Category Archives: Geek Life

by | April 3, 2014 · 12:15 pm

Game of Thrones Giveaway

Unless you’ve been living under a rock and/or not reading Therefore I Geek recently, you know that this weekend is the premiere of HBO’s Game of Thrones season four.  As part of our “Game of Thrones week” and in celebration of the new season we’re giving away a pair of Funko Pop figures:  our favorite team, Arya Stark and Sandor “The Hound” Clegane.  These adorable little guys are the perfect beginning/addition to any fan’s shelf porn collection.  Enter to win starting right now (seriously, do it right now) until midnight (eastern time) on Saturday, April 5.  We’ll choose an entry at random and announce our winner right before the mid-Atlantic premiere of the new season.

Arya and The Hound and Arya

Arya and The Hound and Arya

 

RULES: Please read the rules for entry carefully.

1)      Entry is easy:  simply comment on this post! Comments must be of some substance. This means no one word posts or gibberish.  One entry per person will be accepted.*

2)      Unfortunately, entries can only be accepted from persons living in the United States.

3)      The winner will be chosen at random from all eligible entries and announced on April 6, 2014. Every effort will be made to contact the winning party before the public announcement. The winner will need to provide an address where the prize can be shipped. (However, this should not be included in the comment.)

4)      If it is determined that the winner is ineligible (not living in the United States, etc) then a new winner will be chosen at random, and contacted.

5)      Failure to comply with the rules listed will result in an ineligible entry.

6)      Final determination of eligibility will be made solely by the staff of Therefore I Geek.

*If your comment doesn’t appear right away DON’T PANIC!  The staff of Therefore I Geek tries to approve all comments in a timely manner, but we do occasionally require sleep.

30 Comments

Filed under Geek Life, Giveaway

Tagged as , , , ,

by | March 27, 2014 · 6:13 pm

Shelf Porn: a love story

Ever notice how geeks love to decorate their shelves with geek stuff? We love to put up action figures or statues or other representations of our favorite stuff where everyone can see it.  Often times it’s arrayed like a grade school diorama—never located far from its source material (the Batman figure goes next to the Batman books, duh).

Shelf porn collecting, as it is often called, is one of the true milestones of geek culture.  You know you’ve reached the next level of geeking out when guests can find little shrines dedicated to your favorite fandoms scattered around your house.

While shelf porn is undeniably geeky, it can also be quite artistic. Fans can spend considerable amounts of time deciding exactly what will go in their displays.  Then they must find the items in question, hopefully at an affordable price.  Once in hand the item must be carefully set in place, sometimes in the box and other times out of the box and properly posed. If there are multiple parts to the display, then the process repeats itself until the setup is complete—just in time to move on to the next one.20131229_212649

From personal experience, I can tell you that creating the perfect shelf porn display can be quite costly. The comic book store I get my weekly books from clearly has several thousand dollars invested in their displays.  Richard’s collection of figures and busts is quite impressive and he has won awards for his displays.

Fortunately,  It isn’t necessary to go as far as he does in order to bring a touch of geek to your otherwise mundane furnishings.  The vinyl figures from Funko are very affordable at the $10-15 range.  Also keep an eye out for sales at your local comic book store.  If there is something that you’ve had your eye on for a while, but it’s out of your price range, check during the special sale times.  Of course, there is always a geek convention. I’ve found the best deals on Sunday when the show is wrapping up and people don’t want to take stuff back with them.

If you’re looking for ideas on how to set up your display, there are plenty of resources to use.  There are several websites and blogs that are solely dedicated to the art of shelf porn, often allowing users to share pictures of their creations for inspiration and critique. Your local comic book store is once again a great place to check out.  Most comic books stores recognize that appealing displays will attract more customers and sell more merchandise. You might not be able to replicate their display exactly, but it could spark an idea or two.  Finally there is the source material.  It’s always fun to recreate a favorite scene, or a scene you’ve always wanted to see. The possibilities are endless.

Seriously. Fifteen times.

Even I am not immune to the draw of shelf porn. I have a small, yet rapidly growing army of Funko Pop figures that will one day soon be making their home on my bookcase shelves.  Already several shelves on my DVD case have been given up so that my Star Wars Legos have a home.  This has also prevented me from having to rebuild the B-Wing for the 15th time (no exaggeration on that number either).

Shelf porn is a way for geeks to show off who they are and what they love.  No different than a football fan putting up memorabilia from their favorite team, it is a way for geeks to show solidarity with their favorite fandoms and identify with the characters.  As we always say at Therefore I Geek, it’s good to be a geek and it’s better to be a proud geek.

