Nerd thing to do today.

Brush up on your StarWars. You know its been a while since you've revisited your child hood. It's ok. Kick on your VCR, or settle in with a nice dvd. Watch your favorite episode. Empire strikes back is always a good one. If you like Episode I, we can turn a blind eye. But treat yourself, its always a beautiful thing.

MOVIE

Moon was really good. Sam Rockwell plays an isolated astronaut in the final days of his contract with Lunar Industries, a company that mines energy for Earth. An accident with a lunar rover forces Sam to deal with himself in more ways than one. Kevin Spacey voices Sam's robot companion Gerty. 

I loved that they did model work for the exteriors. I have always believed that CG will never replace models. There is a realism that humans will always be able to depict no matter how good CG gets. Given they did scene extensions and cg robotics inside the station but it all marries together quite well. For an indie movie they had a lot of the right elements. I'm not a fan of thrillers but this is a sci-fi worth watching.

PLUGZ's PROJECTS

(Temporarily PLUGZ's PLUGS)

Went to see Cinematic Titanic on recently with Aurora in Santa Babara. They riffed on a wonderfully terrible movie called "DOOMSDAY MACHINE" It was nonstop laughter. Found out about Trace and Mary Jo's new books. Frank's historic tweets, Joel is a magician, and J "Elvis" Weinstein plays the bass. Which was awesome. Afterwards got to shake hands with all of them. I wanted to talk to them but I was such a nerd I just froze and was only able to get out the generic "I love your work!" So lame. But then I was able to jump into a picture with all of them! HOORAY! Now I have to track down Mike, Kevin, and Bill. "And the circle will be complete."

If you ever get a chance to see CT live, DO IT. It's such a great experience.

AURORA's Biblio-Files

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

This one is for all of you Fantasy fans out there, now I know Harry Potter and Twilight (blech!) have made fantasy quite a commercial genre lately, but here's one from back in the good ol' days. The first time I read Howl's Moving Castle was in 1999, and I loved it. So much so that I proceeded to read it about 8 more times over the years, the most recent reading being this last week. While the plot is not entirely unpredictable, the characters are enchanting, the magic is pure and the storytelling is witty. You will meet Calcifer, a sparky fire demon, Howl, a vain but good-hearted wizard, and Sophie, a remarkable woman who has a way of persuading things to go her way. Together they must work to free each other of their magical bonds while the world is in the midst of a war. Jones was a very prolific English author, and I haven't yet encountered a book of hers that I haven't liked. The added bonus to reading this book is that Hayao Miyazaki, the great and powerful animator, created a movie based off of this title in 2004. Many people to whom I have recommended this title were not even aware that Miyazaki's movie was based off of a book in the first place! The horror! If you want to see some fantasy at its best, both the book and the movie are well worth checking out.

Quote
"Well, it's the end of the world as we know it and, actually I feel a little bit gassy, but otherwise I'm fine."
-Crow

From episode 819 Invasion of the Neptune Men (great episode)
This quote is awesome because it's a line from a song by R.E.M., a great UK band from the 90s.

Message from space

Nerd thing to do today.

Your Nerdsignment, should you choose to accept it...

Play with LEGOs.

Thats it. Play with LEGOs. I made a cool jet the other day. It has 3 sets of wings.



This is the Halo warthog I made for the Technic scale LEGO men for my LEGO HALO shorts....that I haven't got around to making yet. click me

MOVIE

I just watched One of the most creative movies since Captain Neo...though it came out way before Neo. Message From Space is a Japanese movie from the 70s. Glorious wire work and model shots. The chase through the asteroids near the beginning is so good. If you keep in mind that the movie was made in the 70's that will help your suspension of disbelief.* Cause of course you can survive in the vacuum of space with just a respirator, floating around catching space fire flies. Considered the Japanese answer to the American film StarWars this adventure takes you to distant planets with plenty of action, sci-fi, aliens and robots. Which it isn't StarWars but it's really creative and fun. Vic Morrow could give Peter Falk a run for his money. And just remember... Walnuts.

*Many people don't keep that in mind when watching movies. They write it off as "stupid." Which it isn't stupid. It was a different time/culture.

