Certain songs from my youth just seem to resonate a little more as the days grow into weeks and months:
Land of Confusion – Genesis
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? – Chicago
It’s the End of the World – REM
Too Much Time on My Hands – Styx
Bad Medicine – Bon Jovi
Time Ain’t Money -Huey Lewis and The News
Dancing With Myself – Billy Idol
A while back I mulled over the worlds that my short stories take place in and came up with three distinct ‘universes’ or ‘worlds’ that most of them would probably fit into:
Of course, there’s also boring old “Earth Prime,” which is our reality, such as it is. Most of my science-fiction would likely go here, since I try to make those stories at least somewhat plausible.
And then there are my Christmas stories. I thought it would be cool to tie them together, so in “The X-Mas File,” I had a character make a passing reference to what happened in “Christmas Wishes,” my first Christmas story. In 2017, I decided ‘why the heck not, let’s tie EVERYTHING together,’ so “Evidence,” my 2017 Christmas story, takes place at the fictional mega-corporation ‘Gooplezonsoft.’ Indeed, the events from “As Designed,” the first story to feature Gooplezonsoft, are alluded to there.
Thus, in the world of Gooplezonsoft: Santa Claus is real. He also doesn’t live at the North Pole, either, though you’ll have to read The X-Mas File to find out where he’s hiding. 😉
I’m not completely sure what to call that world, though. “Earth-S,” for Santa, perhaps? Either way, it’s a fun place to be and I already have an idea in mind for next year’s Christmas story, after I post a more upbeat one to make up for “Confession,” tomorrow.
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Click here to read my Christmas stories!
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You are listening to ‘300 Seconds with Eduardo Soliz,’ and this is episode number 91: A few words after Furry Invasion 2018, so let the 300 Seconds begin!
Furry Invasion took place at the El Tropicano Riverwalk hotel in San Antonio last weekend, October 5-7. I did my best to pack in as much fun as I could in between shifts at work: I hung out for a little while on early Friday to pick up my badge and I made it out on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Overall, Furry Invasion was a marked improvement over last year, but once again, there are a number of little nitpicks that affected me personally that I’m going to bring up. Spoiler alert: They still have panel issues.
I arrived at registration at about ten o’clock on Friday morning and it went pretty quickly; there was really nobody in line. They scanned my e-mail, checked my ID and I got my stuff…awesome! I didn’t hear any squawking about registration this year, though there were a few complaints about finding registration, it was kind of in a weird spot, but that was expected. Two quick nitpicks about registration, however. Number one: Stickers are supposed to go on the BADGE ITSELF, not on the badge holder. Second, and this is more for the people running the show; if you have a guy that’s hacking and coughing his guts out, maybe he shouldn’t be in a position to be handing out credit cards, IDs and badges TO MOST OF THE PEOPLE IN THE CONVENTION. Yeah, the guy that checked me out let out a nice fit of coughing after he gave me my stuff, which made me very glad that I carry hand sanitizer with me.
One big complaint I heard about throughout the weekend was parking: Last year there was a parking lot across the street, however this year new hotel is being built in that space, so that significantly reduced the number of available parking spots. As for me, I was able to easily find meter parking on Baltimore street near the hotel on each day of the convention. My biggest trouble was having enough quarters 😉 Now this is an issue with the venue itself, another venue issue that came up was the elevators breaking down.
And now I’m going to talk about panels for a little bit because there are a number of issues going on here. It was a pretty good plan on paper: The panel schedule itself was done ahead of time, which is good, and the leadership decided to put the panel [schedule] online, and that’s also good. There was also a screen set up with the panel schedules rotating and a QR code that you could scan to pull up the schedule on your phone. This is also good. Unfortunately the plan kinda fell apart in the execution.
To begin with, putting the schedule on the website isn’t a bad idea, but the Furry Invasion website is not optimized for phones. That’s being polite, because it’s pretty awful on phones. Here’s the thing, guys, it’s cool that y’all have an online digital schedule that you can update on the fly, but there is nothing wrong with paper. Once your schedule is as final as it’s going to be, print out a bunch of copies. Hang a copy of each room’s schedule outside the door. Also, make a PDF copy and have that be downloadable from your website.
