Author Archives: Andrew Hales

by | October 8, 2013 · 9:16 am

Editorial | My First Geek Convention

I’m smack in the middle of midterm week, which means super late nights and super early mornings.  Fortunately, this eighth level of hell (which Dante knew not of) will be interrupted by my very first geek convention!

I’ve been dreaming of my first convention since I was in middle school.  My ultimate dream adventure was (and still is) RingCon in Germany.  However, I was willing to settle for any gathering of geeks.  (RingCon is next week, by the way.  I am sooo jealous of any of our readers who is going!)

I’ve also been extremely interested in cosplay—of course, when I first looked at it, it was just called “dressing up.”

Now, for the first time, my dream is about to come true.  I’m actually headed to New York Comic Con!!  I’ve done my research, bought my day passes for Saturday and Sunday, and listened to many, many of Andrew’s crazy stories (he hasn’t even shared the half of them with y’all so far).

So as I head into this weekend, on the few moments that I’m able to look up from my computer screen, I’m excited about quite a few things:

I’m actually really pumped for the trip up to comic con.  For the past few years, I’ve driven to every place I’ve visited (often between 12-19 hours each way) and it is always exhausting.  By the time I get to the fun part, I’m too tired to enjoy it.  Instead, this time I am taking the train, so I will have time to relax and enjoy myself.

And somehow, this episode of Big Bang Theory is all I can think about…

I’m really stoked to hopefully meet (a few) of the entertainment guests.  Felicia Day, Kevin Smith, Patrick Stewart (<3 him so much!!), Seth Green, Judy Greer (please, please, please, let this one happen…  I will be so excited), Kevin Grevioux (We’re both Minnesota Vikings fans—and I love that we have multiple things in common.  Geeks should be well rounded, in my opinion), and Hulk Hogan!!  [Ok, I was JUST kidding about the last one.]  I was really looking forward to seeing James Cosmo, from Game of Thrones as well, as I do love Commander Mormont, but he unfortunately cancelled his appearance.

The comic guests who will be present are fantastic!!  David Finch, Max Brooks and OF COURSE Stan Lee will all be signing autographs.  Of course, I will be lucky to get to see one of these guys up close and personal, but a girl can dream!  Andrew has told me that Max Brooks is an especially cool dude, so it would be nice to get a chance to talk to him.  I also wouldn’t be upset if I got to meet David Lloyd, from V for Vendetta.

I’m a big fan of Gillykins’ cosplay. I know she’ll be at Con, and I would love to meet her.

I will be skipping the Ya-ya Han “celebrity cosplayer” autograph session. Honestly, if I didn’t already love cosplaying so very much before I first saw Heroes of Cosplay, the show would have really turned me off!  Geeks are often mocked and looked down on by outsiders because of what they look like or what they love—there is no need to do the same to each other /endrant.

Avatar Press has a panel on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. to talk about the news and big new projects.  Panelists are Caanan White, Kieron Gillen, Simon Spurrier, William Christensen, and Max Brooks.  This one is definitely on my hot list!

On Sunday I’m really looking forward to getting some discount geek gear as well.  Thank goodness I have a “Convention Guide” of my very own to show me where the best stuff is!

So yeah, I’m giddy and excited and almost dizzy with excitement for Comic Con in just a few days.  I know there is no way that I will be able to see all the things I want to see, but it’s awesome to at least try to plan for them!  Are you going to Comic Con?  If not, is there a panel or person you would like to see if you did?  Let us know in the comments!

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by | October 4, 2013 · 5:03 pm

Around the Web October 4, 2013

According to the London School of Economics and Political Science, online piracy isn’t having the negative effects that the entertainment industry would like us to believe. The movie industry, who has been harassing us with anti-piracy ads before movies for years now, seems to be the worst culprit. They actually had record profits of $35 billion in 2012. The music industry, who has been crying about how piracy is killing record sales, was able to make up those losses in other ways. Guess this info makes Metallica look like bigger morons than they already are. Maybe next time they won’t go whining to Congress that someone downloaded their album.

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The other surprising fact was how wide spread piracy actually is. 45% of Americans admit to it and 70% of those under age 30 do.

While super spy Nick Fury has no trouble keeping secrets, it seems that Sam Jackson isn’t quite as good. Mr. Jackson accidentally (or not, wink wink nudge nudge ) leaked that Scarlet Witch will be played by Elizabeth Olsen in The Avengers: Age of Ultron . Olsen, younger sister of the infamous Olsen twins, recently made a name for herself in Martha Marcy May Marlene. No word yet as to who will be playing her twin brother Quicksilver.

Wanda_Maximoff_(Earth-616)_from_Uncanny_Avengers_Vol_1_1_Coipel_Variant_cover

Since I didn’t know this Olsen even existed until this announcement, I’m going to do my best to keep an open mind and just hope that she’s a better actress than her sisters.

In very fitting fashion, Twitter announced its IPO with a tweet. Yesterday, Twitter filed the paperwork for their IPO and opened the doors to allow a peek in at their finances. Unfortunately for Twitter, what people are seeing isn’t as good as they might have hoped and certainly not as good as other social media outlets like Facebook. There are serious questions about the growth of Twitter’s user base, which has slowed notably in the recent quarter in addition to questions regarding Twitter’s ability to capitalize on advertising.

vegibit.com

Let’s be honest, this is really fitting.

