The evil smoke came back. I spent much of the week wearing a breathing mask when I was outside. And the temperature was higher than usual most of the week, again. We’re supposed to get rain this weekend. I suspect it won’t be enough to take out the wild fires. Fortunately, we have more masks, now. So if the smoke comes back we’ll be ready. And if it doesn’t, we’ll be ready for next year.
Which brings us to the Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) science stories of the week, five sci fi stories, five other stories, five queer stories, and the top five videos (plus my blog posts).
Science stories:
Mishka the asthmatic otter at Seattle Aquarium has mastered her inhaler to get through the haze.
Breathing Seattle’s air right now is like smoking 7 cigarettes. Blame wildfires.
Ice Confirmed at the Moon’s Poles.
Sci Fi Stories of the Week:
“Racism and Science Fiction” by Samuel R. Delany.
2018 Hugo Awards Celebrate Apocalypse, Robotics and Social Satire.
Winners of Three or More Consecutive Hugos in Same Category.
Hugo Awards winners showcase science fiction’s diversity.
Other News:
The Price of an Evangelical Christian Soul. “Donald Trump brought Evangelicals to a high mountain overlooking America and told them it could all be theirs—and all it would cost them is their souls. In the dizzying storm of a Presidential campaign and all that was laid out before them, this seemed like a bargain.”
Aston Martin building 28 Goldfinger DB5 reproductions — complete with gadgets.
SUPERSONIC ART: Simon Lee, Illustrations. Absolutely lovely.
Elizabeth Warren Takes on Corporate America.
Queer stories of the Week:
Oregon Man Arrested for Threatening to Bomb HIV-Positive Gay Neighbors.
Whose Afraid of Female Masculinity?
After violent threats, family of transgender girl looks to leave town.
How LGBT People — And Their Parents — Are Fighting For Queer Rights In The South.
Man Charged in Murder of Gay UPenn Student Blaze Bernstein Denies Hate Crime Enhancement in Court.
Things I wrote:
Hugo Winners 2018 — and how close my ballot was to the final winners.
Doesn’t anything last anymore—or, insights from a penny-pinching packrat.
Videos!
Fascists to Watch 2018 | August 15, 2018 Act 1 | Full Frontal on TBS:
(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)
Madonna performs ‘Like A Prayer’, ‘Beautiful Game’ and ‘Hallelujah’ at the 2018 MET Gala in New:
(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)
OMAROSA! A Randy Rainbow Song Parody:
(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)
Cher – SOS [Official HD Audio] (I pre-ordered the album, so so far I’ve been getting the singles about an hour before the official audio is released on YouTube…):
(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)
Calvin Harris, Sam Smith – Promises (Official Lyric Video):
(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)
Font Folly 