Beyond My Geeky Life

Just recently discovered Lootcrate ( http://www.lootcrate.com ). As a geek who is into just about everything geek related, this is an awesome looking service. Regretfully I am not able to justify such an expense every month, but I was able to treat myself this month for my birthday. Kind of wish I had done it a month earlier though, because I really like what was in the September Lootcrate. What I have seen for this month's lootcrate is still cool. The theme is 'fear' and what you get is zombie/ horror related. In the September on they had a Alien retro figure, a Captain Mal from Firefly figurine, a tribble just for a start. It seems like every month at least one piece is a Lootcrate exclusive, and exclusive geek collectables are always cool to get a hold of. I do like the idea of getting a box of geeky goodies every month in the mail. I have never understood how the mail away offer idea has fallen away from use. As a child I loved getting stuff in the mail, especially ...

For those of you who do not know who Deadpool is, he is a Marvel comic's character ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadpool ) that was introduced in the 90s. He has grown in popularity over the last 20 years and is now going to get his own movie. I went back and looked at his first few appearances, which were as unmemorable as it gets. Somehow he is on the covers, yet he is not even close to being needed in either of his first two appearances. He is an uninteresting character who does next to nothing. He is made out to be some kind of super mercenary, yet he is defeated both times simply because he encounted an unexpected adversary. Basically if someone he is not ready to fight shows up, he is going to lose. That is what I took away from rereading his first two appearances. Somehow over the decades they have expanded the character, although I still do not find him interesting. I have checked out some of his recent issues, as he now has his own on-going series, and found I still ...

This morning I got to go to a special screening of the first two episodes of the new Star Wars cartoon show, Star Wars: Rebels. The show itself doesn't premier for a few weeks, so this was a cool little sneak peek for Star Wars fans. I will start off by saying this was a far better beginning than what we got with the last SW cartoon, Star Wars: The Clone Wars.We've been given a much more interesting group of main characters fighting the good fight. It seems to me that one of the reasons Rebels works so much better than Clone Wars is because with Rebels we have all new characters, on new planets, using aged equipment and actually being a small band of average people (With the one Jedi exception) fighting for what they believe is right. So much of it feels like classic trilogy style. It gives us hope that the new series will actually stay true to what made the original movies so good. I won't go into the plot here, as some might feel there are spoilers to be found there...

Yesterday my oldest boy asked me if I knew that there were people banning books. I of course told him it has been happening for a long time and is nothing new. Then we had a good conversation about banned books and censorship. I was proud that he knew banning books was wrong without me needing to have the talk. I explained to him about people who wish to limit the availability of information and knowledge. Now to help promote Banned Book Week, here are a few links to articles about it. Banned Books Week and the 'Dangers' of the Comic Book -This is a good one to learn about the history of the Comic Code and the misguided attitudes some idiots had concerning comic books. 33 Must-Read Books To Celebrate Banned Books Week -I've not read as many of these as I should have, but it is a list worth trying to complete. Texas school district suspends seven books from high-school curriculum -Here Texas shows us that the need to promote and encourage ignorance is still alive ...

I always find it amusing when comics are used by various companies to promote their brand. I still have the old Kool-Aid Man comics that Marvel did way back when. Some times it can be fun and others it can be too corny and idiotic. Still, it must be deemed worth doing, as companies still spend piles of cash to get their own super-hero. Today I found out about Captain Citrus, http://www.floridacitrus.org/captain-citrus , the new hero created to promote the benefits of Florida orange juice. In his first digital comic book he teams up with the Avengers. There will be free print comics given away to schools (Yes, I am hoping my boys' school get them). Here is the press release on it, http://www.floridacitrus.org/news/florida-citrus-unveils-americas-newest-hero/ . After reading the first digital comic, this looks to be one of the better thought out promotional character. He doesn't come off as being silly or too over the top connected to the product. I am guessing his origin sto...

This last week we had the season five premiere of the Sy-Fy channel original show Haven. I have really enjoyed the show. Unlike so many other similar shows, there has been real progress in the storyline, especially at the end of last season. For those unfamiliar with the show, it is based off a Stephen King novella titled 'The Colorado Kid'. The show takes place in a small new England town on the coast of Maine called Haven that under goes a unique and scary 27 year cycle. Every 27 years, corresponding with a meteor shower, things get a little crazy in Haven. At that time people who are 'troubled' start to display dangerous, and often uncontrollable, supernatural abilities. Also at this time a young lady comes to town. She always has the same face, but a different name and personality. She is uniquely immune to the 'troubles' and always ends up working with those who are 'troubled' to keep the chaos as diminished as possible. For the present cycle th...

We are two weeks into the new season of Doctor Who and I figured I should chime in with my thoughts on it all. I saw the premiere on the big screen at a special event hosted by Denver Comic Con at the Sie FilmCenter. I ended up winning first place in both the costume contest and the trivia contest they held that night. It was a fun way to begin the new season. This season introduces Peter Capaldi as the latest regeneration of the Doctor. I am going to come out and say I have not fully formed my opinion on his Doctor yet. They are very much still forming the character and may be doing so through out the season. In his second adventure I get the impression that he has still not pulled himself together. He is a darker Doctor than the last few have been. He is also the oldest Doctor since William Hartnell took on the role as the first Doctor over fifty years ago. So far he has come off as a bit of a jerk, quick to give insult and highly condescending. In some ways he is much like th...