Category Archives: Geekness

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(561) Days of [Insert Failed Relationship of Choice Here]

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“Some people are meant to fall in love with each other but not meant to be together.”

Boy meets girl. Boy falls for girl. Girl tells boy she doesn’t want a relationship. Boy says it’s ok, he can handle it. Boy and girl become this weird kinda sorta no one is not sure what to make of it relationship that’s not an official relationship.  Boy falls in love with girl. Girl decides she wants to back away because to her it was never a relationship, needs space, and disappears. Boy gets confused. Boy seeks advice. Time passes. Boy meets up with girl again. Boy thinks he has a chance. Boy finds out girl is engaged. Boy goes into depression. Time passes. Boy refinds his passion and himself. Boy starts to move on in his life. Boy sees girl one last time. Girl tells boy she found love, just not with him. Boy hurts one last time. Boy realizes she’s right and he will be ok. Boy leaves older, wiser, and smarter about relationships. Boy then meets new girl…

No I did not just tell you about myself and genderswapped all the characters. (Though it’s a familiar story…) What you just read is a very simplistic plot of one of my favorite movies (500) Days of Summer. (Props again to @theharmonyguy for making me watch this.) Why is it one of my favorites? Because as I just said, it’s horribly relatable.  Almost everyone can usually identify with the two main characters, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschenel).

The movie is told in a nonlinear format, which initially can be confusing and if you are the type of person who needs to have their story told in order, well you’re not going to like it. I personally really like it here because it gives the viewer a chance to view the rise and fall of a relationship perhaps in the way you wish you could have viewed yours.

“Did you ever do this, you think back on all the times you’ve had with someone and you just replay it in your head over and over again and you look for those first signs of trouble?”

When I first saw the movie, I was wearing my JGL glasses and was like poor Tom! Summer is a horrible person! Who wouldn’t want him? Then after multiple rewatchings, I soon realized that while I am still a Tom, he’s not perfect and he has MANY flaws. I think the problem stems because he is played by JGL who is insanely likeable is so many ways that I will not go into right now. And I think the audience is focused more on that vs the character itself.

These are my thoughts. Tom is a romantic who is so intent on finding the myth of “the one”. Why shouldn’t he be, when in all aspects of our society and culture we’ve made finding our soul mate the holy grail of everything? When he finds Summer, he falls head over heels in love with her, and just disregards everything else, including the fact that she says that she does not want to be in a relationship now. I kinda now feel like he set himself up for it. He probably should have asked himself “Am I in love with this person or am I in love with the idea of this person?”

It probably didn’t help that they ended up sleeping together which most likely made Tom feel even more connected with Summer. This is why it’s good to learn to be intentional up front and realize that if the person doesn’t want what you want, it probably won’t work. At the same time, sometimes you can’t help who you have feelings for no matter how much you guard your heart. And sometimes you really care about someone and when you realize that the other person doesn’t want you, it is painful. The reality vs expectations montage is exactly what I think everyone goes through.

The funny thing is I’ve had discussions with friends over who’s at fault for what happened in the movie. Like I said, it mostly comes from people relating to either character. The Toms will say Summer because she kept leading him on, mainly due to the scene at the wedding when she doesn’t tell Tom she’s engaged. The Summers say it’s Tom because he knew what he was getting into after she told him. Personally I do think both are at fault. Summer could have been more insistent from the beginning and I know she tried to make it work with Tom and she couldn’t. There’s no really right or wrong answer. Because this happens so many time in real life, it’s a painful way to visually see how a relationship doesn’t go the way it was hopefully supposed to.

There are so many freaking wonderful quotes in the movie (as I have sprinkled throughout this post) that make me feel that the script just needs to “STOP. JUST STOP TALKING ABOUT ME.”

“A girl and a guy can be friends, but maybe at one point or another they will fall for each other. Maybe temporarily, maybe at the wrong time, maybe too late, or maybe forever.”

“Just because she likes the same bizarre crap you do doesn’t mean she’s your soul mate.”

