For those of you unaware of the concept of time travel, you should stop reading here. Of course you’ve all seen the tales of time follies, and usually they all end in a jaunty tune and a hearty slap on the back…
Of course time travel in real life wouldn’t be quite so nice. Yes, yes I know that Einstein proved time travel impossible, and that a huge wordy explanation from a science nerd would explain that’s it will never happen in our lifetime…
Be that as it may, our fiction has presented us with a pretty diverse take on the whole time vortex thing. From Back to the Futures to Doctor Who, we geeks are wild for time travel…mostly.
Occasionally you’ll find some guy complaining about the magical reset button…usually enabled by a time machine or some such. These people also complain about the word ‘cannon’ a lot, and tend to have very annoying iron clad concepts about space and time. When done correctly the reset button can be a great device, regardless of its dues ex machina principles.
So to assist all you time lords and ladies, here’s a list of the best Time Travel stuff presented in a simple linear non temporal fashion.
Dr Who ‘Blink’ (2007)
-Quite possibly the most fascinating 42 minutes of Time Travel science fiction ever made…inside a Television of course.
Seven Days
-Not well known, but the concept is brilliant.
Star Trek The Next Generation ‘All Good Things’
-The last and greatest episodes of TNG. If your in a temporal paradox, Data rules…
Improv Everywhere ‘Frozen Grand Central’
-Ok so not a show persay, but still simple and fascinating…
Biggles… Adventures in Time
-Don’t ask… world war 1, fighter planes, German super weapons, and a horrible name.
Bill And Teds’ Excellent Adventure
-Dude, it’s Keanu pre-matrix… most excellent.
Of course every good time traveler needs at least two things… a good sense of direction a universal translator… and the answer to life the universe and everything in it…
It's about not going. That's right, NOT Going. At first you might say, "What!!!!!? Me not going to Comic Con is a travesty of Justice!". Maybe your right, maybe you should be among all the booth babes, maybe it should be you who gets a front seat at the Kevin Smith Forum, and just perhaps you deserve to sit in Joss Whedon's lap. But for some reason the god's of geek have deemed that it isn't your turn. Don't be depressed, there are several reasons to keep living.
-You'll get the news...
In today's world, breaking news occurs about 5 seconds away from Twitter. Rest assured that the army of self important diva's that we geeks tend to raise on High will have breaking updates every 23 seconds. Seemingly every media source that is geek will be there, so you won't miss anything except the occasional funky body odor.
-You already know most of whats going to happen...
You're already spoiled. Seriously everyone knows that the overlong cinematic masterpiece that is 'Avatar', we've seen the pics from Iron Man 2, and we know the synopsis of the famed missing Dollhouse episode. Sure there's plenty of new stuff getting dropped, but it'll be leaked, scammed, hacked, and dissected about 2 hours afterwards.
-You'll be a bit pissed...
You are going to be disappointed, something won't meet your expectations, someone won't announce what you fervently hoped for, and you might be a bit miffed that David Tennat won't be Bilbo. You won't have to be restrained by security, or have your tirade broadcast to half the known Geek World.
-You won't get to sit next to Summer Glau...
Face it man, your shot with a Geek celebrity was far-fetched from the start. Break your delusion that all that certain star has to do is lay eyes on your god-like flesh colored beard or your "1980's Transformer Movie" t-shirt to fall madly in geek with you. It's better that your home then in San Diego getting arrested, and slapped with a restraining order...and no just because you have Dichen Lachmann's twitter feed doesn't mean you can 'hang out'.
-You can't afford it...
You've got movies to go see and buy (legally), music to (legally) purchase, Comics to order, new tech to pickup from Best Buy. Between all that and paying modern gas prices you might have enough left over for a plane ticket 2/3's of the way there. Better to relax pop on G4's coverage and play around of COD4 before falling asleep on the couch just as Olivia Munn punches Allison Haislip in the boob.
-Most importantly...
Comic Con isn't about you. This about the thousands of Internet Voices we the people listen to, and allow to judge our media. At the end of the day whether or not Tony Stark will have a successful second outing isn't really important to 'you', nor is whether or not Lucas' live action project will make him a ton of money. A con can't tell you whats really important, and if it does, maybe you should be happy your at home with your family and friends who don't care about your 'next project'.