AURORA'S BIBLIO-FILES

The Adoration of Jenna Fox and The Fox Inheritance by Mary Pearson
The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a terrific science fiction series that explores the ethics of biomedical engineering, and the lengths to which people will go to save the ones they love. After a terrible accident, Jenna, Locke and Kara are dying, and there's nothing any doctors can do. Except perhaps for Jenna's father who has created BioGel, a synthetic gel that exactly immitates the behavior of human cells - the only drawback is that its unapproved, and very illegal. He copies the minds of all three teens without telling the parents of the other two. He then recreates Jenna, but copies of Locke and Kara stay on the shelf for 260 years, trapped in little black boxes. All they know is darkness. They are eventually rebuilt by Dr. Gatsboro, but the world they awake to is not their own. Are they still human? Or has something in them snapped during their time on the shelf? This story is one of science, self-discovery, philosophy and ethics. Fans of The Hunger Games will undoubtedly love Pearson's characters and fast-paced storytelling. A great science fiction must-read.

PLUGZ'S PROJECTS
I had a hand in making props for Dragon Age Redemption starring Felicia day.

This is a fertile land... and we will thrive.

Nerd thing to do today.

SHIRTOID

Buy a shirt that only you and your nerd friends will understand. I stumbled across Shirtoid the other day. Some of the best geek and nerd shirts I've seen in a while. Even if you don't buy anything, it's a lot of fun just browsing through people's cleverness.

MOVIE

District 9 is a sweet sweet movie about a coordinator who stumbled into the wrong alien shack at the wrong time. The CG is great in this movie. The mech sequence is some of the best to date. Thank you The Embassy for being so awesome.

For all you fans out there here's the original short D9 is based on. "Alive in Joburg" I actually caught it back around 2006 when I was looking for good robot vids on youtube. Its got some interesting stuff, a great stepping stone for what became D9. Though I was a bit more attracted to Neil Bloomkamp's Bunny eared biped. This robot can also be found in the short, "Temp Bot."

PLUGZ's PROJECTS
CALLING ALL GAMERS! If you like World of Warcraft or any thing that has to do with an MMORPG* you will love the Web Series The Guild, Starring Felicia Day. I was illustrator on The Guild season 5. I worked on banners and logo's and set peices for the steam punk booth and alot of The Game memorabilia. A few of the cardboard cut out stand-ups are my artwork as well.

There are easter eggs all over this series but one of my personal favorites is the Gundam Girl I created based from the mech from my student thesis.

AURORA's Biblio-Files

Princess of Mars: Barsoom #01 by Edgar Rice Burroughs

A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After reading this book, I have to say, I can see where Superman got his origins. From Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author of "Tarzan of the Apes," comes something completely different: a series about John Carter, a gold miner/cowboy in the mid 19th century who gets sucked onto Mars and subsequently battles against martians, allies with martians, has super-martian strength, wins the princess, loses the princess etc, etc. It is a very vivid book, well-written, and exceptionally innovative, particularly considering its publication date. (Think of how ground-breaking the visual effects in the Star Wars movies were upon their release, and how they changed science fiction forever, and you'll have an idea of how awesome this book is). And that's only the first book in the series, they just keep getting better! Completely action-packed, with all the makings of a great movie on a Lord of the Rings scale of epic-ness. A definite must read. Despite the almost unmentionable attempt at a movie in 2009, the Industry is making another (better funded, casted, and directed) attempt at the John Carter saga, slated to be released in 2012. And this is one geek who can hardly wait to see it!

INTERNET TERM 101

MMORPG: Massive Multi-player Online Roll Playing Game. Which is the (and I use the term loosely) "social version"of RPG's on your computer, which came from text based RPG's where you had to use your imagination, which was the digital format of Table Top RPG's like Munchkin and Dungeons and Dragons. An MMORPG can be found in the form of World of Warcraft, Guild Wars or if anyone remembers Star Wars Galaxies.
NOT to be confused with Social Games like Sims or Facebook games. -Shutter-

Bacon

This is your nerdsignment, should you choose to accept it...

Nerd thing to do today.

