Serenity is coming June 23rd; be in the know!

Hello! I know it has been eons since I last posted and I have a few things up my sleeve, but I wanted to let everyone know about Serenity Day. June 23rd (also Joss Whedon's birthday) there will be screenings of Serenity to benefit Equality Now, Joss's favorite charity. This is going to be huge folks. Find out where your nearest screening is and get out to see Serenity. Not just because its one of the greatest movies ever, but also because it benefits a good cause. Check out the links below!

PS - PDX Browncoats now have a local screening. Check out the PDX specific link below!

Links:
Serenity screenings near you
PDX screening info
PDX Browncoats site
Equality Now
Serenity
Firefly

This has been your gorram shiny Geek Find of the Day!

Klingon is so 20th Century

For a good time start pillaging and get out an eye patch. Its time to learn Pirate. Not only will you gain great fashion sense (anything's better than Madonna's touring outfits), you'll be Pirate-fluent in time for Talk Like a Pirate Day on 19 September. So dust off those pantaloons 'cause there's a new pirate in town! Which is most definitely true here in my native Pacific Northwest. There is a pirate festival taking place this weekend in Ilwaco, Washington. Its actually called the Nautical Renaissance which, even though it sounds vaguely high-fallutin', means people like me can drag out my best pirate brogue for the occasion.

What is it about pirates that makes us want to have pirate festivals and talk like a pirate one whole day out of the year? Pirates are a wonderful romantic notion who conjure up images of bloodthirsty violence and deliciously bad romance novels with suitable pirate hunks on the covers. Historically speaking, pirates were more likely to die young than get bloody rich and retire (a' la "At last, we can retire and give up this life of crime".) Perhaps our fascination comes from the fact pirates operated outside of society and leave us with the notion of someone who was able to sail away from civilized constraints - a means of being truly free. Okay, I think that's enough philosophizing on that. Now mateys! Get ye to th' links below ta find out hows you can learn pirate speech n' become an 'onest ta goodness pirate. Jes' like me!

Links:
If ye be in th' Pacific Northwest - be visitin' Ilwaco!
Talk Like a Pirate Day official site
Talk Like a Pirate Day fer ye en merry ole' England
'nother Pirate Day site! Arrrr.
A Pirate Dictionary will show ye the way!
More Pirate talk, yar.

Avast! Here be Pirate names!:
Pirate name quiz - 'ighly recommended by th' cabin boy
Gangstaname.com's Pirate name generator
Ye be the Cap'n? Or th' First Mate?
A name fer the wench
Yur boat needs a name too!


This 'as bin yur walk the plank Geek Find o' th' day! Yo ho!

Ode to Scifi

I have always had a fascination with scifi. A Wrinkle in Time was the first book I read more than once. Eventually I read the whole series. I've been hooked ever since. Sure, fiction about the here and now is entertaining and all. But the possibilities for humanity are endless. Many things may be improbable, but not always impossible. Now with shiny podcasts and numerous blogs you can keep up with all the latest scifi rumors.

Dude. Scifi!:
Slice of Scifi - a podcast from Mike and Evo
Scifi Podcast Network - find even more scifi podcasts to enjoy
SF Signal - for your shiny scifi blogged news

Don't forget to check out my previous posts on Firefly, Escape Pod, and the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas for even more scifi goodness!

This has been your "Luke, I am your father" geek find of the day.

So you want to get some geek transportation . .

Mopeds and scooters have become big since gas prices have shot up. My first scooter was a Honda Elite 50. Not exactly very speedy (or sexy), but it got me everywhere I needed to be. Now you too can find yourself the moped/scooter of your dreams! Or at least one you can afford. *Before you go get your new ride check your local state laws to find out what licenses you might need, if you need a title, registration, or insurance. Also make sure you have sat down to decide what size engine you are comfortable with and how much you want to spend.*

Moped Army has been around since the late '90s, helping mopeders everywhere get their scoot on. You can find a moped/scooter near you, get help fixing it if it breaks, and find other scoot people to geek with.

