<![CDATA[io9: madison, wisconsin]]> http://tags.lifehacker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png <![CDATA[io9: madison, wisconsin]]> http://io9.com/tag/madisonwisconsin http://io9.com/tag/madisonwisconsin <![CDATA[Join io9 at Wiscon This Weekend in Madison, Wisconsin!]]> One of my favorite science fiction conventions on Earth is Wiscon, a gathering that happens every year on Memorial Day weekend in Madison, Wisconsin. No, it's not just the macaroni and cheese pizza that draws us to this fine midwestern city: It's the terrific programming and cool people at Wiscon who get together to talk about science fiction and its social meaning. Wiscon is billed as a feminist conference, and over the years it has evolved into a lot more. It's a book-centric conference about the politics of science fiction, whether related to feminsim, antiracism, class, religion, or just the internecine debates of fandom.

Plus, the excellent Tiptree Awards are handed out at Wiscon, which is mostly an excuse for everybody to get together in a big room and eat way too much dessert.

Charlie Jane and I will be at Wiscon all weekend, and are both speaking on a few panels. If you're in the area, stop by and say hello!

via Wiscon

]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5264533&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Giant Monster Trashes Madison, Wisconsin]]> Tired of those giant monsters only attacking the big cities and ignoring the heartland of America? So is one film-maker in Madison, Wisconsin, apparently. Eric Lim brought the world-crushing kaiju action to Greenside City, which looks remarkably like his hometown of Madison, in his new film Zero Trooper-F, which just premiered last month.


Says The Daily Page, the 39-minute Zero Trooper-F starts with a "fuzzy white kaiju" that's leveling the city of Greenside. A squadron of fighter jets is called in to fight the giant monster, but to no avail. Meanwhile, a genius scientist named Dr. Abrams (Rob O'Brien) is a local celebrity for his work to defend the city from giant monsters in the past. He's just created his greatest invention — a device that will help the army's Zero Troopers (who wear super-armor similar to the Power Rangers) to fight the giant monster "on equal terms." But Abrams suffers a crisis of confidence, and quits the Troopers just as the giant monster's rampage reaches even greater heights. Here's a trailer, which sadly shows no kaiju scenes:

The movie's special effects are a throwback to the pre-CGI monster movie days. And the Daily Page adds:

The downtown cityscape of Madison is itself a star, with both the monster and its Zero Trooper combatant stepping over, around, and through many of the newer apartment high-rises sprouting along the periphery of the UW campus.
As long as the monster doesn't trample the macaroni-and-cheese pizza place, we'll be fine. Lim is also working on a full-length sequel called Greenside, a "dark scifi" movie which takes place 50 years in the future, when Zero Troopers are mass produced and there's a giant biodome. [The Daily Page]]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=384826&view=rss&microfeed=true