Check out the Homestarrunner.net, it's dot com. One of the funniest flash animation sites out there. They stopped updating about a year ago but the site is filled with so much content and humor, it will take you forever to get through it all. Click it like its goin outta style
When I'm having a bad day and need a quick pick me up I click over to the site and hit the random button. Always a good time.

MOVIE

Recently I picked up a Japanese Mech movie called Gunhed. If you like old school puppetry and early blue screen matting, then this is a flick for joo. Set in the future after a war on the island Kryon-5, scavengers hunt for texmexium (awesome) and stumble onto a blonde Air Ranger with an attitude. The characters are wild and hilarious. But their numbers quickly dwindle to the lead and the feisty Air Ranger. The Gunhed robot is a strange cross between Tank Police and Gundam. The enemy robot looks like it rolled off of the set of Power Rangers. Not a wealthy story and the cyborg children are annoying, but it's definitely worth checking out... Oh and "Stop playing with your gun. It's bad luck."

AURORA's Biblio-Files

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was surprisingly reverent. I expected it to be funny, vaguely follow the events of history during Lincoln's presidency, add vampires and mix well. I didn't expect the commentary on man's right to freedom, and the respect for Abe Lincoln's character.

With the deluge of Vampire books on the market today, I have to say this is one worth reading. The history mixed with the undead makes for a clever, at times creepy, and very intriguing read. From his childhood, Abe has been plagued by vampires. When a mysterious illness claims his mother, Young Abe makes his first kill. Later, our perhaps most famous president is not only taking slavery head on, but he is also determined to rid the country of vampires once and for all. At times cocky, and other times wary, but never backing down, Abe Lincoln kicks ass and takes names like never before.

PLUGZ's PROJECTS

ADOD Dissension. A few of my friends and I put this together. Took almost a year and a half to complete. Only because we all have jobs and real life to attend to. Stupid real life, always in the way...

Cool stuff to know. We used the prop walls from Blade Runner for the silver interior of the space ships. The space helmet the pilot pulls off at the beginning is from the movie Battle Planet. Who can name what movie the alien dialogue is from?(read the subs)

INTERNET TERM 101
newb. (n) A person who is new, either to a game or the internets. Usually one of little knowledge who has much to learn. That n00b couldn't even hit the broad side of a Burmak. Alt. sp. n00b

FIRST!

I think its hilarious to see the newb internetters always calling first post on threads and blogs.

Nerd thing to do today.

Bust out your gameboy kids. I'm playing Mario Land 2. The sequel to Mario Land. Based on the Mario Brothers from the original Nintendo console. Play it, or at least the first few levels. It will take you back to a simpler time when games only had two d's.

MOVIE
This week I was recommended the movie Solaris with George Clooney. It has many undertones of 2001 especially with the soundtrack. But it's a Scifi to see. The production value is great. The story is interesting. It is slow but if your a nerd with a taste for Asian cinema, you are used to slow movies.

QUOTE

"Malta! Maker of fine crosses, knights, and falcons!"
-Crow T. Robot

This quote taken from the MST3K Episode 1008, Season 10 "Final Justice"

This quote is awesome because...
Knights that started as an order of monks who came to Malta circa 1530 and ended up becoming a military order that protected crusaders and those "folk that longen to goon on pilgrimages And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes," the crosses were considered the sign of the christian warrior. The Maltese Falcon was a movie starring Humphrey Bogart from 1941.

Grand Opening

Are you cool? popular? good at sports?

Do you wish you could lack social skills and proper hygene? Do you find yourself comfortable in the action figure isle at walmart? Do you feel like the only one on the inside of your inside jokes?

Well BUCK UP BOYS! There's Hope!

(...and we get those jokes)

Welcome to THE online guide on being a nerd

Of course All are welcome. Nerds, dorks, geeks, gamernerds, webgeeks, dorknerds, gamewads, nerd games, webwebs, and elves. We'll educate you in everything from video games to web-content. Comic books, to movies. And even take you back to the future with awesome stuff from long ago. Inside jokes and proper quotes from movies and TV. To make you the un-coolest nerd on your block.