Host your own Con, invite your celebrity friends, and laugh mockingly at Nathan Fillion on Twitter for not being there...
Why do geeks hate on geeks? Is it the eternal struggle of mankind to better itself in the face of bland and brainless fiction? Or is it like the dolphins who attack and kill there own from time to time for no particular reason. One thing is certain, Geek War is personal.
10. Palm Pre Vs I-phone Vs G1
I-phone is the clear winner of this fatal three way, because those other phones pale in comparison to Jobs' wonder child. I-phone manages to be both simple and cool, without being to costly. It's a master stroke of design, that is only somewhat replicated by other smart phones. Poor Pre is so late to the game it can only help the G1 pick up it's glasses and braces and watch as the I-phone walks off with the popular crowd. Don't feel bad G1, you still have a cool OS, and had a compass and spelling correction a good six months ahead of the competition.
9. Google Vs. Yahoo
I know what your thinking, Google rules all. All hail Google. But there are still some people who prefer the cowboy yell site to the Skynet Google Search Engine. Maybe it's the nostalgic cluttered homepage, maybe it's the retro looking ads in the search results, or maybe it's just an alternate email to join up as a different user handle on a to blast Harry Potter on IMDB.
For this bloggers' money (of which I have little) Yahoo losses this showdown, but who knows maybe being second fiddle to our future robot overlords is a smart move...
8. Kevin Pereira Vs. Olivia Munn
One is the darling of Cable Tv, the other is a hot geek with an odd fetish for pies and at least a cameo in Iron Man 2 (i'll be she plays a pie loving ninja ftw!). What is that has transfixed America on these modern geek celebrities? Is it thier pension for painfully uncomfortable awkward jokes, their strange Portuguese-Sino love hate relationship, or even their disastrous mis-adventures into the world of supernaturally hot pepper shots? Perhaps we shall never know. One thing is for certain... we all just got learned.
7. vs All numbers.
Why is '7' so cool? Seriously, look at him, all laid back. He's just an angle, not even or symmetrical. He just sits there daring '4' to take him on. Even '10' has a hard time keeping him in line. The Han Solo of numbers is never out of his element, and only Riker is more popular around the universe. Sure the Chinese love them some '8', but does '7' care? No. Do you know why? Cause he's '7' and thats all there is to it. Occasionally 7 even hooks up with 6 and answers the question to life and everything in the known universe.
6. Allyson Hannigan Vs. Felicia Day
What is it about redheads? Is it the possibly mystical connections of the old Celtic tribes? The nervous yet amazingly cute acting styles? Or is that deep down all geeks think that redhair equals plus an automatic plus five hit points? Felcia's got the Twitter lead locked down, and her fanboys and girls include millions of MMORPG players from across this fair land of ours from her own Online web-series. Yet Hannigan isn't without her own successes, from becoming an uberwitch for Whedon, to playing a pretty funny gal on CBS's How I met Your Mother, to being the chick we all wish we'd met at band Camp, Ally's got it goin' on. (Did I mention she married Wesley, Alex Denisof?)
5. Whedon Vs. Whedon
Man is this guy good, and man can this guy be evil.
Fans' of the Whedon verse are accustomed to Whedon's flashes of brilliance, as well as his pension to rip your heart out, hold it up while it's still beating and have Xander make a funny joke that makes you die with a smile on your face. He's on his game more then he's off, but even when he's mediocre, you never know what to expect. Firefly, while brief, has been hailed as one of the best Sci-fi tv shows, killed way before it's prime. Dollhouse hasn't had such rave reviews, yet somehow the old sage managed to get Fox to sign up for a second season. With Whedon, you never know when you might get a 'Beer Bad' episode, or something of sheer writing brilliance.
4. PS3 Vs Xbox 360
Japan Vs. America, part II. Or World War Geek... Either way the way it feels like 1941 all over again.
Like the Yamato battleship of WW2, the PS3 has a lot of firepower, but was mostly AwOL for the first few years of it's service life due to the lack of quality games and prohibitive price tag. The playstation is not really a 'game console' I've been told. However Sony proponents will ooze all over themselves about the blue-ray player, the innovative motherboard architecture, they may even began to get a bit angry when you mention Microsoft's product. However the 360 is a stable little machine (provided you avoided the whole 'ring of death' debacle) and offers up many of the same games, for cheaper prices, and without any of the pretentious BS about being 4 years ahead of it's time.
