Hi, folks! Minicon 56 is a week away. This will be my first in-person convention since CONvergence 2019, and first convention since CONvergence 2020. I am looking forward to Minicon - I get to see friends whom I don’t get to spend much time with the rest of the year, I get to go to panels and learn things, and I get to be on panels and share my knowledge and experience on subjects that I find interesting.
Tonight’s episode of Star Trek: Picard is “Monsters” (PIC 2x07). This episode deals heavily with mental health and mental illness. If you need help with mental health issues, you can look to MentalHealth.gov, United Way 211, the National Alliance on Mental Illness Helpline, or a number of local places. Help is out there.
In this episode, we discuss topics ranging from city councils and the military to The Muppets and Animaniacs.
This episode is not sponsored.
Hosted By:
Justin (xe/xem) - https://www.justingrays.org/
Nat MN (they/them)
Sarah (she/her)
Content Warning - Mentions of:
Alcohol
Anti-maskers
Death
Medical Appointments
Medical Procedures
Mental Illness
Military
Police
Psychological Abuse
Racism
Slavery
Starship Troopers
Spoiler Warning: Disney’s Gargoyles
Black Fan, White Fandom: What it was like in the days before representation was as prominent, even though we have a long way to go. Panelists: Taylor Aaron Cisco, Briana Lawrence, Justin Edward Grays. Liaison: Shannan Paul
Although COVID-19 has postponed CONvergence: The Stuff of Legends to 2021, we still were able to move forward with having an online convention. CONvergence Online was a free to attend event where we can digitally gather and enjoy the convention weekend; we were still able to hold room parties and participate in panels over Zoom. You can listen to or download an audio version of the panel here, or watch on the CONvergence YouTube channel.
Tuesday, August 12th, will be Minnesota’s Primary Election Day. A primary election determines which candidates will be on the ballot in the November general election [8], the winner representing their political party. There are 12 candidates across five parties running this year - Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) [Note 1], Republican, Legal Marijuana Now, and Grassroots - Legalize Cannabis. I haven’t yet decided for whom I am going to vote, and so I will share my decision with you as I finish making it.
We have been seeing gestures from political entities, ranging from Black Lives Matter murals painted on streets and streets renamed to Black Live Matter, to congresspeople wearing Kente Cloth, to cops kneeling in supposed solidarity before resuming their beatings of protesters. But gestures are not enough - action is needed. What we need are the defunding and dismantling of police, as well as investment in communities.
How can we encourage a sense of inclusivity and community in your favorite geek spaces? Participants: Rakhi Rajpal, Echo Martin, AlysshaRose Jordan, Justin Edward Grays (mod)
My apologies for taking so long to post - two things have happened recently that have slowed me down. The first thing of note is that my primary laptop (the piece of modern technology) has been finding new ways to stop working (first the power button somehow got disconnected, and then the keyboard was acting funky, and then the screen hinge disconnected, and then lastly the monitor decided that the brightness was at minimum while the keyboard quit working again). The second thing is that I caught the concrud at CONvergence 2018.