“Look, I know you think she was the one but I didn’t. Now I think you just remember the good stuff. Next time you look back, I really think you should look again.”

The final scene with Tom and Summer on the bench kinda kills me a little every time I watch it. When Summer tells him that she could have never really loved him and he looks away and you see the pain in his face, it’s like a stab to my heart every time. The whole bench scene can be uncomfortable to watch if you’ve been there (“You don’t want to be named as someone’s girlfriend but now you’re someone’s wife?”) but at the same time, it’s rather reassuring to know that you are NOT the only one that’s been in that situation. (Quality is kinda bad on the video below)

“I just…I just woke up one day and I knew.

Knew what?

“….What I was never sure of with you.”

Let’s put it this way. This is not a movie with a happy ending for this couple. They didn’t end up together the way they thought they were going to. There is a solid chance that Tom didn’t learn a lesson at all and will go about with the new girl in the same way that he and Summer acted. And I’m also hoping that the movie makers aren’t saying that Tom can’t be fully happy unless he has someone else in his life. But at the same time, this movie is a really good example of how you can get really swept up in a relationship, put your heart and soul into something that you really want, only to fall down HARD when it doesn’t turn out the way you want.

This can be one of the most uncomfortable movies to watch and at the same time, it’s therapeutic as well. You realize that the hurt will go away, you will have learned lessons from that relationship, and you can have the beauty of hope in a new one. All part of growing up and living life.

I think it would be interesting to watch this movie from the Summer perspective but it’s not worth having to go through the personal experience for it. I also wonder how it would be if the roles were reversed and Tom’s character was a girl and Summer’s the guy. Would the audience still relate to the “Tom character” as well? Or would they think because it was a female, she was just too emotional and all that? And if the male “Summer character” is more of a jerk for stringing “Tom along? Interesting points to ponder.

The other thing I love about this movie is the so excellent soundtrack. I borrow this CD from the library all the time (yes I know I could just buy or rip the songs but I don’t) and it’s constantly playing in the car because of how good it is. While every song is good, the two that stand out the most for me are “There is a Light That Never Goes Out” by The Smiths and “She’s Got You High” by Mumm-ra. Just go listen to it. I can’t fully describe the awesomeness of those songs

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Sigh. Yep.

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The Girl Who Went to the Movies

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If you have known me for at least 3 months, then you know I love going to the movies. It’s one of the things my friends associate me with when they try to describe me. To some folks, going to the movies is time for socializing with friends (which I don’t really understand since you can’t talk to them).  For me though, I go for the movie. And in the past few years I’ve seen a lot of movies.

It’s funny though growing up I barely went to the theater at all. The very first time I went was when I was for my second birthday to see Follow That Bird. It was a Sesame Street movie about Big Bird being forced to be adopted by birds and he ran away. What I remember most about that experience was eating popcorn, spilling grape soda, and a My Little Pony (old school, not this Friendship is Magic stuff) ad in the beginning of the show.  Then there was a very long gap and I didn’t return to theaters until I was ten and that was to see The Beverly Hillbillies remake.  I know. My return was neither glamorous nor very interesting.  And in fact for the next few years it took me a while to realize what I wanted in a movie viewing experience.

These days, my first rule is that I want to see big epic blockbusters of a geeky nature in theaters.  Mainly because of the sound quality and the screen size. Also if a movie was filmed with IMAX characters, I want to go see that in an actual IMAX theater like the ones at science museums and not that “Real IMAX stuff”.  Also, since I actually wear glasses and because I think it’s a waste of money, I won’t go see a movie in 3D.  Exceptions are movies that were actually filmed IN 3D (Hugo) or a movie set in space (Gravity).

I don’t normally go see comedies or dramas in theaters because I usually can’t justify the cost to see it unless I’m going to a matinee show. There are exceptions of course. Example when a movie is nominated for an Oscar. That’s another post for another day of my love for the Academy Awards. But I’ll just talk about the time that I went to a ten movie marathon of all the movies nominated for the Best Picture Oscar in 2010 because I had won tickets from Entertainment Weekly. And it was the best experience ever! I could only stay for 6 movies but it helped to introduce me to movies I wouldn’t have normally seen in theaters. Though one really good comedy I saw in theaters this year was At The World’s End. SO SO SO funny.  And British.

