Welcome to Corgi-Class Starship, the newsletter that's learned a thing or two about kitchen-runoff sump pump maintenance and the utility of hydrated lime and that's all we're going to say about that for now

You'll Like This

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

Instant Band Night 32: BEACH PARTY

THIS VERY THURSDAY, the last Instant Band Night until November will kick off another explosion of spontaneous musical creativity and you know you need some of that in your life, whether it's witnessing it as part of a fantastic crowd or making it as part of a spectacular band of like-minded and shockingly talented soon-to-be-friends!! This just might be the highlight of summer, so get your best beach vacation outfit on and bring your coolest friends, let's DO THIS

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

(Eventbrite) (Partiful) (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.

Nothing for this section this week, folks; we'll see you at Instant Band Night!!

#dadthoughts

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

Quick one here today too, everybody; summer's humming along. Birthday parties! Excursions! Swim classes! By the time school starts again, Felix might get into a pool of his own accord within a reasonable span after the start of an event! Quentin wants to go to the pool every weekend, actually; once we got him his own pair of swim goggles, he feared no dunking and has started putting his face into the water regularly. This was in no small part due to what I'd call a combination of peer pressure and encouragement from his friend Violet, who loves to swim and pool jump. It's good! Everybody's having a nice time, and I hope you are too, wherever you are.

Fascination Corner

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

• Once again Talia Lavin is here for us with "Writing into the Wreck" (The Sword and the Sandwich)

• Babe wake up, new interstellar object cruising through our solar system just dropped. (Ars Technica)

• Fusion is always "about a decade away" but this time, a supposedly grid-scale fusion plant is determined to come online sometime in the 2030s and Google is putting some money down on it. Huh. (NBC News)

• Well ............ yeah: every time you open plastic food packaging, you're creating microplastics that go exactly where you think they would. (Science Alert) (Paper)

• But hey: lab experiments show that green roofs could filter a huge amount of microplastics out of the rain! Wouldn't you just end up with microplasticky soil on the roof, though? Earthworms to the rescue, maybe? Either way, thanks once again to nature. (Anthropocene) (Paper)

• The Permian mass extinction fucked the climate for a really long time, and The Scientists think they've finally figured out why. (U of Leeds via Science Daily) (Paper)

• An early experiment in the immersive VR version of "have some time in nature as stress relief" is highly promising. (Max Planck Inst for Human Development) (Paper)

• Why though? There are bacteria in our guts that seem to love absorbing PFAS forever chemicals. (U of Cambridge via Science Daily) (Paper)

• Here's some advice on how to read the news without losing your entire fucking mind. (The Conversation)

• Everybody needs ammonia, but making it is climate-costly; Some Chemical Engineers have worked out a better way that involves artificial lightning. (U of Sydney) (Paper)

• Orcas have reportedly been trying to give prey to humans for years, and after reviewing the last couple decades' worth of incidents, The Scientists tentatively conclude maybe they're trying to make pals with us. (APA via Science Daily) (Paper)

• The Scientists have invented an aerogel sponge that can desalinate seawater with sunlight alone. (ACS via Science Daily)

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:

Reader Laura delivers another concise bullseye interpretation with "Inspired by Hole, in love with the grunge guy."

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)!