Featured Science Guest
Charles Blue
Charles Blue (aka Blue the Science Dude) has more than 35 years of science communications experience. Charles has worked as the director of media services at the American Institute of Physics. He also served as the Writer/Editor for the National Science Foundation’s Directorate
for Engineering and the media relations specialist for the Thirty Meter Telescope Project.
Charles also served as public information officer for the National Academy of Engineering and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. He currently supports NASA’s Planetary Science Division.
Charles also is an avid Irish banjo player, sea chantey singer, and fitness instructor.
Featured Science Fiction Guest
Adam Oyebanji
I was born in Coatbridge, in the West of Scotland, more years ago than I care to remember. Though, now I come to think about it, who actually remembers being born? I moved east to Edinburgh, by way of Birmingham, London, Lagos, Nigeria, Chicago, Pittsburgh and New York: a necessary detour, because traffic on the direct route is really, really bad.
I’m a graduate of Birmingham University and Harvard Law School, and work in the field of counter-terrorist financing, which sounds way cooler than it is. Basically, I write emails, fill in forms, and use spreadsheets to help choke off the money supply that builds weapons of mass destruction, narcotics empires, and human trafficking networks.
In my writing life, I’m a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association and the British Science Fiction Association.
Featured Musical Guest
Mikey Mason
Mikey Mason spent more than a decade as a full-time standup comedian. He headlined on all four coasts, performed multiple times each on NBC, at the legendary House of Blues, and the Hard Rock Casino. He even headlined the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas. But it wasn’t enough.
In 2011, he released a song expressing his geekier side (She Don’t Like Firefly) that went viral on YouTube and got him featured on Nerdist online, SyFy, MTV Geek News, The Funny Music Project, Dr. Demento, and even Time magazine. Fourteen albums and 6 EPs later, his lifelong love for fantasy, science fiction, cats, video and role-playing games continues to inspire his music and help him evolve, not only personally, but musically and professionally.
Today his profession is creating art and music with geeky themes. His performances are fueled by his passions and sharpened by long years of experience as a stand-up comedian. He’s performed at theaters, bars, comedy clubs, casinos, colleges, festivals, and conventions across the US, recorded many albums, hosted podcasts, exhibited at art shows, created a coloring book, and more, continually expanding his horizons as to what his next project will be.
Featured Musical Guest
The Blibbering Humdingers
We are Scott, Kirsten, Aiden, Liam, and Chuck! We create acoustic nerd
rock for –
Gamers, geeks, and galactic guardians, browncoats, centaurs, and mandalorians;
Hobbits, elves, and wizard gangsters; avengers, defenders, and black-belt hamsters;
Elder gods, small gods, fans of Tripod; Fremen, Atredies, Houses of the Landsraad;
Hufflepuff sandwiches, pitches & snitches, trans-INCLUSIVE feminist witches;
Lions and tigers and bears (oh my!); the droids you’re looking for, and the last jedi;
Samurai cats, I am Groot… and every manner of hoopy frood.
Listen to the songs of our people.
Most of us hail from Cary, NC (Chuck from Richmond, VA). We’ve been making music together in various forms for many years, and started this Humdinger thing around 2007. We don’t have a “sound” but we do have a mood. And that mood is fun. And friendship. We have two moods – fun and friendship, and a night out with a… well, you get the idea. Come celebrate fandom with us.
Featured Horror Guest
Alyssa Hazel
Alyssa Hazel is a Weird Fiction and Horror writer who enjoys exploring the weird, horrible and wonderful through her work.
Her pieces have found homes in Bluestem, the Red Coyote, and the Dark River Review. While her specialty is anthologies (she has four) she’s rather proud of her sci-fi thriller The Third Test.
Featured Costuming Guest
Lindsay Reinoehl Bartleson
Lindsay Bartleson of Geek Diva Cosplay has been cosplaying for just under a decade. In that time she has received multiple awards at conventions in both workmanship and stage presentation and quickly reached the Master level. She has presented many cosplay panels and has also acted as a judge for both stage presentation and workmanship categories at
various conventions.
She strives to fiercely represent body positivity, inclusivity, and the idea that anyone can cosplay whomever they want. She also does her best to represent the disability community. In 2020 she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis after a severe flare that left her profoundly disabled but she hasn’t let that stop her.
It is a passion of hers to help new cosplayers get started and to also to help cosplayers improve their skills. She credits cosplay for helping her make a big positive impact on her life and now wants to help others do the same.