Going Geek

I picked this meme up from Konstantin's blog. It's very simple to play along, just copy the list and make the stuff you've done bold.

You spent a day watching all of the Lord of the Rings/Star Wars/Star Trek movies.

You spent next two days after watching commentary, outtakes, and behind the scenes footage.

And you bought the soundtrack.

You went to a midnight release of a movie.

You camped in front of the theater for more than 12 hours to get tickets.

Camping did not prevent you from being in costume.

You can have an entire conversation with friends consisting of quotes from your favorite movies.

You own at least three game systems.

-Wii, Xbox, DS, SNES/NES

You have lost weight because you forgot to eat while trying to reach the next level in your game.

-Is that the secret?

You own more than four game controllers (of any kind).

You have existed on three hours of sleep per night so that your "Sims" get eight hours and are refreshed for work.

You upgraded your computer because you wanted to buy a new video game/expansion pack.

You have dressed as your game avatar, or as a npc in that game.

You achieved level 60 on World of Warcraft.

You have played Dungeons and Dragons or any other RPG.

You know what "RPG" stands for.

You dressed as your RPG character would dress.

You own dice with more than six sides.

-At least 6 sets, but it's probably closer to 9 or 10 sets.

You have been accused of having a "gamer" scent.

You can identify a Black Lotus.

You can identify a Charizard.

You have bought any of the Harry Potter books after standing in line until midnight.

You waited to get your Harry Potter book in costume, quoting favorite lines.

You have attended any function with "con" in the name.

-And going to at least one this summer.

You stood in line at said con for more than four hours to have an item signed.

You spent more than $50 on a costume to wear to a con because you wanted it to be authentic.

You own more than 50 comics.

You collect your comics in longboxes.

You know what a "longbox" is.

You've met and had your comics signed by the creator(s).

You know how many Robins there are.

You know that the portrayal of Rogue in the movie X-Men is completely wrong.

You have chatted online more than in person.

You chatted online enough to learn the time zones.

You think that when the Mythbusters say "Don't try this at home," they really don't mean you.

You have participated in a movie/tv marathon that involved a drinking game.

You can sing along with the Buffy musical episode.

You know Seth Green from more than just the Austin Powers movies.

You can name all eight Kevin Smith-directed movies without referring to IMdb.

You have participated in a Clerks-esque discussion about Star Wars (or any other movie).

You have participated in a Kirk vs. Picard discussion.

You have participated in a Star Wars vs. Star Trek discussion.

You have participated in a Babylon 5 vs. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine discussion.

You know who "jms" is.

You have ever corrected anyone who called you a Trekkie.

You have worn a Star Fleet uniform.

You own a Star Fleet uniform.

You think Twilight is lame because everyone knows that vampires burst into flame in the sunlight.

You have written fanfic.

You have watched Bizzare Foods and thought "I'd try that."

You can pinpoint the moment at which Lost jumped the shark.

You know who Stan Lee is.

You know who Jack Kirby is.

You know who Geoff Johns is.

You have built a website.

You have started a blog.

You maintained a blog for over a year.

You know what the Genie SFRT is.

You have a Twitter account.

You have over 500 followers on Twitter.

You purchased a smartphone just so you could check Twitter on the road.

You forget your family members' birthdays because they aren't your friends on Facebook.

You have given virtual gifts on Facebook.

You have gotten a date through Facebook (and we're not talking dinner and movie with your buddies).

You have broken up with someone/been broken up with through Facebook.

You've reached level 30 or higher in Mafia Wars.

You know what Mafia Wars is.

You participated in more than three social networks.

You've spent more than 200 hours playing the same video game.

You've seen any movie in the theater more than three times.

You can name the episode of MST3K where Joel was replaced by Mike.

You've argued why the comic is way superior to the show/movie when discussing The Tick, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, etc.

-Original TMNT kicked ass!

You have the soundtrack for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on your MP3 player.

You are willing to defend the Star Wars prequels.

You openly disparage the Star Wars prequels because they don't live up to Empire.

You're openly concerned about the timeline ramifications that J.J. Abram's Star Trek movie presents to the canon.

You own anything written by Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, or H.P. Lovecraft.

You have a flying spaghetti monster on your car.

You've seen a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show with live actors in front of the screen.

You know the REAL reason Spider-Man had a black costume.

You know the NCC numbers of at least two starships other than the Enterprise.

You know what "NCC" stands for.

You own an original Star Trek Concordance, Technical Manual, and Blueprints.

-I have Star Wars blueprints, but I guess that doesn't count.

You own at least two medieval weapons.

You have participated in battles with foam-covered swords.

