It’s too late for you now, you poor suckers, but you should be sorry if you missed Spencer‘s virtuoso performance at Transformer last night. Iron Man vs. the Imperialists expanded on his Prospect essay of the same name, and managed to not only make me feel self-conscious about my pathetic knowledge of 20th century American history — which is perfectly normal, and something that happens pretty much any time someone mentions a historical event not explicitly depicted in a Simpsons episode — but also made me feel self-conscious about my limited knowledge of comic books, which is not something that usually happens in places that aren’t the internet.
But I didn’t mind, because Spencer was engaging, funny and had an interesting argument to make. And, more importantly, I didn’t mind because it’s inspiring to see a friend deploy an impressive set of skills toward a whimsical end.
On that note: I can’t boast any impressive skills myself other than wide-ranging dilettantism, but my co-presenter on Saturday certainly can (PDF). So come see us tomorrow at Transformer Gallery and learn a thing or two about microcontrollers and why they’re about to escape the realm of geekery and enter into the mainstream hobbiest’s arsenal. 2pm, on the same block as Whole Foods.