Leonard Nimoy -- the man who was, and was not, Spock -- speaks tonight at Boston University, on the occasion of the university receiving Nimoy's archives. Why would BU want Nimoy's archives? Well, as you know if you've ever visited the Mugar Omni Theater, "He grew up three blocks from here."

If you don't make it to his talk, never fear -- we saw an excellent excuse to get Nimoy on the phone and kibbitz with him, and we're more than happy to share.

^{Art: SHAENON GARRITY}

This past weekend, Arisia returned for its 22nd annual year. It's a sci-fi and fantasy convention that happens in Boston every year, and ... yes, this sounds familiar, doesn't it? Sounds a lot like Boskone, the sci-fi and fantasy convention that is slated to take place in the exact same location -- the Westin Boston Waterfront -- on February 18-20.

The weekend before last, Arisia came to town, and sci-fi and fantasy fans of all ages let their hair down and donned custom-made corsets and kilts.

At the top of this post, you’ll find footage I filmed of my favorite event of the con: the Belly Dance Show (we’ve also uploaded a full playlist of all the performances).

Hizzoner hath decreed it: November 14 is Leonard Nimoy Day.

Why? Well, as loyal Museum of Science visitors know, he grew up three blocks from here. (Seriously, folks, if you haven't seen Nimoy's "Who put the bomp?" intro to an MoS IMAX film, you should probably have your New Englander license revoked.