The price of movies is going up. And the cost of concessions is outrageous. But I’ve found that there are still some really good theaters out there. And one of my favorites is the Alamo Drafthouse where you’re not allowed to talk/text (or you’ll get kicked out), they serve awesome food (including popcorn served in a metal bowl with REAL butter and endless refills!) and craft beers, reserved seating, excellent preshows and lots of really cool events. This is exactly the type of movie experience I want. It makes going to see movies more enjoyable (even when you go to a movie yourself which is another topic for another day).

One more thing. I also will go and see a movie twice if I really like it. Or six times if I REALLY LOVE it *cough Avengers cough*.

I love movies. *two thumbs up*  Finding friends who love movies as much as I do? *ALL the thumbs up*

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Better Clench Up Legolas…

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Hawkeye

I have a weird superhero interest…semi-obsession. Not weird as in strange. But weird as in very random.

I am a fan of Clint Barton aka Hawkeye, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent from the Marvel comics that is very skilled with a bow and arrow. Now before you start thinking “Oh, she only likes Jeremy Renner” that is not true. I have read several comic books with Hawkeye and I’ve also watched the Avengers cartoon.

I will admit that my interest did start because of the movie. I’m actually not quite sure how I became a fan though. I’ve gone back and looked at Facebook posts and tweets and there’s no evidence to showing how it began. The earliest thing I found was back in February of 2012 where I reference my excitement at seeing a trailer and then used a Hawkeye hashtag.

Now to be fair, I am a big fan of characters that are archers. Legolas, Katniss, Merida, Robin Hood. Heck I even got excited during the beginning of The Dark Knight Rises and Bruce Wayne pulls out a bow and arrow for a brief shot.  Because I’d like to do that myself one day.  With the archery lessons I am supposed to have. You know. One day.

With that in mind, when the trailers for the Avengers movie came out I had NOT yet seen Thor at the time. And while I do enjoy a good Renner flick, he’s not my main reason for watching a movie.  Therefore there isn’t really a logical explanation as to why I was so excited to see him in the movie.  Perhaps maybe because he was a smaller character and I was happy for that?

Anyways my fandom grew and after watching his cameo in Thor, I was very excited at seeing him in the movie. When he makes his first appearance in the Avengers, I audibly cheered in the theater. Then to my horror, they made him into a bad guy almost immediately.  Though now when I think about it, Hawkeye and Loki together is the ultimate dream team. And did you know that Hawkeye’s total screen time only equals to about 12 minutes? And that they had a girl beat him up? Regardless of all that, I very much enjoyed Renner’s performance in the movie. He has a few good lines and some really excellent archery action scenes. The one where he shoots the arrow perfectly WITHOUT LOOKING is a favorite. So much that I would actually be ok with a Black Widow/Hawkeye movie to explore their backstory because there really should be one to explain their characters’ chemistry. This is important because I’m not a Scarlet fan but I am willing to put that aside if this movie ever got made.

The thing with Hawkeye is that he’s not a superhero because of magical powers or super serum or freak accidents or high tech machinery. He’s just extremely skilled in prime peak condition and is REALLY good at what he does.  So that actually makes him more dangerous, at least in my opinion.

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I’m excited because Joss Whedon has confirmed that there will be more Hawkeye in the upcoming Avengers sequel. I’m a little disappointed because he’s not showing up in any other movie before then (as far as I know). I hope that Barton gets more mention the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. tv show because he actually IS a S.H.I.E.L.D agent and even if Renner doesn’t actually show up, the character should be mentioned more.

Now for the record, I do not have the same affections for Green Arrow from DC Comics. I have not watched the show and I am mostly unfamiliar with his story. Though I will say he does intrigue me with the archery and I will probably want to learn more in the future.

