SFMOMA roof garden cafe with Amy - spidery sculpture

Most unconventional amigrumi prize goes to: Ochibo @etsy, as seen at Maker Faire #mf09

About to see Eepy doing mentos & coke live! whee!! #mf09

Steampunk snail vehicle @ #mf09

Rumble robots @ #mf09

Alternavehicle @ #mf09

Legojeep at #mf09

living legend

Wow-went to see Dr. Stephen Hawking lecture at the Paramount in Oakland last night. As Thomas said when I asked him if he wanted to go a few weeks ago, it was kind of like our parents having the opportunity to see Einstein-how can you let that pass? The lecture itself, on The Origin of the Universe, was very short-just 20 minutes or so, and expectedly superficial as a result. But "the Hawk" is very funny, and the Q&A bits at the end were insightful and entertaining. Unfortunately his new blink trigger was a little on the fritz, so it wasn't as interactive a Q&A as usual. Instead of taking a lot of questions from the audience, he selected a few from recent interviews, including one that came very close to answering mine (which guest appearance were you more excited about: Star Trek or the Simpsons?) - he "still thinks the Simpsons is the best thing on American TV." Despite the incredible difficulties in communicating, exascerbated by the tech issues with his infrared blink switch, Hawking still managed to squeak out a little spontenaiety. When asked how he felt about Bush's plan to get to Mars by 2010, he said, "Stupid." At which point we all laughed uproariously and missed the second part of his answer. His assistant David clarified: "actually he said we should send *robots* because we wouldn't have to bring them back and it would be cheaper, not *politicians*." Hawking tosses out: "Maybe."

Clive Barker

Met him at Booksmith on Haight earlier this week. Super-nice guy!  There to promote his new art book, "Visions of Heaven & Hell", and let us know about an upcoming gallery exhibit & sale in LA - finally, I may have a shot at getting a piece of his originl art!

DMV hell

Well, which one isn't, right? I honestly don't remember seeing the SF one quite this packed before though... We waited about 1 1/2 hrs so Thomas could get his picture taken, his eyes tested, and pay a fee. We did take advantage of the proximity to Comix Experience, my old comic book shop, to stop in and see how things are going for Brian Hibbs, proprietor. Very well, it turns out!  Still there, still going strong, now with woman and child and looking good. There were quite a few folks in the store, too, given it was the middle of a Thursday afternoon. I even tried out a few issues of a new Vertigo series, "Lucifer", at his suggestion. Felt like home again!