I got a call today. Yes a phone call. In this world of comments on posts, e-mails, and IMs, I got a phone call from a friend of the blog and the podcast calling me on the carpet for some comments made on Geek Out Loud about Star Trek fans a.k.a. Trekkies. I feel I need to clear some things up.

First, I like Star Trek. I appreciate what it brings to the table for Science Fiction fans everywhere. William Shatner, Leonard Nemoy, DeForest Kelley, and the entire cast of the original series along with creator Gen Rodenberry opened the minds of science fiction fans, future engineers, and scientists to ideas about what could be beyond the boundaries of our atmosphere and what we as a race could accomplish if we pull together in spite of our perceived differences. Star Trek truly marks the beginning of the power of the geek that we enjoy in entertainment today. In fact, had it not been for Star Trek, there may very well have never been a Sci Fi channel, or some of the movies and television shows of the genre that we all know and love today.

The show, while short lived by the standards of today left a lasting mark on the culture of the nation. It spawned, as you most likely know, ten movies (with an eleventh coming next Summer), and gave way to four other Star Trek television shows. Truthfully, I have only been more than peripherally interested in one of the spin off shows, that being Voyager.

As a completely devoted Star Wars fan, I am honor bound by the codes of both Jedi and Sith, along with various mandates by the Galactic Republic, The Empire, The New Republic, The Galactic Alliance, and even Glorious Empire of the Vong to give Trekkies a hard time at every oppurtunity.

So, while I like Star Trek on an ok level, I do often feel compelled to poke a little fun at people who quote Shakespeare in Klingon and sit around and debate the validity of the Prime Directive.

And I know, I know, Trekkies can point to some Star Wars fans and make fun of them for dressing up, but to that I just say, I’ve never seen Star Wars fans carrying on conversations in Huttese or speaking Ewok, and while all of us have secretly attempted the Jedi mind trick on some friends, we’ve never walked up and overtly tried to mind meld. I’m just saying.

Finally, the caller made a point about his marital status. He’s married, and I’m single. Well, to that I say…

…

…

I like Star Wars.

Then there’s this…run, Enterprise, run…heh heh heh

Ever since I began doing Geek Out Loud, the official podcast of Geek Out Online, I’ve had problems with iTunes updating appropriately and keeping the past episodes in the line up when you find the podcast through iTunes.  To finally attempt to fix this problem, I am separating the podcast from the blog.  In the next few days, you will be able to find Geek Out Loud by going to www.geekoutpodcast.com. While it’s not quite set up today, it is coming down the pipe and when episode 10 is posted later this week you will be able to find it there. Yes, this means you’ll have to resubscribe in iTunes or any other podcatcher you use. Just keep checking back here and I’ll let you know as soon as things are ready to go over there. That’s right, The Geek Out Online network is expanding, to include me. Excited? I am.

There’s another sale on Smallville DVD’s going on at Amazon.com. Click here to check out the deals and support the site. Thanks.

If the Joker can do it, then so can I.  I’m not sending anyone out on any quest, but today I spoke with a friend who wants to do an amateur ghost hunt tonight.  We have the location.  We have the situation, and we’re gonna record it all.  So, tonight, All Hallow’s Eve Ghost Hunt in South Georgia.  Tomorrow, Special post-Halloween-pre-actual-podcast edition of Geek Out Loud. 

 ”When there’s something strange in your neighborhood.  Who ya gonna call?”

BIG HONKIN!

heh heh heh

I haven’t updated at all this week because I have been moving, and over the weekend I had a slight techie snafu that kept me from posting.  (Special thanks go out to NCN at
The No Credit Needed Blog for all of his help in getting things fixed.)

Anywho, San Diego ComiCon was this past weekend, and as is the case every year, there was much going on, much to see, and much to speculate on after the weekend wrapped.

Now, I wasn’t there, but I tried to follow all of the bits and pieces of news that came out from the Con as best I could.  Here are the highlights for me:

The Dark Knight

While Warner Brothers said there would be no Dark Knight presence, the guerilla markters were in San Diego en force. Apparently they scattered some fake ones around with the picture of George Washington “Joker’d up” and the words “One Dollar” replaced with “WhySoSerious.” Thus was launched and discovered
WhySoSerious.com. The page started as a bit of a game for the folks at ComiCon. During the game, people who got involved found themselves getting painted up Joker style and following a scavenger hunt-like trail of clues. At the end of the quest? The Dark Knight Teaser. Yes, it’s the one that was leaked just before ComiCon. It’s not a very good teaser for non-fans, but if you are a fan, and have some knowledge of Batman and the Joker, then there’s enough there to get a little excited. After all of that, one could go to the website and get a feel for what the participants experienced. The website has now changed to redirect to
Rent-A-Clown.com.

Indiana Jones and the….
Paramount made the biggest splash at the Con with their panel that included news about the new Star Trek movie (Sylar from Heroes plays a young Spock), Iron Man (which we will get to), and Indiana Jones. This move really surprised me, I don’t know why, it just did. I think it’s just that I didn’t expect anything this cool from Indiana Joneas at ComiCon. Instead of me trying to describe the video, just check it out
here.

And then there’s this cool little video game trailer. I loved the Star Wars Lego games and this looks to be just as fun.

Iron Man
This was probably the biggest surprise of the con. From every report I’ve read, this is what most people were talking about. Yes, Hasbro showed off some great toys. Yes, there were a few really good comic book panels. Yes, there was a screening of Superman: Doomsday (which I will be picking up in September). Yes, there was a Heroes and Smallville panel, but this is what caught the people’s imagination. Apparently, Jon Favreau and the folks at Paramount pulled one over on the audience by kicking off the panel with footage from Iron Man. As the crowd got excited, on the big screens popped up clips of the cartoon from the 60’s. Favreau then came out with a camera telling everyone he was going to be the first to put it on YouTube. Funny stuff. Then the cast came out, answered some questions and the audience was treated to incredible footage from Iron Man. Yes, I’ve seen it. Highlights? The Mark 1 Iron Man armor in action complete with flame throwers. Robert Downy Jr. as Tony Stark. Iron Man outrunning two fighter jets. (Leave a comment and remind me what type of jets, I don’t know. The military ones. Really fast. You know.) It was more than anyone could have hoped for. It was leaked to YouTube and removed before too long, but if you
look around, you can find it.

The Incredible Hulk
With Paramount overshadowing practically everything, what else could there be? Well,this…

As far as I’m concerned…’Nuff said. I love this look of the Hulk. It excites me to no end. I really think this movie is going to be everything that Ang Lee’s Hulk was supposed to be.

Other Stuff