I get a lot of good natured teasing from my friends. All the jokes about him, I’ve heard. I’ve been sent things from the Hawkeye Initiative so many times. (Google it) I’ve had comics pasted on Facebook wall. I just shake my head.

But I know they love me because my Christmas and birthday presents have shown my friends going out of their way to get me things that feature Hawkeye. And it really is quite hard to find Avengers things with him in it as a lot of the marketing focuses on The Big Four (sometimes they even leave Hulk out). So when I receive something that has him in it, I know the time and energy spent trying to find it and it makes me love my friends even more as they help to enable the fangirl. It’s been joked that whoever I end up dating is going to be called Hawkeye for a while. Well, hope whoever that will be is ok with that….

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Discovering Classic Who

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It’s the day after Thanksgiving (and I hope you had a good one!) and I’m still recovering from a large and delicious meal with my family. My creative brain cells aren’t really working at full capacity (and neither did I think to write a post in advance). Therefore this isn’t my best work but I still felt like blogging this morning and not going out in the cold to go shopping.

Last week was the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who (as well as the death of JFK and C.S. Lewis). This included many TV and online specials culminating the the 50th anniversary special “The Day of the Doctor”. Now if you don’t really care about Doctor Who, this post means absolutely nothing. BUT if you do care at all, then you probably were watching on 11/23/13 at 2:50pm EST for a global simulcast of AWESOME. I won’t say anything about it yet because there may be some folks who still haven’t seen it yet. But I loved it so much. There was much fangirling going on and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Anyways since watching it, I’ve had a big interest in learning more about the doctors that came before the 2005 reboot or “Classic Who”. This means watching and learning as much as I can about the doctors before Christopher Eccleston took over. I akin it to when I watched all the James Bond movies. It’s a great experience in learning about history, fashion, politics, and visual effects and British culture. In fact that’s what I’m doing right now as I type this up. I’m on an episode with the Third Doctor called “Carnival of Monsters” and though it’s a bit cheesy at times, it’s really quite fun. Plus I am really digging the outfit that the Doctor’s current companion, Jo Grant is wearing. Even though it’s from the 70’s, it’s something that could totally fit in with today’s fashion.

I will tell you that when I get interested in something, I GET INTERESTED in it. Out of all my friends who are into Doctor Who, I think I was the first to watch “The Day of the Doctor” (it helps when your cable subscription somehow includes BBC America) and I think I now know more trivia than they do even though I was the last one to join in on the fun.

So if you ARE a fan of Doctor Who and know something about the older doctors, this video here is an absolute gem. It aired after the 50th, and involves former doctors from the classic era trying to get into the special. It’s hilarious, full of easter eggs and cameos. I have it on repeat because I find so many things to laugh about while watching. Best thing ever. You’re welcome!

For some reason I am having trouble embedding the video in here (which I cannot figure out why) so here’s a direct link (which no one is going to click, so I feel it defeats the whole purpose of this post. Blah.

The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot

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The Girl on Fire

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Unless you live under a rock or just frankly don’t care, there’s a movie that comes out today that is insanely popular. The second movie in The Hunger Games series, Catching Fire has arrived. I, personally, will be seeing it very soon. And yes, I HAVE read the books.

I actually didn’t become a fan of the books until after Catching Fire came out. I wasn’t into dystopian stories at the time and I will admit that the book probably flew under my radar because of the cover. Yes, I totally did judge a book by its cover but in my defense, again I wasn’t reading the genre nor does the cover of the book tell you anything about the story. But thanks to book bloggers who had been talking the book up a storm, I finally gave in and loved it. The first person narrative totally had me wrapped in the storyline.

Why do I like these stories so much? Maybe there have been other strong young female heroines before her, but I really loved Katniss. The way Suzanne Collins wrote her made me connect with her right from the start. She’s strong and independent but not so much that she rejects help all together. It was very easy in the beginning to compare these books to the Twilight series, especially with the love triangle thing going. I personally find these books to be so on the complete opposite side of spectrum. Katniss > Bella like whoa. Also after this series came out, there were so many copycats, some good, some bad, but this one is still tops.

