Welcome to Corgi-Class Starship, the newsletter that needs to start cataloguing the various gifts it's accumulating for people or else there's going to be a problem down the line

You'll Like This

Update(s) on thing(s) I made or somehow helped to bring about.

Instant Band Night 33: BANDSGIVING

If you miss Instant Band Night already, and it's understandable if you do, don't worry: it will return in November, and you can secure your ticket and put it on your calendar right now; feel the warm glow of security fill the space in your heart where music and creativity and surprise live. And if you've never been before, this will be the perfect opportunity to see what all the fuss is about!! Come play or just watch; as always, it'll be like nothing else you've experienced.

✨🪩✨
Nov 13 2025
6p
$10
East Bay Community Space
507 55th St 94609

(Eventbrite) (Facebook)

+ + T E L L + Y O U R + F R I E N D S + +
+ + S E E + Y O U + T H E R E + +

Surprising and Unique Ceramics For YOU

🎃🌴SUMMER SALE/NEW LITTLE WEIRDOS🌴🎃

That’s right, there’s new little guys in there!!! I've been experimenting with new glazing techniques and I have to say I think I've hit upon a winner! Also I have too many things on my "finished work" shelves and it's time to move some inventory, so I've put everything on incredibly deep discount. Decorate your garden or anyplace else that needs a splash of color or whimsy; they also make thoughtful and unique gifts for that special discerning someone in your life.

Idea Factory Giveaway

I think it's probably safe to say the podcast is on hiatus after three+ years of inactivity, but I'm putting a link to its evergreen Apple Podcasts presence here, which includes a back catalog over 150 episodes long chock-full of excellent ridiculousness, including an experimental tabletop RPG and a couple of Star Trek fantasy drafts that could almost be their own show if I had the time to make yet another podcast

Medium Ramble

Skippable if you're in a hurry.

Mavis is supposed to take the kids camping this weekend — a three-night extravaganza of woodsiness! — except that there's a wildfire somewhat near the site that currently threatens to fuck up the air quality pretty bad, and that's on top of the forecast predicting somewhat uncomfortable heat out there anyway. So camping may not happen, which is going to be a Disappointment for all involved; we're trying to gin up acceptable local substitute activities, so if anybody's got any suggestions, let me know!!

#dadthoughts

Also skippable if you're in a hurry or don't care. No judgment.

Second grade has begun. Second grade has begun!! This is not a drill

Quentin's having a good time; as predicted, his teacher and classmates are a good bunch and we are optimistic!! One thing I haven't quite been able to get a handle on is a friend of his who I'll call Letty, who he says is (quote) "training to be an evil sorceror" (end quote). Letty's out here casting spells non stop, folks, and the only thing I could think of to do was to get a copy of the D&D Young Adventurer's Guide to Wizards and Spells for Quentin to page through. He's never played D&D and I don't even know if he has a conceptual handle on what a tabletop RPG is, but I think this is the right level of lore for him and I'm content to just let him pick it up and see where (if at all) he runs with it. I will say that once I presented it to him after dinner, he spent every minute from then on until snacktime (and even now while booklight time runs) with his nose in it. 😎🧙✨ Further updates as events warrant.

Fascination Corner

I read a lot of newsletters; here are some links that caught my eye.

• Listen. I link Hamilton Nolan a lot in this newsletter, but that's because he's right and we should read what he has to say. This latest one is no exception, but I'm calling it out specifically because the end is pretty clear!! (How Things Work)

• Pair that with, well: "I researched every attempt to stop fascism in history. The success rate is 0%. Once they win elections, it's already too late." This one also has suggestions! (The Existential Republic)

• I, a nerd, have always been skeptical about the whole "every use of The Machine (Generative Flavor) uses a bottle of water!" claim because I figure I know how computer cooling works; turns out maybe I don't?? What the hell is going on in datacenters?? (The Conversation)

• The Scientists have successfully mouse-tested an mRNA vaccine with shocking generalized efficacy against cancer that sounds like a true game-changer, so I guess RFK Jr [spit] will go down in history as the man who stood in the fucking way of the literal cure to cancer? It's possible??? (U of Florida via Science Daily)

