In honor of the successful completion of the first year of the 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast, and of my daughter’s inclusion in the highlight podcast, I wanted to send out the episodes we did for you.  Here last two episodes we made for them, one about Helium and the Sun, and the other about the Kuiper Belt, and Kevin even makes an appearance in the last one! I hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed making them for you!

If you would like to help with the relief activities for the people of Haiti, you can donate to the Red Cross or Doctors without Borders, who are both leading the efforts to help the victims on the ground in Haiti. I personally recommend these organization and support their work!

Please email me with your own comments at howtogrowyourgeek – at-gmail -dot-com, or call my voicemail number at 206-202-7309 and leave your thoughts. You can also visit our forum at the Farpoint Forums. And last but not least, you can follow me on Twitter at SusietheGeek or the show at HowToGrowGeek!

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Promos: The Dollhouse Podcast and Technorama

This show, I play lots of the voicemails that I have gotten from all of you! Thanks to Paul, Frank, Gary, and Tim for sharing great ideas and experiences! Also, check out these promos for the Friends in Tech Geek Christmas Story (in which I play the Mom) and the Dollhouse Podcast (a great group of friends)! Please have wonderful holidays, and we will have a review of Avatar up soon!

Don’t forget to check out the 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast! We had a new show that went up on Dec. 8 about Kuiper Belt Objects!

Please email me with your own comments at howtogrowyourgeek – at-gmail -dot-com, or call my voicemail number at 206-202-7309 and leave your thoughts. You can also visit our forum at the Farpoint Forums. And last but not least, you can follow me on Twitter at SusietheGeek or the show at HowToGrowGeek!

Promos: The Friends in Tech Geek Christmas Special and The Dollhouse Podcast

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

The Tales of the Rad Panda – The Crime Cabal.
A book review by Darcy Low.

From the back of the book: “Even the united remnants of Toronto’s defeated underworld couldn’t resist the city’s masked protectors. But when they join with the murderous might of some of the masked man’s deadliest foes, can even the Red Panda match the strength of the Crime Cabal?”

I love a good story, does not matter what it is, if it takes me into it, makes me a part of it and leaves me wanting still more; I will follow it forever. That is why I am so excited to share this with you guys, this time it is really something special. I listen to a lot of podcasts, sometimes alone and sometimes with Dad and Jenny,and sometimes I will share with my Grandpa. The Red Panda is one for everyone. So when I saw they were coming out with a book, I just had to get it.

The Red Panda is a Canadian crime fighter from the thirties, during the time of mobsters, racketeers, etc. He is a crime fighter much like The Shadow or Batman, In that he is a multimillionaire, who uses the powers of his mind and gadgets he comes up with. But unlike both of those crime fighters, he has more of a heart I think. More personable maybe? He has gone beyond the law in many cases, doing what they could not do and this has made him more than a few enemies on both sides of the law. Some see him as a agent of good, others see him as a mobster trying to rub out competitors in order to set things up for himself. Of course we know the truth.
When his true identity is learned by his female chauffeur, he takes her in and trains her to fight by his side. Calling herself the Flying Squirrel, (because of her cool outfit and the ability to float with wings that are sewn into it, she learns martial arts and hides his identity from the public.

The Panda also has various people around the city that keeps him informed as to what is going on. A network of sorts, made up of citizens, reporters, cops, etc. I thought this was very well done myself. None knows his true identity and no one knows of anyone else in the network.

Now in the book, the Panda and Flying squirrel have been fighting crime for a while, and have just put away one of the last remaining big gangs. All that is left are various members that are in hiding and have gone underground. But old habits are hard to break I guess, because there are a few that see this as a great time to band together and form their own gang, to rub out the Panda once and for all and gain control of the city. One such gangster is Malcolm Reynolds, he was once the right hand man of one of the most powerful gangs in the city. Now in the ruins of a club, he has called together all the remaining mobs and asked them to join with him and take over the city in a wave of crime never seen before. There are more than a few people who do not like this idea at all of course, until he introduce two people. Kid Chaos and a Mysterious woman who calls herself Professor Zombie. Kid Chaos is a mad bomber who just loves to blow things up. And the Professor? Well she wants to build a army.

When things get out of Malcolm’s hands and he loses control of these two, things really heat up. Both the Panda and the Flying Squirrel are pushed to their limits as they have to fight a army of goons who will not stop no matter how many bullets you put into them, and what is the Panda to do when his mind tricks do not work? Zombies can’t be fooled my mind tricks you know.

The book is really, really good. It reads just like a pulp comic from way back when. Also just like the podcast radio show. (don’t worry I’ll get to that in a bit.)

The banter between The Panda and the Flying Squirrel is both funny and romantic, Although both have yet to tell each other how they feel. You as a reader can tell. What makes it so funny is, here you have a Batman type crime fighter who is tough as can be and who can karate chop his way out of trouble. But when a pretty girl flirts with him, he is a shy little schoolboy. Often all he can say is “Kit Baxter, behave yourself.” Kit is the Squirrel’s real name. The book gives them both more depth than what you get in the radio show, but it also gives us more insight into how they get around town so fast, introduces some of the minor characters of the Panda’s network, and also brings out the character of Chief O’Mally. O’Mally is a good cop, but he has a deep hate for the Red Panda and will stop at nothing at either bringing him in or unmasking who he really is.

The book is full of action and cliffhangers, and really makes you want to turn the page to see what happens next. It is something if you are an adult and like old radio shows, film noir, or stuff like would love. And this is okay for kids as well, I did not see anything that parents would object to here. (is a lot of shoot outs, but then again there are gangsters and bad guys, so it is to be expected.

Overall, this is a great first book by Mr. Gregg Taylor. Who is one of the main actors over on Decoder Ring Theater.

If you go there, you can order this book right from the web site, like we did.

But while you are there, I want you guys to check out the podcasts they have. They are all done like they did back in the old days. In fact my grandpa thinks this is some of the best ones he has heard. And they are all clean, each show ends, they don’t leave you hanging until the next chapter. Each is it’s own story. Make sure to check out Black Jack Justice. It is about a detective and he girl detective partner, it is also very good. Both the Red Panda and Black Jack feature strong female characters who not only fight along side of the men, but aren’t afraid to put them in their places if need be. I love that, something you don’t see too much of anywhere.

So there you go guys, one book review and two podcast reviews. All in one posting.

I do hope you guys check it all out. It is some really great stuff, and we should support new authors every chance we get. I am hoping they can get Mr Taylor on Dragon Page soon.

Take care guys, more stuff coming soon. I am on a roll.

Darcy

Beginning with a convoluted discovery in 1930, then being named by an 11-year-old girl, Pluto got off to a rather non-traditional start as a planet. It continued to be largely uninvestigated until only the last few decades. It became the subject of much debate when it was demoted to “dwarf planet” status in 2006, which caused much hullabaloo in the scientific world as well as with schoolchildren. Pluto continues to be unusual within our solar system, as it is now classified as a dwarf binary planet with Charon. I will discuss this history briefly and get insight and commentary from my daughter Amanda, 8 yrs old, and my son Kevin, 6 yrs. old, on this captivating little planetary body and its trials and tribulations.

Check it out at 365 Days of Astronomy!