Are the books violent? Sure, I guess. *shrugs* I personally don’t find them extremely violent. Same goes with the movies. I don’t know what that says about me. But I don’t find them disturbing. And had I read these when I was a teenager, I doubt I would have been horrified by what I read.

Jennifer Lawrence has done a wonderful job at bringing Katniss to life in the movies. I really love her performance (well I love her in general) and even though she wasn’t originally my first pick, she’s been magnificent. In case anyone is wondering my original choices for the trio was Hailee Steinfeld as Katniss, Hunter Parrish as Peeta and Josh Hutcherson as Gale (is it bad that I had thought he was taller than what he really is?). I can’t say yet if Catching Fire will be as good as the book, but the first movie was one of the more faithful movie adaptations that I’ve seen though I wasn’t a big fan of the changes in the muttation scene. So I’m looking forward to seeing it and the goal is to see it in IMAX because a lot of scenes were shot with IMAX cameras. And we all SHOULD know that seeing a movie shot with IMAX characters in an actual IMAX theater is the best way to see a movie.

And in case you’re wondering about the picture in this post? Yes that’s me cosplaying as Katniss. Last year I went to Dragon Con and I wanted to cosplay. As it was my first con and I didn’t want to go all out, I was having trouble coming up with a character until it was finally suggested that I go as Katniss. And I did. It’s not entirely authentic (there are some excellent and authentic Katniss’s out there) but I felt I did a pretty good job. I ordered a bow (which I later spray painted black to give it a more camouflage feel), arrows, quiver, shooting gloves (which I wore incorrectly in this pic so you can’t see it), and a Mockingjay pin. I bought boots that looked somewhat like Katniss’s, borrowed the jacket from a friend, dressed somewhat similar to the opening woods scene, and then did my hair in a braid as best as I could. Obviously as I am Asian, wore glasses, and had braces at the time, I’m not entirely authentic but you know what? I had a ton of fun. Many people knew who I was, called me Katniss, and wanted to take my picture. And there were a lot of young girls who were big fans of my costume. To this day, I loved that costume and among my friends, I may refer to myself as Katniss in third person (you’re judging, I know it).

Oh and for the record, I don’t actually know how to use the bow and arrows. One day, hopefully. As promised.

If you haven’t already seen it by the time you read this post, to get you in the mood for Catching Fire is a wonderful parody:

May the odds be ever in your favor.

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What Deborah Likes to Read

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I read a lot. Like an insane amount a lot. And I’m not bragging or being presumptuous when I say that I have read more books this year alone than most of you have in your life by choice. (Unless of course you are a book blogger, then you can understand)

On a normal given day, if you ask me what I’m reading, there is a good probability that I will respond with the title of a young adult fiction book.  I get asked this a lot: “You’re 30, why are you reading teen books? Aren’t you too old for them?” I find that the majority of people who ask me this don’t really read that much to begin with or they haven’t actually read much YA fiction. This seems to be a common theme when you don’t really understand why someone does it but you still feel the need to question and judge.  

So what’s the simple answer to those questions? Because I enjoy them.

Long answer:  Like any subject or genre of anything, you have your good and bad, you have your preferences.  As I said, I like reading a lot. And while I read a large amount of books, I’m rather picky about what I read. There are many duds out there. And there have been books where I feel that money is more of a factor than a quality story.  But there have also been some fantastic books out there.

There are many definitions of what young adult fiction is. My personal definition is a story where the characters are 12-18 and is primarily marketed for that age group. Yep that’s it. Doesn’t mean that the story is juvenile or any less quality because of the age range. I think sometimes that some adults either have forgotten what it’s like to be a teenager or they are really out of touch with what teens go through these days. Anyone can enjoy it regardless of the age of the reader.  I started reading YA fiction when I was in elementary school and as long as there are good stories, I’ll be reading it until I die.