2 Comments

Filed under Andrew Hales, Geek Life

Tagged as , , , , ,

by | March 20, 2014 · 8:22 pm

Geek’s Night of Comedy

Geek's Night of Comedy

I have found that one thing nearly everyone can agree on is that laughter is a good thing.  Just about every sub-sect of society has their own brand of comedy, and geeks are no different. Last night’s Geek’s Night of Comedy in Virginia Beach was an enjoyable celebration of all that geek humor has to offer.  The show grew out of a post-performance conversation between three local comics, Sid Bridge, Derek Williams, and Tim Loulies.  All three identify themselves as geeks and were lamenting the fact that although they love geek humor, it was difficult to use it in their acts, which were designed to appeal to a much broader audience.  Instead of wallowing in their frustration, the three founders decided to strike out and start a comedy show focused on geek material. Using their personal and business contacts they were able to set up the first Geek’s Night show at the Virginia Beach Funny Bone. The first show was a surprise hit and by the third show, they were selling out the venue.

Last night was the seventh Geek’s Night show. I went and enjoyed myself completely. All of the acts were good, but a few still stand out in my mind a day later. I always find Derek Williams’ humor very relatable—probably because I also regularly attend conventions.  Host and co-founder Tim Loulies has some very amusing material regarding the zombie apocalypse and weight loss.  Although Joseph De Paul and I have talked at length about “angry bus farts” in movie trailers, I’d yet to hear his routine and it left me in tears. Also his magic melts my brain.  Sid Bridge has some impressive bass skills, though I’m still trying to pry his theme song out of my brain.

The night’s closing performer was James Rodatus, who has become quite special to the Geek’s Night show.  Recently James was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and as a result, the Geek’s Night has mobilized to raise money for ALS research. The Geek’s Night show has always been involved with a charity, originally joining with the 501st Legion to raise money for childhood Diabetes, but when Sid, Tim and Derek, learned about James’ diagnosis they immediately shifted gears towards various ALS charities.  James’ performance was both funny and touching.  He discussed various parts of his treatment in ways that made them seem far less serious than they truly are.  By the end of the night $720 was raised for Emory University’s ALS Center.

The very talented James Rodatus

The very talented James Rodatus

The Geek’s Night of Comedy has a bright future and not just in the Hampton Roads region. There are upcoming performances scheduled in both Richmond, VA, and Orlando, FL.  In addition to taking their show to other comedy clubs, Geek’s Night of Comedy has been hitting the convention scene.  When I asked Sid what, if anything, made convention shows different than the standard Geek’s Night show he replied that because the crowd is in their element, the normally shy and socially awkward geeks were far more willing to relax, making for a more enjoyable show.

These guys are absolutely worth checking out, so be sure to keep an eye out at your local comedy club and upcoming conventions.  I would also like to extend a special thanks to Sid Bridge and Joseph De Paul. Both performers were gracious enough to give me a few minutes of their time for some brain picking and it was greatly appreciated.

1 Comment

Filed under Andrew Hales, Events, Geek Life

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

by | March 13, 2014 · 5:34 pm

Geeks You Should Know: Cassandra Peterson

c_peterson

This month’s Geek You Should Know is Cassandra Peterson. Name doesn’t ring a bell? Peterson is better known as the TV personality Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Originally from Kansas, Peterson grew up in Colorado, but left for Las Vegas just days after finishing high school. After working as a show girl at The Dunes, Peterson began acting in small parts—including one in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever. Finally, in 1981, the role Cassandra was born to play arrived when a Los Angles TV station wanted to revive its late night horror movie show.  Although she was not their first choice for a host, Peterson and her persona Elvira were a perfect fit. Thus was born Elvira’s Movie Macabre.

Elvira and yours truly.

Elvira and yours truly. Phoenix Comicon 2011

Elvira is a geek superstar. She is a regular at conventions and I know from personal experience that she still draws a crowd. Although she was a little late to the signing I was at (with that outfit, who can blame her), she was incredibly nice and apologetic for her late arrival.  She may be small of stature, but she has a massive personality.

For many people, Elvira was the introduction to the world of late night B movies. Not only did Elvira host the movies on her show, but she often provided a running commentary as her sarcastic, valley girl character.  In fact, Elvira was mocking movies well before MST3K came around. Elvira has been featured in comics (a mind blowing 166 issues!), two motion pictures, games, calendars, and even pinball machines. It’s even rumored that Cassandra is the model posing on the cover of Tom Waits’ Small Change album. It does look quite a bit like her. In 2010, Peterson revived Movie Macabre and began to release public domain films on DVD with her commentary.

My personal Elvira, Mistress of the Dark one sheet.

My personal Elvira, Mistress of the Dark one sheet.

Leave a comment

Filed under Andrew Hales, Geek Life, Geeks You Should Know

Tagged as , , , , , ,