While I think social media is quite useful–hence the fact I’m writing a blog–I just can’t see these companies being able to maintain the kinds of profits that stockholders demand. If anyone doubts that social media outlets can fail, I would counsel them not to forget Myspace.

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by | October 3, 2013 · 4:41 pm

Guest Post | An Open Letter to the Executives at DC Comics

Dear Executives at DC Comics,

The second anniversary of your New 52 lineup has recently passed, and Therefore I Geek’s articles on the DC universe and the big merge of all your storylines got me thinking.  I thought of all the comics I have read over the years and all the stories that are told, and I find that these books are good enough on their own. Just because it’s nice from time to time when Batman teams up with Superman or Green Arrow, doesn’t mean the DC universe needs to recognize that particular storyline as part of the timeline.  Unless all the comics stem from the same original concept, I’m not a fan of merging comic universes anyway.

Take Batman for instance.  Awesome! Yes, indeed, you’ve struck gold when it comes to the storylines, lore, and one hell of a line-up of villains.  Now, insert Superman so that he comes to fight Bane.  What?  No.  That’s ridiculous.  How about Wonder Woman to help take out the Joker?  No way.  Does Bruce Wayne even believe in Greek mythology enough to warrant help from the daughter of a goddess?  It just doesn’t make any sense.  You know what, DC?  It doesn’t have to!  Superman is perfectly capable of being understood and enjoyed without The Flash coming in to…do what?  Save the day?  Please spare me.

A brand like DC should not feel obligated to merge all the characters it has ever released into a universe that somehow must make sense just in case they want to do a crossover or a team-up.  Just make the story, make it good, and don’t worry so much about it.

You need a structure to follow?  Have a core book for a character.  Whatever happens in that book is part of the lore of that character.  Any other books are fair game for writers and artists to explore different ideas and flesh out any funky powers, gadgets, and team-ups.  There is even a name for this phenomenon.  It is called a mini-series.  Injustice was a great creation to serve this purpose.  Turning it into a video game that puts all the DC characters together for fights we would never normally see was even better!

Every time I see Wonder Woman’s Amazonian warriors crack a spear over Doomsday’s chest in the game, am I to believe that the beast that killed the unkillable Superman is supposed to be hurt by a wooden stick?  Not in the slightest, but it works because it’s scratching an itch that makes us ask What If…? Which, coincidentally, was a great comic put out by Marvel built on just this concept.  We are exposed to these “what if” scenarios all the time in movies.  How many times have films rebooted a comic character?  How many actors have played Batman?  I rest my case.

I understand that you are trying to compete with Marvel for sales and crossovers and team-ups help sell books.  Marvel has done a wonderful job of making all of its heroes and villains mutants of some sort, who aren’t uber powerful on their own.  Their most popular books are based on teams, not individuals.  This allows for an easier suspension of belief when it comes to characters sharing story arcs.

I guess all I’m saying is:  quit trying so hard to make pieces fit where they don’t.  If there are characters that just don’t have a world in common, there should be no obligation to make that happen.  Cut it out, DC.  We love you and the characters you’ve come up with over the years.  I don’t need to see supernatural characters fighting with more human ones.  Oh, and I don’t need to see a Superman/Batman film to this effect either.  I’d much rather have a fourth Dark Knight movie with Heath Ledger as the Joker.  Now THAT would be an impressive alternate universe.

Sincerely,

Cheefbast

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by | October 2, 2013 · 4:41 pm

Winning Science October 2, 2013

Although not all of us are feeling the pain of the current government shutdown, the folks at NASA sure are. With 97% of NASA employees furloughed, a continued shutdown may impact NASA’s next unmanned mission to Mars. The longer the shutdown runs, the more it will eat into the narrow launch window for MAVEN. If MAVEN is unable to launch in its current window, it will have to wait two years for the next one, and even then the probe will be operating at a reduced capacity due to solar activity.

blogs.smithsonianmag.com

I’d like to know where exactly one stores a Mars probe and rocket. Why do I feel that its going to be sitting in some dude’s garage for two years?

Since last year the FDA has a new, accelerated drug approval process. The “breakthrough therapy” designation is meant for drugs which treat serious or life threatening illnesses, like cancer. Drug companies have embraced the new process, filing almost one hundred applications, half of which have been denied. While that doesn’t sound good, it makes me feel reassured that the FDA is not rushing every drug that applies, and that they’re making some actual evaluations.

www.nbcnews.com

This is not the correct use for the “breakthrough therapy” process. Don’t even think about it.

I’m also glad they’re only allowing drugs for serious conditions to to be considered. Its not like we need a rush approval for a new version of Viagra.

Finally, the New York Times has an amusing video out about why Taco Bell’s Doritos Tacos sell so well. This may not seem like science, but in fact there is tons of science behind this. These tacos appeal to us on several different levels and are designed to make you physically enjoy them and then want more.

http://www.tacobell.com/food/tacos/Cool_Ranch_Doritos_Locos_Tacos_Supreme

Om Nom Nom Nom!

I may or may not now have a case of the munchies.

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