The craiglist.org website has expanded to so many cities it would be a bit of a surprise if you couldn't find a craigslist for your city or a city close to you. This is a fairly good way to find a moped/scooter.

Another good place to look would be a site called MonkeyAds. Very similar to your local newspaper it gives you the ability to search by state and by price. Unfortunately, it often doesn't have too many listings. You might get lucky though!

If you have a local moped/scooter club or gang, oftentimes you will find a good local seller or might find someone within the gang who is interested in selling.

Happy scooting and enjoy!

This has been your Scoot Free or Die! geek find of the day.

One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila . . .

I thought I would have a bit of a history geek out for a moment. Friday was Cinco de Mayo, thought of in the States as the Mexican equivalent of St. Paddy's day, and I'm sure everyone had plenty of tequila shots. I myself have a soft spot for the tequila. However most people may not know a few things about the day itself. In fact, I'm ashamed to say, I didn't really know what it was about. I was anticipating Friday fiestas and I was inspired to find out the history behind this particular day. First: no, Cinco de mayo is NOT Mexican Independence day. That's in September (dieciseis de septiembre - say that 3 times fast). Second: the 5th is about the Mexicans driving out the French at the battle of Puebla. Third: Cinco de Mayo is the day after Star Wars day. Oddly enough, cinco de mayo is one of those days where everyone in the US feels they can get drunk even though its a Mexican national holiday. The US gave Mexico a good dose of cash flow problems with a war and taking a large chunk of Mexico which is now most of the western states (including California, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Utah - you get the idea). Unable to pay off the debts owed to European nations including France, the debt collectors sent over troops to collect. France decided they were in it for more than the money and set out to take the rest of Mexico.

Star Wars also has something to do with cinco de mayo. The Mexican army was not as well-equipped as the French, but managed to repel Napoleon's army. Very similar to Luke using the Force to help the relatively small and ill-equipped Rebel Alliance. But perhaps not as literally. Instead, the local peasants let loose the fury of the local cow population creating a stampede. Force indeed.

Speaking of, an original unaltered DVD set of Star Wars (Eps IV - VI) is being released this September. I will attempt to keep this rant short. May I say, I am extremely glad an unaltered version is coming. I bought my mom (a die-hard sci fi geek) the 3 VHS set when it came out. Yes, it was VHS. Anyway. To my horror, I found it was the newer version I had seen in the theaters with her. I hated it. The original special effects looked more real than Jabba the Hut slithering next to Han Solo. The new CGI crap looked like - well, crap! I saw a special on A&E the other night and Lucas was talking about how he added all the things he didn't have the money for at the time. I say it was a waste. I'm sure there are plenty who disagree with me. However this is only my opinion. The release is a limited-time gig, so make plans to get it between mid-September and the end of December.

So next year after you have picked up your new shiny version of the un-tampered with original Star Wars and cinco de mayo rolls around again, you will now have some fun trivia to regale your friends with as you commence the tequila extravaganza. May the Fourth be with you y feliz cinco de mayo! Salud!

Links:
Cinco de mayo (Wikipedia is my friend)
What is Tequila?
Star Wars - untampered with goodness
Star Wars

Estaba su Geek Find del dia.

Another reason to start quoting Monty Python with a bad British accent

I once had a professor who loved to use Monty Python as 'historical documents' in her classes. It got to the point where almost all of the sounds my (now) ancient computer made were from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Which of course produced a number of stupid giggles from me when I got an e-mail (who wouldn't use 'Message for you sir' for that?). Now that I'm legal enough to drink a beer w/o getting caught by my RA, I have come across Monty Python's Holy Grail ale. Its a decent ale, but not one of my favorites. I would not be averse to drinking it, though, while I watch a witch weigh as much as a duck and be dragged off to be burned. After all, the beer does say it was 'tempered over burning witches'. For all you Monty geeks out there, Cheers!

Links:
Black Sheep Brewery - the home of Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The sounds!

This has been your 'Who died and made you king?' Geek Find of the day!