So I had a weird exchange with my friend Mordecai on Saturday; he thought my Furry 101 panel was at 6PM. I told him it was at 5 and he said the conbook said 6. This really confused me because Furry 101 wasn’t even mentioned in the conbook. Turns out that Mordecai was given a copy of LAST year’s conbook. Don’t that that guys. Just don’t. Recycle them. I was also given a less than ideal time and the crappiest room in the convention, but you know, what are you going to do? Based on all that, I’m probably going to skip presenting next year. On the plus side, they did have a projector set up.
Speaking of scheduling, for whatever reason the fursuit parade started before its scheduled time. I was on my way to get a soda from the machine in the lobby when all of a sudden I saw furries marching towards me. It was all I could do to scramble to find a spot and remember how to work my camera, which is what happens when you have a job that wakes you up at five in the morning.
Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m nitpicking a lot. When I have to nitpick like this, it’s because most of the convention was good. I had a good time, and I’ve been hearing lots of good things both online and off about Furry Invasion 2018. Overall, I think things will continue to get better as the staff builds from their experience, and I’ll definitely be back next year.
Furry Invasion 2018 was a good con overall. Except for issues related to the venue and my own personal panel issues, which admittedly, are my own, there were no major issues present on the part of the con itself. I had an enjoyable time, when I was able to get out there, I will certainly be back next year, hopefully for the whole thing. The theme for next year’s Furry Invasion is going to be ‘Cyberpunk’ and it appears to be taking place on the weekend of October 4, 2019, and I look forward to seeing you there…or perhaps I should say ‘furward!’
This has been 300 Seconds with Eduardo Soliz, the next episode will be posted after I recover from the long weekend of work and fun. I am Eduardo Soliz, please subscribe to this podcast and check out my website at Eduardo Soliz dot com for more podcasts and short stories. Thank you for listening!
Con Talk is done and gone, but the show go on at “300 Seconds!”
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/edsoliz/episodes/2018-01-31T21_36_54-08_00
iOS 11 just happened to drop on the same day I bought a new 32 GB iPhone SE in order to replace my 16 GB iPhone 6 and switch over to a prepaid plan. The 6 was running low on storage space and the SE was on sale, so why the heck not upgrade my OS and my phone on the same day!
#19-YUUUGE!
Out with the old, in with the small!
Some San Antonio furries (including me) were filmed for a segment on the KENS-5 news!
Another year, another Texas Furry Fiesta. As much as I like San Japan, TFF is my favorite convention bar none. Sadly, this is the last year in the Dallas InterContinental, but it went out with a bang!
If a guy with bear ears took your picutre, check it out on my Facebook or Flickr!
#75 Fur-tobombed!
#25: Come here often?
#31: I’m also certifiable!
#60: Take my books, please!
And one late one:
80. At least we only have 11 months to wait until TFF 2018!
This super-short story was inspired by the good-natured ribbing I received from a friend when he heard I was going to a furry convention (Furry Fiesta 2012). I took his sass, made it a little more meaner and had a little fun with it.
From “Ten Tiny Tales,” a collection of early stories.
Fresh fizz
I love soda. For me, there’s nothing like the simple pleasure of an ice cold soda: The little cloud of gas you see when you first open up a bottle, the sizzling sound the fizz makes, the taste, and the feel of the fizz as it goes down your throat are all wonderful. Even the aftermath, in the form of a good belch, carries a certain appeal. Okay, so I’m a guy. Sue me.
I received a gift card from a friend for Christmas a few weeks ago and pondered over what to purchase with it. My friend had gifted me a card from an electronics store, which was cool, but I wasn’t really wanting for a video game or computer equipment or a new tablet, or really, anything related to technology. What to do, what to do. Then it hit me. I excitedly checked their website and was delighted to find the store sold SodaStream machines.
I was less than delighted to discover that they were not in stock at any nearby stores. No biggie, I could wait a week or two.
I have thought about getting a SodaStream for a while. The idea of concocting my own soda flavors at home is very enticing. Producing less waste is also nice, though I do recycle my cans. The up-front cost of a machine kept me away, though, but thanks to my friend’s gift, I would pay less than half the cost of a SodaStream Fizzi.
