Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd

August 1st, 2009 by Amanda

Picture via The Awesomer.

I think the title basically speaks for itself, but just in case there is any confusion, it is a “collection of short stories by best selling young adult literature authors for just about every flavor of geek”, says The Awesomer. These stories and comics for your inner geek have everything from Klingons and Jedi Knights to fan fiction, theater geeks, and cosplayers.

With story’s like, “Once You’re a Jedi, You’re a Jedi All the Way”, “How to Cosplay with Common Household Objects”, “The Best Ways to Stay Away for Gaming”, and “How to Identify…the Living Dead”.

“Whether you’re a former, current, or future geek, or if you just want to get in touch with your inner geek, Geektastic will help you get your geek on!” Says Amazon.com.

Order your copy today!!

The Nerdiest Custom Kicks You’ve Ever Seen

July 19th, 2009 by Sydney

moogle1

“Sneaker freaker” Daniel Reese, also known as Brass Monki, designs custom shoes featuring characters from of your favorite games and films.  While he’ll definately make you a pair with any of his featured designs, he’s open to custom jobs at his clients’ requests.  Here are a few of my favorites.

watchmen

moogle2

sonic

evolution-of-mario1

aliceinwonderland

batman1

(Via Kotaku)

Predatory Squid Attack San Diego Coast

July 19th, 2009 by Sydney

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That’s right! And just in time for that giant squidless Watchmen director’s cut screening at Comic-Con! Underwire reports:
“…Hordes of fearsome, violent Humboldt Squid have invaded shallow waters off the coast of Comic-Con International’s host city San Diego, assaulting divers and anyone else that gets in their way…

The predatory squid — which grow up to 7 feet long, have razor-sharp beaks and tentacles spiked with teeth — have been migrating northward at an alarming rate, as temperatures warm and their food stores thin out…

Comic-Con attendees might want to think about if they plan a dive near the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California.”

watchmen-squid

Hey, on the bright side, at least this thing isn’t what’s attacking the shores of San Diego, though I’m sure there are a few fanboys out there that probably wish that it was.

1980′s Action Figure Paintings

July 17th, 2009 by Senna

Hip-hop/art/tech/sci-fi/horror/etc. blog Straight Maxin posted some pretty awesome action figures as fine art the other day by artist Robert Burden.  These enormous paintings really bring the characters to life!

voltron

battlecat

serpentor

Check out the rest of Robert Burden’s work here.

WIRED Teaches Us How To Be Geeks!

June 15th, 2009 by Sydney

WIRED is having a special promotion right now. Buy a one-year subscription to Wired Magazine for $10 plus receive a free copy of its new HOW TO GUIDE.  I did it and got mine in the mail the other day and it’s pretty awesome.  My favorite section? How To Be a Geek. Their suggestions?

  • Watch TV (Star Trek, X-Files…)
  • Play some games (Risk, Simcity…)
  • Read books (LOTR, Neuromancer…)
  • And some comics (Watchmen, Love & Rockets…)
  • Learn some science!!

be a geek

After this initial period of research, you’re ready to take the next step toward gaining your “geek cred,” which most likely involves building something like a website or a robot… or something.

And as you can see by that snippet of How to be Understood at ComicCon above, the rest of the guide is full of other helpful How To’s, including How to be a Game God, How to Reset a Dislocate Shoulder and How to Feign Sincerity, along with some helpful tips for us bloggers like How to Increase Your Pageviews and How to Build an Army of Followers.

Real life Watchmen?

June 7th, 2009 by Sydney

artgeistcnnAccording to an article posted recently on CNN.com, the current global economic crisis led to an increase in real life superheroes and vigilantes taking to their local streets and fighting crime.

While these real superheroes share some characteristics with their comic book counterparts, like secret identities, costumes and masks, they do a lot more than beat up bad guy and leave them tied up somewhere with a note attached to them for the police to deal with. These super heroes are more like good Samaritans than anything, passing out food to the homeless, raising money for children’s hospitals and always staying at the scene of a crime so that they can give statements of what they witnessed upon the authorities’ arrival.

So yeah.  Real life super heroes! This is probably bad that I’m thinking about this but I wonder when the real life super villains are going to show up?

Read the full article here.

theminutemen1985

The Neo-Feminism in Anime

June 6th, 2009 by Senna

Hello again!  Senna here reporting for duty!

A couple months ago, I became really into investigating the feminine, or rather erasure of femininity in cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic Anime and manga.  I wrote a research essay about it, and its up on Blogspot.  If you are interested, check it out!

“The Animated Neo Feminine”

The Animated Neo Feminine

51hxtm1zdpl_ss500_1-150x150Also, a great book to check out that informed many of my thoughts is Susan Napier’s “Anime From Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle.”  It’ll give you a cultural perspective on the social relevance of  Anime today.  Sydney and I both own it. It’s a great resource.  Enjoy!