You know who "Major Matt Mason" is.

You have seen bootleg copies of the original Fantastic Four and Justice League movies.

-hours of my life I can't get back.

After having had children you realize there's now more people to costume and relish it.

You've managed to turn four days at Euroquest* into nearly eight because, who needs sleep?

You've spent more than $1000 on your "spot-on" costume (and it's still not quite right...).

You've made a fan film.

Your fan film has been seen by more than your immediate family.

People know you by your online name instead of your mundane name

You know what Pennsic is.

You've camped at Pennsic.

You have/had personalized plates on your car proudly proclaiming your fandom.

Your spouse and/or friends do as well.

You yell at your kids when they try to open a toy/book/comic/figure/etc. that you're collecting.

Your kids have broken your Hallmark collectible Star Trek/Star Wars, etc., ornament.

You've traveled more than 500 miles to attend a con.

You have a tattoo related to your fandom of choice.

You met your spouse at a fan-related event or con.

You got engaged (to be married!) at a sci-fi convention.

You are publicly willing to defend Dollhouse, because Joss Whedon must be trusted.

Ah, pretty geeky. But there's no big surprise there.

Geeky Stuff Done A Cappella

There are some really great videos of nerdy music on youtube done a cappella. Some of them, particularly the ones where it's the same guy doing each part, are really good. If you haven't seen any of these, they're really worth checking out.

Especially this one, a Star Wars/John Williams tribute. Originally it was done by the a cappella comedy music group Moosebutter, and then it was rerecorded with permission by Corey Vidal. Here's the Vidal version:

I have to wonder if he was as excited about Episode I after he saw it.

This is a more recent video of the theme from the Legend of Zelda video game. This guy has a lot of hats. I like the extra heads that float across the screen and the violin was very well done. This makes me want to bust out the Super Nintendo and play some Link to the Past (arguably the best Zelda game out there).


Then there's a whole Nintendo compalation. This also makes me want to play some Mario, but not as much as I'd spend a few hours playing Zelda right now. I also like how Mortal Kombat is thrown in and the guy shouting "MORTAL KOMBAT!" which is essential to the Mortal Kombat theme.


My appologies to Eric if this was to be the subject of one of his upcoming blog posts. :)

The Best Commercial I've Seen in A While (fixed)

I was watching Star Wars Episode II on Spike the other night. Don't ask me why, I was just channel flipping and it happened to be there. Anyway, at the end they had this great commercial.



Turns out, there are a few of them.

This Make My Internal Grew-Up-in-the-80s-Geek Squee

There are no words other than to say there are some incredibly talented people out there with a lot of time on their hands.



And here's WormyT's other video, which I'm not necessarily excited about but still looks really good.

Being a Geek is Fun

What follows is an actual email conversation between myself and a former coworker, and it all started with this photo. Note: the former coworker isn't a geek, but I had little difficulty in pulling her into a geeky frame of mind.

To: former coworker
Subject: My new ride

Me: It makes the commute much more tolerable.

Former Coworker: That's hysterical!!! :-) Did you get to do an interview for custom plane interiors or are you learning to fly on the sly?

Me: I went on a "green" tour in Oregon. We started in Portland, then went to Medford and Bend. Each day Timber Products, one of the sponsoring companies, used their jet to get us from place to place.

FC: OK. Now I am REALLY jealous!! I went on a forest to furniture tour once
in PA and I only got BUSSED around.

I'm hexing you as we type. $#^$%$^%&*^^$

Me: Good thing I've got my anti-hex ring with a +5 to awesomeness. (Ok, I am a mega-nerd.)

FC: That's no match for my truth lasso (borrowed from my good friend wonder woman) which can also be used to depower the anti-hex ring (making the wearer develop fuscia polka dots the size of a bread plate with purple squares in the middle.) Careful................you don't know who you're dealing with do you........

Me: Oh yeah!?! Well I'll block it the shield of Perseus, which will reflect it all back at you and I'll call up my buddy the one-eyed, one-horned, flying fuscia-polka-dot-eater to come pay you a visit. Take that!

FC: I see. Well. That leaves me no alternative. I'll just jump in the invisable plane (kept secretly in my yard under the guise of trees and bushes) and run him down mid flight then fly by and drop knoxious gas filled with glitter all over your new ride.

Me: Not glitter!!! That stuff gets everywhere, and even when you've spent hours cleaning up and you think there can't possibly be any more it just keeps popping up.

FC: Well that's why you can't mess w/suburbamom. We know the secret to driving others nuts.

Me: I tremble before your vast and mighty powers.

FC: Now if only my kids believed in my powers...I could rule the universe (known on earth as my house)