First we went to Tampa, Florida to attend the Vulcan Events convention down in Florida. Great assortment of guests, and the fans were uniformly friendly and engaging. Sadly it was somewhat underattended, and I feel badly for the fans who didn’t make it there since–as the cliche goes–a good time was had by all.

After that we spent a few days in Orlando communing with the Mouse. We brought our plush Oswald the Lucky Rabbit with us and gave him a grand tour of the place. It could only be considered a triumphant homecoming because of all the Oswald fans–both tourists and Disney employees–who oohed and aahed over him. We’ll be putting up picture of his exploration of the parks over the next few days.

PAD

I’ve said for years that President Obama doesn’t really have a problem with gay marriage, and the recent announcement that he’s finally come to believe that the anti-gay marriage aspect of the DOMA is unconstitutional would seem to reinforce that. At the VERY least he’s acknowledging that marriage isn’t the business of government, which is what a president should be saying.

You might think that the GOP, always advocating the notion that government should be involved in fewer and fewer aspects of life and staying out of people’s business, would be the first ones to praise this declaration as an example of government acknowledging its limits.

Nah.

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner said that “the president will have to explain why he thinks now is the appropriate time to stir up a controversial issue that sharply divides the nation,” particularly at a time when “Americans want Washington to focus on creating jobs and cutting spending.”

Well, let’s see. Not having government lawyers spending countless man hours in a pointless pursuit of marriage bias would seem to be saving some money. So basically Obama announced something that will hurt no one, cost nothing, and save money. As opposed to the GOP representatives who have shown little to no interest in creating jobs and are focusing on spending cuts that hurt lots of people while preserving the interests of big business and NASCAR.

Conservatives. Always good for laughs.

PAD

I never wanted to believe something was an Internet hoax more than when a morose Kathleen informed me that Dwayne McDuffie had passed away.

I’ve known him literally for decades, going back to his days as an assistant editor at Marvel. I loved his work on “Damage Control,” which I always thought was inspired and should have been an ongoing title. I continued to read and enjoy his constantly innovative and groundbreaking work throughout the years, and I was thrilled to have the chance to actually work closely with him on several episodes of “Ben 10: Alien Force” and “Ben 10: Ultimate Alien,” for which he was the story editor. I will never forget sitting in his office as we worked out storylines. There was more than just his physical presence (he was well over six feet tall). He seemed to radiate confidence in his abilities, which was entirely warranted, and he was determined to roll with whatever curves Cartoon Network might throw his way and turn them into the best stories possible. He had boundless enthusiasm not only for his work, but for the sheer creative process. To say he will be missed is to understate it. I offer condolences not only to his family, but to the entirety of fandom for losing one of the great ones.

As for us, right now we’re watching one of his “Ben 10” episodes and later I’m running out to buy his “All-Star Superman” DVD.

PAD

Updated 7:36 PM–And Rich Johnston reports that Nicholas Courtney, the Brigadier from “Doctor Who,” has also passed away. What a suck-ášš day.

The House Republicans voted to defund Planned Parenthood.

And they voted to choke off funding for Health Care.

So they don’t want to do anything to help with birth control…and if you have a child, you’re on your own.

Perfect.

PAD