I lean more towards stories that are contemporary, historical, mystery, and dystopian. I’m not really into paranormal or fantasy, that the market is heavily skewed towards. To me the mark of a good book is when after the first few pages, I am already lost in the story.  I know almost immediately whether or not this is going to be a book that I will put down or not. I’ve read a lot of fluff books and a lot of books where I am trudging through them to just get to the end of the story. I feel this way sometimes with a lot of trilogies that have been popping up lately. The first two books are SO good. And then the third one feels like the author got rushed or just stopped caring.

That being said, there is some nostalgia I feel while reading these stories. I remember what it was like to be a teenage girl and sometimes it’s fun to relive those moments, and sometimes it’s painful. I’m glad I don’t have to actually relieve those moments but seeing how characters get in and out of their situations makes me realize how much I’ve learned throughout the years. I also wish that I could be some of these characters. I wish I could be like Katniss and Tris and take care of myself and be strong in those types of situations. I have really appreciated how in the past few years, there have been several strong female lead characters in these books.

I have no problems reading what I like to read.  If I ever decided to go back and get a second master’s degree, it would be to get a library science degree so I could become a young adult librarian. Until then, I’ll just continue to enjoy immersing myself into stories.

Recommendations:

Dystopian  – Across the Universe series by Beth Revis

Contemporary – anything by Elizabeth Eulberg, Janet Gurtler, Jen Calonita, Beth Kephart

Historical – Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Mystery- The Mary Quinn Mystery series by Y.S. Lee

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To boldly go, where every other nerd has gone before….

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So even though I’m a huge geek, there are still a bunch of fandoms that I don’t necessarily take part in. This is not to say at all that these fandoms aren’t awesome. It’s just usually I haven’t had much experience with them (though sometimes after I do spend time, I find myself becoming a fan – Doctor Who is a good example) or I just can’t get into no matter how much I try.

And then there are those times when for some weird reason, I end up liking the reboot instead of the long term original classic that has been around for years.  One good example of this is Star Trek. And yes I’m talking about JJ Abram movies.

I’m not a Trekkie at all.  I’ve tried to watch The Original Series and The Next Generation and while I enjoyed a few episodes in both series (I never got around to Voyager, Enterprise or Deep Space Nine) I didn’t feel the urge to start binge watching. When it comes to Star Trek vs. Star Wars, I’ve always been a Star Wars fan. Other than LeVar Burton hosting that episode of Reading Rainbow on TNG set, I never really got excited watching the show.

So it took me completely by surprise that I was excited for the 2009 movie.  I think was mainly because I was a fan of Abrams, thanks to Lost.  Also the cast looked like they would be stellar – Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Eric Bana.  At the time, I had no idea who the guys playing Kirk or Spock were. I didn’t prepare myself, like I normally do with other movies, by watching older episodes of TOS to get myself caught up. I just went in and since I didn’t know much of what was going to happen, I had no expectations to be honest.

Oh wow! I remember walking out of the movie thinking it was awesome and so fun! To this day, it’s one of the movies I love to rewatch.  I found myself sobbing after the prologue when it’s revealed that Kirk’s dad is Thor (seriously, it’s Chris Hemsworth) and I know that if a movie makes me cry, it’s going to be a good one. The action sequences were thrilling, the screenplay witty, and I loved the character development. I walked away being really thrilled about Star Trek for the first time in my life.

It still didn’t make me become a huge fan of the rest of the franchise but I became more appreciative of it as a whole. I knew I was looking forward to the sequel. It was being filmed in IMAX and it had Benedict Cumberbatch in it! Now I haven’t seen Wrath of Khan so about 99% of the references to it were lost on me. But I still had a ton of fun watching it. Action! Humor! An archives! Benedict Cumberbatch! This is the least informative review of a movie ever!

My point in all this is to say that even though it’s not normally my cup of tea, it is possible for someone who’s not normally a fan of a franchise/fandom to enjoy bits and pieces of it. And now that JJ Abrams is going to be directing the new Star Wars movie (thoughts about that later), it’s going to be interesting to see what he does there. Because basically, no one man should have all that power…..