3. Marvel Vs. DC
No one knows when it began exactly, but sometime in the early part of the 20th century, comic books were born. From it's inception few brands have become more beloved then the timeless DC universe. Next to them in the pantheon of Geek Culture stands Marvel, an equal and rival for all time. DC is classic, Marvel is Post Modern. DC's Golden Era reminds of a time when all was tights and underwear over your pajama's, while Marvel warns us that it's not all ways fun to be the hero. Now the tables have turned, DC is struggling to remain relevant, whereas Marvel launches movie bombshell after movie blockbuster, racking up cash like a film flam artist at a sucker convention. Will a new Green Latern movie light the way? Only time and the salivating fanboys will tell.
2. Star Wars Vs. Star Trek
Kirk vs Han, Luke vs Wesley, Picard vs some guy in a jabba costume.
For some reason the two biggest Sci-fi franchises just can't play nice. Star Wars is more Myth than Sci Fi, and admittedly has the better production values (2009 Star Trek not withstanding. The two shows should be like brothers, but their fans' ravenous hatred has spawned years of the most heated debates since Lincoln v Douglas circa 1860. Even the recent Movie Fanboys has more pure hatred for Star Trek then a bar full of pissed of Robert Beltran's.
Simple solution, set phasers to stun, feel the force, and knock back a few guys, your both geeks, and your both mainstream. (Still that guy in the star trek uniform while he's shopping freaks me out) Que the real American heroes soundtrack.
1. PC VS MAC
-Its the battle for the ages, the mediocre verse the inspired, the mass produced verse the carefull crafted. In a war with no end in sight, the battle lines have been the same for the last twenty five years. Apple has always relied on its inspired and powerful designs and it's thoughtful (but gut wrenching) product failures. (Macintosh I'm looking at you.) PC's are still not as stable as Mac's but with cheaper prices, and dozens of makers and designs to choose from they flood the market with units for just about every taste... save a loyal mac fan.
The truth is there both are the foundations of our current Geek Culture, and both deserve respect. (Thought that whole I-pod thing is really working for those Mac guys.)
The Swedish film "Let The Right One In" is quite possibly one of the best Vampire movies made. But can it be remade for an American audience, and keep what makes it so great?? We'll just have to wait and see. But Concept poster images that leaked yesterday on Slash Film make me less hopeful.
This is Just Concept Art and may not be a precursor to a poor adaptation, I am not sure if it will be able to stay true to the things that made the original film so good. Matt Reeves says that he won't let it become another Vampire abomination Story like Twilight or the up coming Vampire Diaries (check CW networks) and Hopefully the studio doesn't interfere and ruin that vision.
Alien Nation, a little 1989 Scifi show on a little newcomer network called FOX. It only ran for one season (because the network has always had a habit for canceling genre shows or budget cuts, whatever) about a group of alien slaves who end up on earth. Oh and its a buddy cop show based on a movie that was probably better ....But does it really need a Reboot? Well apparently the Syfy channel and Tim Minear think so! As found here at io9.com, it has people are asking how dark it will be. I guess that is a good question although Mr. Minear isn't that "dark" of a writer. But who know what could happen. I have a few fond memories of the original show, although I was only 7 in 1989. With a reboot at least it will get updated, and even with a small budget it will look waaaaaaaaay better than it did 20 years ago. We will all have to see how it progresses. Here's what the intro looked like.
The article also talks about a possible Quantum Leap reboot, but that's just talk right now so if it becomes reality I'll talk about that later. Here's a link for some Quantum Leap Love.
Welcome to Mainstream Geek, My Names Trooper (yes, that's my name). I don't really know how a 1st post should go, so here goes. I'm a Geek who is trying to live among humans and live as humans do or at least live in harmony with them. Wait that isn't right....... What I mean by Mainstream is that I do not fully fall into the Geek Stereo type. In Fact I believe that most people (not just those who claim to be geeks) fall into this. For example, I am a huge Sports fan especially college football, while at the same time I will dive right into a box of comic books and get lost for hours. I am not the socially awkward introvert that most people think geeks (and nerds) to be. Anyway enough about me, What I will try to do is bring things that I find and hope you will find entertaining or interesting to your attention.
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