When I started this post series I said I was going to be honest, so here it goes. I have not been very good these last couple weeks about get in shape. In part it’s due to having some family in town and the other part is just being busy with work and rehearsal, but that not much of an excuse. I’m up about a pound right now. It’s not much, but it’s still the wrong direction. The good news is that now that my schedule is more fixed, I will be able to return to the gym this week. I’m actually looking forward to it. I was feeling quite a bit better on days after I had worked out. Keep with me folks, I promise I’ll get better about this and I hope to surprise more than a few of you. 74 days to NYCC.
Category Archives: Geek Life
Star Trek Tech
One of the biggest reasons for my lifelong love affair with Star Trek is the amazing Star Trek technology. Since the very beginning, Gene Roddenberry imagined Star Trek as an idealized future for humanity, where we have been able to set aside our petty differences and work for the betterment not just of mankind but an entire alliance of alien races as well, by using their incredible technology. This fantastic vision has helped inspire several generations of Trekkie engineers to try and develop the wonderful devices that lead them to fall in love with the show in the first place. Being an engineer myself, it’s kind of fun to think about what we have already been able to achieve and where we still have to go.
THE PADD
One of the simplest and most ubiquitous pieces of tech found on the Enterprise is the PADD. A small data entry device, slightly larger than a book and about as thick as a yellow legal pad, they are used for everything from writing an official report to serving as a catalog for wedding dresses. When Star Trek writers want to make it look like a character is hard at work, they usually show them half out of uniform, sleeves rolled up and a table covered in PADDs.
In January of 2010, the late, great Steve Jobs announced a new Apple device. Not just inspired by Star Trek, the iPad has been almost completely ripped off Star Trek. It even had almost exactly the same name and bore more than a striking resemblance to the Star Trek device, albeit a bit larger. Flash forward to 2012 and a few iPad models later, Apple announced the iPad mini, which is now basically the same size as a PADD. This is one of the few times blatant plagiarism is absolutely acceptable.
UHURA’S EAR PIECE
Not as universal as the Pad, this little device is much more iconic. A quick Google image search for Uhura will come back with hundreds of images of her sitting at her station wearing her ear piece. It’s so iconic in fact that it was also included without change in J.J. Abrams 2010 reboot. Although essentially gone by the time of The Next Generation, for 1960’s America this ear piece was quite the impressive device. They had never seen a wireless device this small that would so easily fit into someone’s ear.
Those of us living in the 21st century, however, see this all the time. We call it a Bluetooth headset. People in their mid-twenties or older remember that when Bluetooth first came on the market, it was used almost exclusively as a hands free devices for phones. This lead to many humorous moments trying to figure out if someone was on the phone or if they were crazy and talking to themselves (especially if the conversation got particularly heated). Now we’ve grown use to seeing this, but in the early 2000’s it was pretty damn funny.
HOLODECK
This is honestly as glorious as it looks.
In the pilot of The Next Generation, Riker goes to find Data on the Holodeck, a room where the entire environment, including interactive characters, is artificially generated. The system started off very basic, but as the show progressed (and budgets increased) entire episodes would be set on the Holodeck. This simple room allowed the crew of the Enterprise to visit far off alien planets, fantasy worlds, or various historical periods (Worf in the Old West was one of my favorites). Frequently these episodes would end up revolving around something going wrong with the Holodeck, so much so that even the show made a joking reference to it in an episode of Deep Space Nine.
I hope I look this good when I’ve been dead 16 years.
In April of 2012 at the Cochella Music Festival the audience was treated to a surprise performance by rapper 2Pac. This appearance was a huge surprise because 2Pac has been dead for sixteen years and this unbelievable feat was accomplished through the use of holograms. While it isn’t the Holodeck yet, it is a considerable advance in holographic technology. This same technology is being used in Japan to create an entirely artificial pop music star, Hatsune Miku. We aren’t that far away from completely interactive worlds that we can explore.
What Star Trek Tech do you want to see make its way to our modern world? Let us know down below in the Comment section.