Oh and just because it’s funny. Some spoilers if you still haven’t watched!

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The True Story of How I Became an Avengers Fan

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Confession: Before 2011, I didn’t know much about comic book superheroes. If you know me now, this might come as a bit of a shock.

I mean I had watched Spiderman, Batman Begins, X-Men, and Fantastic Four but it was mainly for the actors and not because I was a fan of the comics. My actual knowledge of superheroes was very limited other than knowing just who the major ones were (Batman, Superman, Spiderman). I didn’t see what the appeal was in Iron Man. I mean, he’s a guy in an iron suit who flies around. Whoop te doo. Actually most of the Marvel movies didn’t really light up my radar.

Then the trailer for The Avengers came out in 2011. At that point I had not seen a single movie in what is considered the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I couldn’t tell you who Nick Fury was or what Captain America’s shield was made of (wait, he had a shield?). But since there was so much hype, I figured, what the hey, let’s go back and watch the others to catch up on everything.

And so I did a five movie marathon with Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, and Thor. Now Iron Man was cool but it still didn’t WOW me. I had seen the Ang Lee Hulk and after comparing it to the new Hulk, I’d have to give the edge to the new Hulk but knowing that another actor was going to replace Edward Norton, I was all ho hum.

But Captain America and Thor. OMG. Captain America was awesome with the historical aspect, all the British people (JJ Field!), and a hero that is actually quite humble. Then Thor was just brilliant costume drama, again with all the British people. I have a soft spot for Loki because talk about your sympathetic villain where he father practically forced him to become the way he was. AND there was a guy with a bow and arrow in the movie!

So after watching all five movies, I became pretty excited for The Avengers. I really liked how they were purposely tying all the movies together as that is one of my favorite aspects of storytelling – connected threads. Therefore I soon found myself at the midnight showing on opening night packed in a room filled with so many geeks, nerds, fanboys and fangirls. The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement and anticipation.  And let me tell you, that was THE BEST movie experience of my life.

Have you ever experienced pure awesomeness in your movie watching experience? Where the crowd cheers, laughs, boos, basically reacts at all the right moments? When everyone applauds at the end because the movie is basically perfect? Yeah, that’s what happened that night. I was on such an adrenaline high afterwards that I couldn’t stop talking about it. Never mind the fact that it was past 3:30am by the time I got home or that I had to be up for work at 6am. For the next few weeks, I couldn’t stop recommending the movie to people. It was the perfect superhero movie for everyone, whether you were a fan of the comics or not. Even if you only liked one superhero, just Joss Whedon, or action movies in general, there was something to like for everyone. And that’s why I think the movie did so well. Wonderful word of mouth promotion.

Confession: I liked the movie so much I saw it six times in theaters. Yes, that’s right. SIX. (I know you’re judging). For the record, I have never done that before, and I doubt I’ll do it again. But this was one of those movies that every time I saw it, I found something new and enjoyed it. And every showing I went to, from the first midnight showing to the $2 bargain theater on its last leg in theaters viewing, the audience was still in love with the movie.

My friends have pretty much associated me with The Avengers now. I receive Avengers related gifts for presents (hence my blog header – Christmas presents from last year). For my 29th birthday, I hosted an Avengers themed party. I went out to Party City and stocked up on Avengers napkins, plates, party favors, even a big banner for a backdrop. My friends will complain to you about how I played the Avengers theme song on repeat for about an hour (in my defense, I was waiting on the latecomers to the party to show up). Yes I had the same party as a seven year old boy and I’m proud of it.

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The movie has made me get more involved into reading the comics and learning more about these characters. It’s been a really fun time doing this and it makes me wonder how I lasted all these years before without knowing all this. Thor 2 is coming out next week and I CANNOT wait. The trailer for Captain America 2 is out as well and then there’s all the other Marvel Cinematic universe movies in the future including….The Avengers 2, where Joss Whedon announced there will be MORE HAWKEYE!