I received my Fizzi, excitedly opened the package and removed the contents. It came with the unit, a CO2 bottle rated for 60 liters of soda, a one-liter carbonation bottle, what I presumed was an instruction booklet, and a coupon of some sort.
The SodaStream Fizzi stands at just over 16 inches tall, so it just fits under my kitchen cabinets. I have to pull it out so I can press the carbonation button, but that’s a minor inconvenience. The Fizzi doesn’t need electricity so there is no power cord to get in the way.
The carbonation bottle has a little bit of heft to it. The fill line and expiration dates are clearly marked and the opening is fairly wide, allowing for fairly easy filling and cleaning. Interesting note: While the bottles are marketed as being 1L bottles, filling it up to the appropriate level takes less than a liter of water.
Seriously, that’s IT?
I was perturbed to find the booklet included with the device was full of legalese and warnings. No instructions. I get that SodaStream machines are supposed to be easy to use, but some guidance would have been nice. All I got was a paper foldout with pictures that was stuck to the back of the unit. No words, just pictures. Okay, I guess it is that easy. I quickly glanced at the pictures and concluded that there wasn’t much to it.
Also disappointing was the lack of any syrup. I wondered if it was a trade-off in exchange for receiving a full bottle of CO2. My understanding is that SodaStream machines originally came with a very small CO2 bottle that didn’t last very long and made people unhappy. That said, I was aware of that shortcoming coming in, so I took the liberty of purchasing a bottle of SodaStream’s Diet Cola flavor as well as a bottle of water enhancer.
The first step was to install the CO2 canister, which was simple enough. First, I removed the seal and the plastic cap from the canister. Then, I removed the back panel of the Fizzi, screwed the canister into the the machine, and replaced the panel. So far, so good!
I rinsed out the carbonation bottle, filled it with the appropriate amount of water, and snapped it into the machine. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to screw it in or what, but it appeared to stay in place so I figured it was okay. I then held my breath, firmly pressed the big carbonation button at the top of the unit, and water sprayed everywhere.
Remember that quick glance from a few paragraphs ago? I neglected to notice the correct method of inserting the bottle, which is to pull out a plastic backrest at an angle and then insert the bottle. At this point, I was a little gunshy after getting water all over my countertop and gingerly added a second shot of fizz without spilling any more water. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure how much to fizz the water at that point, so my first bottle ended up not quire as fizzy as I would have liked. I’ve read online that screwing up your first bottle is a common occurrence, so it seems I’m just as silly as everyone else.
Future bottles went off without a hitch. The Diet Cola flavor I purchased tasted okay but adding water enhancer was much tastier. I have yet to try my hand at making my own flavors but will likely look online for some recipes before I get too adventurous.
Even after making a few bottles, I’m still not quite completely sure when I’ve fizzed the water enough. A sticker on the top of the unit says to fizz until you hear three puffs, but I don’t always hear them. I have yet to under-fizz another bottle, though, so I’m apparently doing it enough…or maybe too much? Time will tell how many bottles I get out of that 60L container.
After getting over the initial (messy) learning curve, I’m enjoying my SodaStream Fizzi. I’ve already purchased another pair of 1-liter bottles and look forward to eventually mixing up my own fizzy waters. With a start-up cost of $100 for the Fizzi and a pair of extra carbonation bottles; SodaStream isn’t exactly the most cost-effective solution compared to buying off-the-shelf, and as anyone who has tasted a Dr. Pepper knock-off will attest, their flavors won’t quite match up to the originals. The value of a SodaStream to you will depend on how much you enjoy soda. Would I have bought one without that gift card? Probably not, but as a fan of fizz, I’m glad I did.
President Obama has a special #ElectionNight message for you: “No matter what happens, the sun will rise in the morning” pic.twitter.com/OPH39vqvHE
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) November 9, 2016
So Donald Trump won. I’m disappointed, but at the end of the day, the majority of people are good, and many that voted for Trump had reasons for doing so that didn’t involve hate or fear.
God Bless America.
Eduardo Soliz 