its actually crazy how much local art events and other potentially interesting stuff i completely miss out on just because the orgs all post on instagram and facebook only. two standouts among the worst fucking platforms in the world with the most egregious ui and slop saturation, so dogshit that id be unable to use them regularly even if i wanted to. stop it you all. get on tumblr or something
even orgs and collectives that used to have proper websites of their own now just put all their updates on fb and ig. stop! stop it! youre making me feel like an old geezer! ok well old geezers nowadays are very much on facebook... an ancient geezer. youre making me feel like A Ancient Woman
THIS! There are so many cool events I learn about after the fact because there’s no place to find information! The same thing with indie designers and jewelers! GIVE ME A NEWSLETTER I CAN SUBSCRIBE TO FOR UPDATES.
So we probably should’ve been a bit more worried about that weird guy with a sword at the last DashCon 2. For those unaware, Robespierre crashed the 2025 convention in an attempt to overthrow the monarchy and slay the Ballpit Queen. The newly knighted Sir Strange of Æons valiantly vanquished the interloper, but apparently her sword (Simone’s Dad’s Claymore, a.k.a. the Muppetslayer) only works on Muppets—Robespierre is back! His band of revolutionaries have now seized the bouncy castle. The clowns really don’t like how he’s chosen to redecorate.
While Sir Strange and the Ballpit Queen have successfully escaped Robespierre’s wrath, the future of the monarchy is uncertain. Robespierre has sworn revenge and is calling for Sir Strange’s execution on two charges of DashCon-spiracy, meanwhile, Strange has charged Robespierre with treachery and also being French.
As the only convention in southern Ontario with a guillotine permit, this puts us in a difficult position. The Muppet Joker’s tragic demise had an equally tragic effect on our insurance premiums, and we simply cannot afford more senseless bloodshed. Thankfully, laws often get overlooked in times of Revolution, and we’ve discovered that we’re allowed to commit crime if it’s a public service, as agreed upon by a democratic electorate. (You!)
As such, we’ve negotiated a tentative agreement between the two parties.
ALT
The Eight Tenets of the Royal-Revolutionary “Put The Sword Down” Agreement:
The 2026 convention’s theme of “Galaxy” has been toppled, overthrown by the revolutionaries and replaced with “Revolution!” (Galaxy is permitted to be used in a later year.)
The convention shall henceforth be referred to as DashCon 2: Vive La Révolution! as its official title.
The Ball Pit Queen shall not be executed (for now), but will have no legal power, instead being used as a figurehead in case an event needs a little pizzazz.
To appease our insurance overlords, the People (attendees of the convention) will be authorized to vote on who to kill. Each person will have only one vote, so cast it wisely—or don’t. We’re not cops.
For accessibility of voting, VirtualDash attendees will also be able to vote on who to kill.
The People shall choose between executing either Sir Strange, Lord of Æons, Wielder of the Muppetslayer and Honourable First Knight of the Realm… or Robespierre himself. Interesting.
He who is chosen to die will be executed via guillotine live on stage. (Robespierre was insistent.)
The severed head of the executed will be auctioned off for charity via raffle :)
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Vive la Révolution?
This message has been approved by Robespierre and his Band of Revolutionaries.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
SirStrange……………………………….Strange Æons. YouTuber and Tumblr historian. Robespierre……………………………..Xiran Jay Zhao. YouTuber and bestselling author of Iron Widow. The Ball Pit Queen…………….….Lochlan O’Neil. Raccoon biologist and founder of the original DashCon.
hey it’s ok if you lost your ai virginity back when you were uneducated. a lot of posts go like “reblog if you have never ever used generative ai and never ever will!!!” but it’s ok if you have used gen ai before and it’s even ok if you used to think it was cool, back before you understood what it really was and how it worked, either because no one had taught you about it and you discovered it on your own or because the only education you had received about it was from the tech bros. you’re not a burger with a bite out of it for having used ai. ok
It is 100 percent okay to stop using it today and join the "boo AI" club.
This isn't a purity thing. This is a "everyone stand with us against destroying the environment and giving asthma to poor people" thing.
Did you know that when one community says no to an AI data center, they specifically search out communities with fewer resources? Communities that can't defend themselves? And the pollution 100 percent affects their health and wellbeing, in addition to burning through our already scarce drinking water.
You can stop using character.ai today. You can say "I listened to the facts and stopped." And another thing: don't you think it's a bit more impactful to have used it, stopped, and then you're in a position to say how little it helped? How doing things for yourself improved your life?
Also, there are folks who hate AI with all their soul but are forced into using it because executives LOVE the idea of it and are forcing everyone they employ to use it. As in, tracking how often someone logs on to the corporate AI slop generator.
🦋Wishing a very happy 80th birthday to beloved music legend, song-writer,actress, author, literacy advocate, lgbtq+ ally and international treasure Dolly Parton, born on January 19th, 1946 in a tiny one-room log cabin built on the banks of the Little Pigeon River in Pittman Center, Tennessee.Dolly's Imagination Library, founded in 1995, has given over 300,000,000 free books to children in America, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, with Dolly stating: "When I was growing up in the hills of East Tennessee, I knew my dreams would come true. I know there are children in your community with their own dreams. The seeds of these dreams are often found in books and the seeds you help plant in your community can grow across the world."🦋
Gifs of Dolly from the premiere episode of the Dolly variety series, originally broadcast by ABC on September 27th, 1987, and also from various red carpet appearances Dolly's made in recent years.
The U.S. states of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama also have the most biodiverse freshwater ecosystems in the world.
The Appalachian Mountains are notable for having the world's greatest diversity of tree species in a temperate forest, with over 100 species of tree that make up the forest. They're also a global hotspot of lichen biodiversity.
Fun fact, dozens of genera of plants only have 2 species in them, one found in Appalachia and one found in SE Asia. These are called vicariad species pairs. Eastern Asia and Appalachia has very similar climates, that's why all the major Appalachian invasive species, such as Kudzu, are from eastern Asia
The SE United States has some of the nation's most biodiverse ecosystems but they are also some of the least protected.
