Dragon*Con 2011: A n00b's Tale, Part V

[Note: Sorry for the delay in writing up the last day of the Con. The Dragon*Con smartphone app is still on my Droid homescreen, a reminder of the inexpressibly wonderful time I had. I kept telling myself I'd erase it once I was done with this post series, so I think that played some small part in my procrastination -- I didn't want to let the memento go.]

MONDAY

My last day of Dragon*Con 2011 started with what had become a routine. Bubba Chuck had warned me that by the end of D*C I'd have become a "pro," someone whose job it was to Do Geek full-time everyday. He was so very right.

I quietly grabbed my shower without waking my roommates, mingled with the early risers/late closers in the Marriott elevators, strolled quietly across the skybridge to the Peachtree Center food court to grab a Dairy Queen sausage biscuit, then scampered back through a trio of hotels and a drizzle-specked Atlanta concrete until I reached the lobby of the Sheraton. There I joined a line that was already wound through the entire upper lobby level of the hotel and, minutes after I arrived, filled the complete lobby and burst out onto the sidewalk.

Wil Wheaton was coming to Dragon*Con -- for the first and perhaps only time.

Female superheroes who deserve their own movies (according to professional authors and fans)

Here's the sound of Marvel Comics head honcho Joe Quesada pulling the pin on a nerd-rage grenade and tossing it in our direction:

- In a chat [with Ain't It Cool News], Joe told me that he’d love to make a tentpole movie with a female lead, but that he really doesn’t think there is an actress right now who could carry it, or a character that would work either. I’m thinking I might agree with him on this one actually.

Okay, Joe, so you can't think of a single female character or actress worthy of a tentpole superhero movie? Here's the SF Signal Irregulars' collective response:

"Challenge: Accepted."

Stina Leicht, Jeff Patterson, Gail Carriger, Paul Weimer, Patrick Hester and I discuss not only which female characters and leads could carry a tentpole superhero movie, but also why poor ol' Joe can't seem to see the potential here. Get the full rundown in the Hugo-Nominated SF Signal Podcast Episode 131.

This is usually the part where I decry my own meager contributions to the topic and, compared to published authors like Ms. Carriger and Ms. Leicht, that remains the case. But when it comes to the underuse of superheroines in film, Joe Quesada is so wrong even I can make a few cogent points before succumbing to audible idiocy. Listen for yourself.

And, yes, the list goes well beyond Wonder Woman, She-Hulk, Marvel or DC.

As always, my litany of previous SF Signal podcast sins are confessed here.

The best links I shared in May 2012

flickr (Photo credit: Zanastardust)

Below are the 11 links I shared in May 2012 that got at least 50 clicks on Twitter.

• How Yahoo Killed Flickr and Lost the Internet (293) 
• Moral of the story: Companies always regret (and rescind) selling anything 'unlimited' (285)
• REVEALED: Hundreds of words to avoid using online if you don't want the government spying  (171) 
• Facebook's numbers (149) 
• Google is making a huge and annoying mistake (148) 
• Why do web sites and software take so long to build? And why is it so hard? (139) 
• This Is What a Kickstarter Scam Looks Like (110) 
• Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is (88) 
• Eleven Compelling Startup Pitch Archetypes (70) 
• Why e-books will soon be obsolete (and no, it’s not just because of DRM) (68) 
• Why Publishers Don't Like Apps (50)