Re: Your Brains - how geeky are you?

I came across the most wonderful song today. Of course I must thank Mike & Evo of the Slice of Scifi podcast for playing it. I am reminded of all the terrible days one can have at work. Especially if you work in an office. Many of us geeks trapped in cubes day in and day out can relate to this particular song. After all, who doesn't feel like a zombie some days at work? The song, called Re: Your Brains, is by a guy named Jonathan Coulton. I checked out his blog and found he puts out a new song every Friday. You can subscribe to his RSS feed to get them auto-like in your podcatcher. His music, like the stories heard on Escape Pod, are released under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Creative Commons license. This means you can share his music with anyone and everyone as long as you aren't making money off of it. This type of licensing is something I've been seeing here and there recently. And probably a post for another day. I'm not sure how I can easily describe his music. I suppose you just have to listen and decide for yourself. I must admit, I found myself nearly choking on my coffee this morning while listening to Re: Your Brains. Not every morning I find my life as a cubicle inhabitant described so perfectly . . . To find all of his previously released songs, check out his blog.

Before they're eaten, put those brains of yours to the test. Ahem. The Geek test. Now you can prove to yourself how geeky you really are. And have a concrete percentage to show your friends (in case they question your score). I have to admit - I cheated to do better. Yes. Sad. But True. Take the test and see how you fare. Enjoy!


Links:
Jonathan Coulton's Blog

What is an RSS Feed?

This has been your Total Geek find of the day.

When you need to feed your Firefly addiction

I suppose everyone has some sort of addiction: coffee, cigarettes, stuffed animal wrestling. Firefly is mine. I've always been a bit of an aimless tv watcher and usually ended up with PBS specials instead of following some show week after week. But Firefly is the first show to ever hook me and keep me. Even though it only went through one season (and not a complete one at that), I love this show. If you have never, ever heard of Firefly then I’m terribly sorry. Its okay though. Here is your chance to find out all about it and geek out with the rest of us Browncoats.

Firefly was created by Joss Whedon and is, boiled down, a scifi western set 500 years in the future. A bit odd at first I know. However it easily melds the two genres and you can actually see how the future of tomorrow may be created today, including swearing in Chinese. It was tragically cancelled by Fox before it really got started but later came back in the movie Serenity last fall. This movie is good folks. If you love scifi, I highly recommend it. I know some people will say I’m crazy or some sort of perverted scifi geek, but I think Serenity is far better than Star Wars Episode III. Superior in so many ways. I could go on about how great Firefly and Serenity are, but then this blog would be huge.

Below you will find enough links to help you create a new geek addiction or, if you are already a Browncoat, help feed the addiction you’ve already got. I’ve also included links to Amazon.com for the box set, the movie, the movie soundtrack, the Firefly tv soundtrack, and the comic. I may post a review of the comic at a later point, but for now I’ll leave everything spoiler-free. Don’t forget to check out a charity screening of Serenity near you June 23rd. It benefits Equality Now! and is a great way to show Browncoat support of a good cause (link for screenings is also below). So go out and Netflix/buy the box set and then watch the movie. I highly doubt you will be disappointed. Enjoy.


Links (I think this is all of them):

The Signal - a Firefly podcast
Firefly Talk - another Firefly podcast
Fireflyfans.net - where you can find tons of things to do
Serenity Movie
PDX Browncoats
Firefly Chinese! Who doesn't need another language to swear in?
Mosquito (A Firefly spoof)
Firefly: The Virtual Season - fan written Firefly season
Fireflywiki: Because everyone has one these days
Can't Stop the Serenity - On June 23rd, check out a charity screening of Serenity near you.
Browncoats.com

Product Links:
Firefly box set
Firefly Soundtrack
Serenity
Serenity Soundtrack
Serenity comic

This has been your Firefly Geek Find of the day.

SNAKES ON A SUPER HERO!

