Oakfairy

It’s book release day for Valour and Vanity! So I have a small present for you. It’s about the Doctor Who cameo that I hid in the book.

When I was researching the novel, I was looking for historical stuff I could include. The book is set in 1817 in Venice. It turns out that Lord Byron was actually living in Venice at the time. The interesting thing about Lord Byron is that he had a travelling companion that he frequently referred to in letters and journals as simply “the doctor.”

I think you can see where this is going.

Doctor Polidori was with Byron the night that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. As part of that same challenge, the doctor wrote  The Vampyre, which is regarded as the first vampire story. Now… To those of you who watch the series, I think it’s pretty clear what happened that night. Am I right? And then there’s the fact that Byron, who was an inveterate letter writer and journaler, has a two week period in which he is pretty much unaccounted for.

And then the doctor mysteriously “dies.” So, you know. It  seems obvious.

Oh, and Lord Byron’s father? Captain “Mad” Jack. See? SEE!

So, clearly, I needed to include The Doctor in the novel. And then I was talking with my friend, Paul Cornell, who has written for the actual Doctor Who television show (and I love that I get to say that sentence) and joked about handing him the pages and having him adjust the dialogue.

And Paul said, “yes.”

It is wonderful, and so unmistakeably the Doctor that I had to tone it down a little. But for you, if you want to read the full on version in all its Doctoral splendor, just click through to read the Doctor Who cameo.

I warn you  though, if you haven’t finished Chapter 7, wait. There are massive spoilers.

The post About the Doctor Who cameo in VALOUR AND VANITY appeared first on Mary Robinette Kowal.

textsfromthetardis:

Submitted by karlimeaghan.

The TARDIS and the starship Enterprise feel like enchanted places that we visit in our imaginations. But the reality of working on a TV show involves long hours in a studio, and the magic takes a lot of work. Just check out these revealing behind-the-scenes photos from our favorite fantasy and science fiction shows.

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Now you know, thanks to the folks over at the “art of manliness“.

[Source: Art of Manliness | Via LS]

Here it is is, the official cast to Star Wars Episode VII.

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[vine] [h/t: literallysame]

According to a confirmation by Microsoft late last night, a new zero day vulnerability has been found to affect every version of Internet Explorer. In other words—over a quarter of the entire browser market.

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[Source: bigbrandbeds.co.uk]

Don’t let her go, Sub-Zero!

[Via GT]

Polar bears are no longer my favorite. 

This was last week’s Animal Facts.

This week check out an extra special Animal Facts. THE FIRST EVER!

SEE A VINTAGE ANIMAL FACTS! CLICK HERE!

[GAS] Reader Bliss sent this in earlier today:

There’s a magician/balloon artist that created worlds largest balloon sculpture by a single person recently at Salt Lake Comic Con and it was a friggin huge robot.

Thanks Bliss!

[Source: Epic Balloons (@epic_balloons)]

pleatedjeans:

[watch the video]

IFTTT (If This Then That) är en app som tidigare bara funnits på webben och för IOS, men som nu även hittat fram till Android. Användare kan låta IFTTT utföra uppgifter automatiskt, baserat på enkla IF-satser – om det här händer, gör det här.

Tjänstens devis är ”låt internet jobba åt dig”. IFTTT bjuder på en lång rad så kallade recept, vilka är färdiga uppsättningar IF-satser som redan skapats av andra. Appen kan användas till att utföra ungefär samma typer av automatisering som Tasker.

Du kan exempelvis säga åt IFTTT att använda ditt senaste foto på Instagram som bakgrundsbild, automatiskt sätta mobilen i ljudlöst läge när du kommer till jobbet, skapa SMS-backups på Google Drive, eller skicka ett SMS till din partner varje gång du kommit hem.

IFTTT finns gratis i Google Play för de som vill testa.

Inlägget Nyttoprogrammet IFTTT släpps för Android dök först upp på Swedroid.

pir8crabs:

Some people theorize that one extra factor that made the Titanic sink was added weight from loads and loads of time-travelers attempting to prevent it from sinking.

sci-universe:

Estonian astrophotographer Raivo Hein captured Moon with Jupiter and its moons!

Here is an actual thing that happened to me yesterday.

I opened my email, only to see that my friends at 826 NYC had written. “Hey,” they said (OR WORDS TO THAT EFFECT), “we’re having our annual SCRABBLE FOR CHEATERS tournament, and Peter Dinklage was supposed to come, but something came up. We were wondering if you would replace him.”

Friends, I had to sit with that one for a moment.

I was being asked to replace Peter Dinklage.

THAT Peter Dinklage.

Who is Tyrion.

Who is an international superstar.

Because, when you can’t get Peter Dinklage, who do you think of? THIS GIRL, THAT’S RIGHT.

I hate Scrabble with a mad passion, but I love being Peter Dinklage and I love 826 NYC and I love cheating, so I said yes SO FAST that my email traveled BACK IN TIME to before they even asked me.

