its effect on change.

But far from wanting to be like the End of the World guy with the sign around his neck, I’m more interested in the enormous opportunities these disruptors bring. Cloud is not new — I was there when was starting a decade ago — but IT departments in businesses have been asleep at the wheel in recognizing its strategic importance. And yet IT is now driving the bus in many industries.

“It’s just someone else’s computer.”

I recently worked with a fairly senior IT executive who dismissed cloud as exactly that — “ultimately, it’s just someone else’s computer.” That’s true in the same sense that an airplane is just someone else’s bicycle — both will move you from point a to point b, but this radically misrepresents the difference in speed, safety and scale. So it sounds pithy and cool but it’s wrong.

Cloud is one of the most misunderstood topics in corporate IT, partly because it’s a broad umbrella for a range of newer technologies, and partly because it’s an existential threat to old-world IT departments. Let me emphasize that last part — some jobs are going away.

CEOs and executives that care about their businesses need to take it upon themselves to learn about the cloud offering since many IT departments will not volunteer to adopt it. Many are actively hostile towards it and ignore it in the same way that the good people at Borders once thought nobody would ever read books on a Kindle.

Also, cloud is a big subject. It’s more than just Amazon and it’s a whole different animal to what you’re already doing in IT. Whether you’re a smaller company with a few servers and software licenses, a startup building mobile apps, or a Fortune 500 company with a dozen data centers, it really can revolutionize how technology works for you.

At its core, cloud has the ability to transform IT from a slow cost center that lacks purpose and inspires nobody to the engine of innovation that drives competitive advantage. And yes, some of those guys working here today aren’t going to like the news.

My goal for this series of posts is to provide an entry point for learning about cloud for business users. What’s in it for you?

Saying goodbye to big-box IT software vendors that sap your IT budget. Not to name names, but Oracle.

Starting to release products in weeks instead of years and spending thousands, not millions.

Get a modern infrastructure that works on your phone or laptop from anywhere and doesn’t get hacked or fall over every five minutes.

Eventually being proud of your IT department which right now, let’s admit it, is the corporate epicenter of shame.

A familiar walk for old-world IT departments.

Who am I? Well apart from spotting technology meteorites every few years, I’m a Certified AWS Architect (that’s Amazon) and have deployed cloud solutions in many different environments. More importantly, I’m excited about the opportunities cloud brings, especially to smaller companies who can harness its transformational power.

Regardless of your industry, I believe that everyone is in the technology business today. The good news is that the tools have never been better, easier to use, or cheaper and with a little learning and willingness to change, you can do anything. I know ‘cheaper’ is what most people see in that sentence but that’s okay too — once we’re finished, you’ll see that’s actually the least important benefit.

Why Cloud Became the Only Way

Back in the day, computers were much simpler. You basically had Unix (scary), mainframe (terrifying) and PCs in the same building, no Internet and a handful of business applications that most everyone used. This was a blissful utopia for IT managers cruising through to retirement but only represented the beginning of the S-curve for technology. In non-tech terms, this wasn’t even the horse-and-cart stage — this was the, “Steve I think this round wheel-type thing can help us” part.

What changed? Everything…

The Internet, which opened up your company’s resources to virtual attack. It turns out that the smartest people in the world are trying to hack into your business 24/7. Security requires smart people, and they are in short supply.

Software started appearing in every department, process and product in your business. These environments have become an unmanageable mess of different standards, devices, vendors, operating systems, capabilities and costs.

With “IoT”, everything got a microchip and started chatting: it’s not just things with keyboards anymore. Phones, sensors, cars, trackers — you name it, they all need to talk to services in your environment constantly.

Mobile, which brought all applications and interactions with your customer to the palm of their hand. You can hide terrible IT in your physical retail stores but not in your mobile apps. Quick spoiler on this one: mobile notoriously doesn’t play well with old-world IT.

Delivery speed: gone are the days of the 12-month software roll-out. Now we talk of releases every 2 weeks, every week, every day. There’s even continuous integration so ‘all the time’ is becoming the norm.

A Quick Demo

Let’s look at one of the most basic functions of any cloud service: getting your hands on a server. In your data center, this is likely a multi-month process involving procurement, financing, racking, stacking, installation and a $10,000 hardware bill. This is how it’s done on Google Cloud Platform…

… if clicking isn’t your thing, you can also do it through code with a command like this (on AWS):

aws ec2 run-instances --image-id ami-123 --count 1 --instance-type t1.micro --key-name MyKeyPair --security-group-ids sg-123 --subnet-id mysubnet

Creating machine instances (servers) only touches on the most trivial capabilities of these platforms but illustrates something powerful. When you can create infrastructure on the fly at a cost of pennies per hour and discard it when no longer needed, you are:

Only paying for what you need. If your ecommerce traffic only spikes at Thanksgiving, pay for that capacity and not the entire year.

Building what you need. If your business grows into Europe and you have no data centers in the EU, you can duplicate a cloud region to Europe in minutes or hours.

Managing a lot less. These instances are racked, stacked, networked, cooled and physically protected for you.

Empowering your developers, who quickly realize that infrastructure as code is as important as writing the software itself, and we’ll talk about this later.

I hope you enjoyed this quick introduction and in subsequent parts, we’ll delve into all of the topics in much more detail. It’s 2017 and the Cloud Party is in full swing — if you haven’t arrived yet, there isn’t long before all your competition has eaten all the food.

Read about security in the cloud …

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