Filed under Andrew Hales, Geek Life
SDCC Wrap Up
San Diego Comic Con has come and gone, and while I was unable to attend I have kept up to date with the latest and coolest announcements. I’m going to take a minute and cover some of the things that I’m most excited about. This is by no means an exhaustive list; it’s just what has piqued my interest.
COMICS
Obviously there are going to be plenty of comic book announcements coming from a comic book convention. Probably the most interesting announcements are coming out of IDW. Next year looks rather bright for them with a new Walt Simonson Viking series called Ragnarők, an artist edition of another Simonson title Star Slammers; An artist edition of Hellboy in Hell (which I plan to preorder as soon as I can); and a new series Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland.
I’m certain most people are unfamiliar with Little Nemo (nothing to do with Finding Nemo), but I have been unable to find this favorite of my childhood since I was about twelve and I am super excited for a chance to return to this universe. The fact that it comes from the writers of Locke & Key, about whom I have heard nothing but good things , excites me even further.
Speaking of hearing good things, this year’s Eisner awards were announced the Friday of the convention and not surprisingly, Saga has done very well for itself, winning both Best Continuing Series and Best New Series as well as a Best Writer award for Brian K. Vaughan. This shouldn’t be any surprise as it’s Vaughan’s third Eisner for Best New Series and his second for Best Writer, but I don’t care. This series is amazing and it deserves recognition. While I would have also loved to see Fiona Staples win (or be nominated for that matter), David Aja’s wins for Best Cover Artist and Best Penciler/Inker nearly make up for this. I honestly don’t care about Hawkeye as a character, but I keep reading the book because Aja’s amazing art and Fraction’s superior writing.
Finally, coming out of Marvel’s catch-all Cup O’ Joe panel are two announcements that make me hopeful. First up is Young Avengers Afterparty. I’m not much of an after-party fan, but Young Avengers has been very enjoyable so far and this should be a nice Christmas time wrap up of the story arc. It also promises to include some shorter stories about a couple of the characters, including one of my favorites, Pixie.
The second of Mr. Quesada’s announcements is that a new series called Revolutionary War, featuring many second and third string UK based characters is on its way. I like these kinds of series. There is always so much room to develop these characters in whatever new ways the creative teams wants to take it. I will admit that not knowing a single character that’s going to be in the series, I’m cautiously optimistic.
MOVIES
What would SDCC be without movie announcements? It might be all about comics and who really wants that (Oh the humanity!). This year is no exception. Right off the bat we have The Avengers: Age of Ultron. After The Avengers turned into a mega-blockbuster last summer, we all knew that a sequel was on its way, but I assumed, based on the Easter Egg, that the villain would be Thanos, the Mad Titan. Turns out I was wrong. It looks like Marvel is saving that one for film number three (as well as for Guardians of the Galaxy) and instead we get one of the Avengers’ greatest foes, Ultron. 
For those who don’t know, Ultron is an artificial intelligence created by original Avenger Hank Pym (Ant Man). It eventually turns on him and becomes an incredibly intelligent, ever evolving, homicidal robot who frequently tries to kill our beloved heroes. Ultimately, this is a villain I can get behind, and I’m pleased with the announcement.
This is going to be fun. The mustache says so.
Now from the other side of the street, over at DC there are two big pieces of movie news. First and probably most controversial is that the upcoming Man of Steel sequel will include Superman and Batman working as a team. I’m not really sure how I feel about this. Man of Steel left us with so much potential for more adventures with Superman that I’m a little disappointed they feel the need to do a crossover between the two franchises so soon. Also the fact that Christian Bale will likely not be returning for the film adds to my apprehension. For all his flaws as a person, Bale played a very really and believable Batman and it will be tough for someone else to fill his shoes.
The second reveal is the post Justice League: Flash Point Paradox/ Justice League: War DC animated films. There is no doubt that while DC has not done well in the feature film market, they are dominating the animated original movie market. There were rumors that after Flash Point that there would only be New 52 based movies, but this is not going to be the case. Not only that, the next two movies will feature Batman. Batman and Son will introduce Damian Wayne to the animated comic universe and Batman: Assault on Arkham will presumably take place somewhere in the Batman: Arkham Asylum video game universe. I’ve been selective on which of the animated films I buy, but I think both of these will make the cut.