Then i recruited Robin Wasserman, because she went to Harvard and is actually GOOD at Scrabble. 

Then I had another idea. “I need a shirt,” I said to myself. “A shirt that says REPLACEMENT PETER DINKLAGE.” So I called up Alan at DFTBA and Jordan from LeakyCon and within 20 minutes Jordan had done the art and Alan had set up the shirt at the store.

I AM ASKING FOR YOUR SUPPORT. Not for me—well, for me, I like to win—but for 826 NYC, which is an AWESOME writing charity that does tons of great work. You can help in TWO WAYS:

- Pre-order a PETER DINKLAGE REPLACEMENT shirt from DFTBA. Everything I make from this pre-order I am giving to 826 NYC. This shirt is AWESOME. I asked Jordan to distress the letters so it looks like a bad iron-on job. It’s SWEET. And no one will have any idea what it means. (We’re sending a shirt to Peter Dinklage, so you can have the same shirt as PD, so that makes you coole.) Seriously, no one will know what the hell this is. You should get one.

This is the shirt:

- Just donate to our team, PETER DINKLAGE REPLACEMENT. It’s fast and easy, and helps us CRUSH our opponents and gets money for 826.

Scrabble is coming.

[video] [h/t: dpaf]

According to YouTube videographer Zain the Pain, this bug played with this piece of popcorn in exactly this way for over three hours. It's completely insane.

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Pinnacle Hills Goat Farm [facebook]

[h/t: babygoatsandfriends]

ajthelush:

Tonight the San Jose Sharks beat the Los Angeles Kings to take the best of 7 series to 3 games to nil in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If you didn’t understand a word of what I just said, some sports stuff happened in a very close and high-energy game. The game was played at Staples Center in LA, which meant some pretty high-profile people were at the game- among them Steven Tyler (of Aerosmith fame… and if I just really had to explain that you’re missing out) and geek icon Wil Wheaton. 

Let me tell you a little bit here. I love Wil Wheaton. He’s an incredibly nice guy, has a really down to earth attitude, and is a fantastic writer. Oh, and he has a pretty fantastic family, too. Let me also say this: Wil Wheaton is an avid LA Kings fan whereas I am a ridiculous San Jose Sharks fan and the teams are bitter rivals. Wil is so well known as a Kings fan, he actually took over their Twitter feed during the 2nd period of the game today. And here’s what happened…

So my son, Nolan, just photobombed Steven Tyler on the Jumbotron, and Staples applauded him. That’s my boy! -@wilw

— LA Kings (@LAKings)

April 23, 2014

Witty, dorky, and pretty typical of #TeamHorsemask. What happened next makes me a little ashamed of fans of my favorite franchise.

@LAKings NOBODY GIVES A FUCK

— (Redacted because we don’t feed the trolls) 

April 23, 2014

This is from a guy with a clearly Sharks-centric logo. Hardcore not cool. 

THIS IS WHERE I GET SUPER UNPOPULAR. Hockey fans (and, really, all sports fans for that matter), it’s time to take a page out of the geek code and look to Wheaton’s law: don’t be a dick. It’s not funny, it’s not witty, and it definitely makes those of us who are not legitimately scary look terrible. Rivalries aside, this sort of behavior is really not cool. And don’t give me some sort of #yolo #BecauseItsTheCup logic. Because it’s the Cup, the players strive to be better… shouldn’t the fans? 

So, I challenge anyone who reads this, let’s make sure hockey’s fun. I know it’s a pretty intense sport with historic rivalries and high tension, but the thing I don’t like is being scared of another team’s fan when I’m out at a game in my jersey. Don’t be a dick, and let’s not feed the trolls. Unless it’s good-natured ribbing, but that’s a whole different game.

After all, I love you wilwheaton, even if you cheer for the wrong hockey team. Go Sharks.

edwardspoonhands:

imsirius:

_{make me choose: Sarah or Alison or Cosima (for Isabel)}

Would anyone choose Alison? Really? This is a RIDICULOUSLY COOL gifset though. If you aren’t watching this…watch it…it’s on Netflix and Amazon Prime.

nerdy-trans-girl:

Okay guys lets get this stuff unpacked.  
Karen’s stuff…Some supplies…Karen…

Surprise! Joss Whedon has just released his supernatural film In Your Eyes into the world. And for $5, you could be enjoying some brand spankin' new Whedon. Just let us know if we can watch this at work or not; we don't need to cry in the office today.

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Back in February we brought you news that a Farscape movie was supposedly in the works. Now Rockne O'Bannon, creator and showrunner of the original series, has confirmed that the movie is, in fact, happening.

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If you don't already know why a helium balloon tethered to the floor of a minivan has the power to make your jaw drop, you're going to want to see this. Seriously – set aside five minutes of your time, have a seat and watch. You won't regret it.

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