References to this movie have been heard on numerous podcasts including the Dragon Page's Wingin' It, The Signal, and a vague reference on Escape Pod. It even made an appearance in the newsletter comic my friend gets from his local video rental place. What's that in the sky? Its a bird! A plane! No! Its snakes on a plane?? That's right. Coming soon to your local theater its Snakes on a Plane, the movie. The basic idea of this movie: A psycho killer is chasing a passenger in the witness protection program. To get at the witness, the psycho killer looses snakes. On to the plane. Deadliness ensues! This isn't just any bad sounding movie. It stars Samuel L. Jackson. Apparently the film makers wanted to change the name of the movie to something a little more, uh, mainstream (Flight 121). But good ole' Jackson was set on keeping the name Snakes on a Plane. The movie is still in production, but should be coming to a multiplex near you sometime soon.

Speaking of Samuel L. Jackson kicking snake butt (do snakes even have such things?), have you ever wondered what your super hero name could be? I'm sure by now you already know your porn name. Now you can amaze your friends and break out the brightly colored spandex outfit I know you have hidden under your bed with your very own super hero name! There are a few fun ones out there you should try out before deciding on a super hero name. After all, you don't want to run into your neighbor only to find they've already taken the Chafing Finaggler. That's just embarrassing. So check out the sites below to begin your research. Some of my favorites for Mr. Jackson: Super Bread God, The Bat Skater, and of course the Impossible Gpaxhb Torpedo. Enjoy!

Links:
Snakes on a Plane - the movie
Samuel L. Jackson
Lee's (Useless) Super-Hero Name Generator
Seventh Sanctum: Superhero or Villain today?
Rum & Monkey's Superhero Names

This has been your total Snakes on a Plane Geek Find.

Scifi Escapism Fun - Its a damn good time.

I probably should have posted these two podcasts yesterday instead of Wil's blog, but I just couldn't help myself. It is Wil Wheaton after all.

Escape Pod - This is a wonderful way to listen to new speculative/scifi fiction. The authors are a mix of published and unpublished whose stories are read on the podcast. Its very similar to an audio book in this regard. The stories are relatively short (about 30 mins on average) and you can either choose which ones you want to hear or just download the latest podcast, starting there. I highly recommend Soul Food, Poet for Hire, and Are You Ready for the End of the World?.

The Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas - Who can't talk about Knight Rider for an hour? I know I can't. And neither can the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas. David, Joe, and Summer have discussions on scifi/fantasy movies, books, and shows. Some you may remember, and some you may not. Ladyhawke? I vaguely remember Michelle Pfiffer stood around looking martyrish (I just made my own word; you saw it here first!) and sometimes turned into a bird. But I found the KAMN podcast on this movie to be one of my favorites. Check these guys out! Recommended shows: Knight Rider (duh), Ladyhawke, and Dune.

Links:
Escape Pod
The Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas

This has been your geek find of the day. Yo.

Wil Wheaton?

I was listening to one of my numerous podcasts the other day, and heard a promo for Wil Wheaton's website. Of course my interest was piqued. I immediately ran right over to his website. But it gets better! Not only was there a blog, he has a podcast! Its too good to pass up and so I download one of his episodes and listen to it immediately. I was tickled to hear Wil Wheaton swearing! I know, I know - he's not Wesley Crusher in real life. But it was still strange to hear. Wil Wheaton is a funny man. Take a look, a listen, and I hope you all enjoy!

Links:
Wil Wheaton's Blog
Wil Wheaton's Podcast

Info:
What is a podcast?
Podcatchers: What are they and where do I get one?

This has been the latest Geek Find from the Crazy Geek Fool.

G.E.E.K

I looked up geek in Wikipedia and one of the more interesting things I found was a military connection to geeks. According to whomever updated this particular Wiki entry, "G.E.E.K., as an acronym, reputedly came from the United States Military; it stands for General Electrical Engineering Knowledge. It is unclear if this was the origin of the current meaning for geek, or if the acronym was used as a humorous reference toward the pre-established meaning for geek." Happily, this Wiki entry also points out how many different types of geeks there are. Including the non-math/techie kind (see theatre & history geek and you'll find me).

*Quick note: For those of you who may not know, Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia. The entry content can be edited by pretty much anyone.

Links:
Wikipedia - Geek
Wikipedia

This has been your geek find of the day.

Finding the Geek

Hello there. I've been delving into my own geekiness and finding things I enjoy sharing with my friends so I figured this would be an easy way for them to take a look at things I find rather than sending them frequent e-mails and annoying them. A lot. My idea for this blog is to find lots of things I enjoy in my own geek way, share with them or anyone else who so chooses to take a look. Enjoy!