GAMING
Gaming at SDCC seemed to take a bit of a back seat. Given the massive announcements leading up to and during E3, it’s not surprising that things were a bit more subdued in California. Microsoft showed off some of the new features with the Kinect and Xbox One. The coolest one by far is the fact that the Kinect will recognize unique users and automatically switch user profiles based on who has the controller. I used to go absolutely nuts when my roommate and I would play games because I like inverted controls and he doesn’t. A couple months ago we set up my NES and looking back it’s amazing how far this technology has come along.
The best and worst gaming news however comes from Nintendo. My favorite RPG of all time, Earthbound, is finally being re-released. I have played many RPGs in my day, some of the top titles among them, but none of them quite live up to the awesomeness that is Earthbound. However, it is only being released for the Wii U, a console that I do not own. I am now torn. Do I wait even longer and hope that it comes out for a system I do own, like 3DS (which can totally hack the graphics), or do I fork out the $350 for the system so I can play this game again? There are certainly pluses and minuses to both sides so this may have to come down the best method of decision making I know of: flipping a quarter.
Alright folks, this is what I loved about SDCC. What did you like? Comment below and let us know what you liked and what you wanted to see more of.
Filed under Andrew Hales, Events, Geek Life
Editorial | Recap: Mikey Mason at Atlantis Games and Comics
A few weeks ago I posted an article on why geeks should socialize with other geeks. This past Friday I was able to do just that when Mikey Mason, hosted by Tidewater Browncoats and Atlantis Games & Comics, came out to Norfolk to do a show. I got there early before most of the audience, but the room quickly filled up until almost every seat was occupied.
Mikey started the show with a sound check and then quickly and understandably decided to remove his pants… to put on shorts, since the room was pretty warm.
Mikey does standup comedy for a living, but I love him for his geeky, humorous parodies of popular songs (sprinkled with a few original pieces). His theme song for this show was Browncoats of Summer, which is an obvious parody. Perhaps his most famous—and funniest—song is She Don’t Like Firefly, which has caught on with fans of Joss Whedon’s very briefly lived SciFi show.
The show started at 7:00 p.m. and around 8:30 p.m. I glanced at my watch, but Mikey was still going strong. He bantered with a couple of kids in the front row and mocked them a little when they got carried away with audience participation, which made my child-hating soul rejoice. Almost everyone in the room had seen him before and a few people knew him personally and it was obvious that he was relaxed and felt like he was among friends. Some called out requests for songs. Someone brought a blueberry pie that was gobbled down during intermission. I didn’t think anything of it until I realized that the performer’s mouth was blue for the rest of the show.
His personality comes through in his work. He’s a white trash geek on purpose, but he’s a smart white trash geek and a great big teddy bear. His vocabulary and use of feminine rhyme really blow me away regularly. It’s a refreshing respite from the usual pop fair of rhyming “please” with “me.” He really does have a good voice, and could (and occasionally does) sing serious songs. I caught a nice vibrato from time to time.
Mikey Mason doing his thing
I clapped along and sang along with the songs I know—including the freeze ray song from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog. I always attempt to sing along with his hilarious renditions of the cartoon themes from the 1980’s and earlier, but I end up laughing too hard. This time he did the whole repertoire, including everything from Thundercats to Sesame Street, but left off one theme that I had heard him cover at a different show. Obviously, this was on purpose when he sang another song and then came back to finish the show with a perfectly performed (and wildly amusing) rendition of the Muppet Babies theme.
I was impressed not only that he had the stamina to sing and entertain us for three whole hours, but that he very obviously wanted to do so. The audience was more than happy to let him go on as long as he wanted to, and the owner of Atlantis Games & Comics didn’t mind staying open.
All in all, although my backside was sore by the end, I was happy and excited. Picked up a couple of CDs to tide me over until the next Mikey Mason show as well. If you’re into smart, geeky music, head over to his website and check out his music and his sporadic podcast, “Beer Powered Time Machine.” It’s worth a look and listen!
Filed under Editorial, Events, Geek Life, Tracy Gronewold
Therefore I Geek 