• "Breeding corals that normally live too far apart to get it on" is an idea we probably should've had a long time ago, but at least it's happening now. (Anthropocene)

• The Scientists wonder if we should be trying to spot alien spacecraft by checking Earth's shadow just to be sure; they didn't see anything, but it's still a good idea. (Universe Today)

• Maybe we should be making stuff out of pollen??? (Knowable)

• A spectacular clutch of Cambrian-era fossils was just discovered in the Grand Canyon, which if you think about it is probably a reasonably convenient place to look; The Scientists named one of the new species in there after a creature from Star Wars. Nerrrrrrrrrrrrrrds!!! (affectionate) (U of Cambridge via Science Daily) (Paper)

• In case this wasn't already clear, fuck RFK Jr: the American Academy of Pediatrics has released its own actual science-based vaccine guidance. (Ars Technica)

• Ed Zitron spent a lot, and I mean a lot, of time on "How To Argue With An AI Booster" and as a result there's a delicious buffet here for everybody. (Where's Your Ed At)

• Our artificial lights are fucking with the way birds perceive the length of the day. (NPR)

• The Scientists have demonstrated a fast, accurate, cheap device that can detect viruses in a sample as small as (yes) a single drop of blood. And it works!! (Arizona State)

• Here's a fascinating interview with one of The Scientists studying the bacteria living inside the crust of the Earth, some of which maybe live for millennia?? (Quanta)

• Did you know there's a weird little mystery afoot in the DNA of great white sharks that nobody's been able to figure out? Here's a surprisingly engaging read about it. (Florida Museum of Natural History)

• In a shocking reversal of longstanding trends, the Shakers have added to their numbers, raising the worldwide total to three (3) people. (NPR)

• A NASA satellite caught that tsunami from a few weeks ago on camera. (JPL)

• "More DEI! Louder! Racism has turned a corporate buzzword into a moral imperative." (How Things Work)

• The Scientists have successfully tested a way to sneak tumor-killing viruses past the body's immune system directly into target cells by way of cancer-seeking bacteria. Damn!! (Columbia U) (Paper)

• Battery costs have been going down, so EV prices should be falling, too, but they're not. What's going on, folks? (Nature)

• Elon's stupid version of The Machine (Generative Flavor) had its prompts exposed and they're exactly as dumb as you thought they were. (TechCrunch)

• There's a genetic mutation that makes people slightly more vulnerable to bacterial infections while also rendering them literally virus-proof, and The Scientists think they might be able to induce this state in people temporarily (they're working on an animal version right now). (Columbia U)

• If the thought of blasting your eyeballs with lasers to fix your vision wasn't sparking joy, The Scientists have done preliminary tests on a method that uses electricity to reshape your cornea instead, which uhhhhhhhhh. Next step is seeing how a living animal likes it, and I have no idea how that's gonna go, although I have a guess. 😬😬😬 (ACS via Science Daily)

• The Scientists have been running the numbers and we should really be recycling our lithium batteries; even lithium from dead ones is way preferable to the raw stuff we have to pull out of the ground. (Edith Cowan U via Science Daily) (Paper)

• Weird, but makes sense if you think about it: data from the Jimmy Dubs suggests rogue planets are out here forming their own moons. (U of St Andrews) (Paper)

• Fuck are we supposed to do when The Machine takes all our jobs? Is it finally time to talk about UBI? (The Conversation)

A Fictional Thing

Something made-up that somehow suggested itself to me and which I could not escape.

A band and their album

(I remembered a formula for making fake album covers that involves searching for a random appropriately licensed photo and then applying your best Graphic Design Skills to the result; let me know what you think this band/album sounds like, because your answers are always incredible)

New Music Roundup

Last week's band/album was:

No reader interpretations came in for this one, which I think is barely-listenable experimental hip hop.

Thanks

If you've read this far, I thank you. Feel free to forward this to someone you like, or inflict upon someone you don't. If you received this as a forward and would like to subscribe yourself, you can do it at the bottom of this page right here (which also has the archive)!