Speaking of which, don’t worry. There will be a separate post dedicated to my weird love for Hawkeye.

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“Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise….”

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ff732157-2927-4c5e-84e2-365925b74d84 I never really got into the vampire craze. I just found it silly. I didn’t really intend on getting into the zombie fad either. And to be quite honest, I didn’t really think I wanted to watch this show. But just like the only reason why I started watching Lost was because of Dominic Monaghan, we can thank the at the time odd casting of Andrew Lincoln as Sheriff Rick Grimes as the initial reason as to how I became a huge fan of The Walking Dead.

See, Andrew Lincoln will forever be Mark, the guy from Love Actually who is secretly in love with Keira Knightley’s character.

And I’ve never seen him in anything else before I started watching The Walking Dead. So it was absolutely fabulous to hear him speak with a Southern accent (because we all know that British actors do American accent way better than Americans doing British ones). And then he started doing things like this….

Warning: the following clip contains spoilers, graphic violence and a little cursing. You were WARNED.

Lest you think this show is merely just people killing zombies, then you’re dead wrong. (har har) The writing in this show is awesome. The story is pretty much the reason why I still am watching it. Yes there are ups and downs in the way the show goes, but overall I find myself hooked because I get so sucked into the characters and their plots. So many of the characters have gone through a 180 since the show started. Weak characters have become strong, strong characters become crazy, minor characters have become game changers. I mean take a look at what they’ve done with Daryl. He wasn’t in the comics, he wasn’t a main character during the first show, and now he’s become the most popular character on the show to the point that whenever he appears onscreen, women’s ovaries explode (other people’s words, not mine).

There is also the whole idea of how lives change in a tragic situation like this. Most of us don’t want to think about what we would do in order to survive. We yell at the characters on the screen for making stupid decisions but really, if you were faced in that situation you may find yourself doing the exact same thing out of desperation. I would like to think I’d be extremely handy with a bow and arrow (oh wait, I need to learn how to do that first…) or be able to protect myself and be strong right off the bat, but I don’t know. I don’t know how long I’d last to be honest. But the social ramifications of decisions made make excellent case studies in this show.

This is one of the most suspenseful shows that I have ever seen. What I love the most about this show is how sucked up into the show I get. It is literally one of the very few shows that I will not pick up my phone, get on the computer, or basically distract myself in any shape or form while watching. You can be sitting right next to me on the couch and I will pretty much forget you exist until commercial breaks. While I’m watching, I’m clutching onto a pillow for dear life and am basically on the edge of my seat except for the times when I take even more pillows and use them as a barricade. I have been known to yelp loudly several times while watching. It’s incredibly intense, but it’s so fantastic.

Sure, you can argue there’s a lot of violence on the show.  And that there’s a lot of killing going on. Yes some humans do end up dying because of other humans. But it’s mostly zombie blood and guts. I don’t consider it to be real violence. Plus, it’s a zombie apocalypse. It’s about survival. Speaking of that, there are also some spiritual questions that are asked on the show that I find quite interesting and it makes you think.

I also had the awesome opportunity to meet Steven Yeun, who plays Glenn, while I was at DragonCon last year. He reminded me so much of a friend I have and was incredibly easygoing to talk to. I wasn’t expecting to actually talk to him myself but he drew me into the conversation. We asked him what was his favorite aspect of the show and his response was that he was glad that he wasn’t being casted as a stereotypical Asian. I will say that he was one of the most down to earth celebrities I have ever met. Please don’t let Glenn kick it on the show!  I also got to meet Chris Hardwick who does the Talking Dead show that comes on right after The Walking Dead. While he’s incredibly funny, he apparently wears a lot of makeup on the show because he looks way older in person.

Any other Dead fans out there? How are you enjoying the current season?

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Game Night!

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What a typical game night with my friends and I looks like…

Another thing I’ve discovered as I’ve gotten older is the ever popular question of what to do at nights when you want to hang out with your friends but you don’t want to actually go out? The answer is then “Game Night!”

Back in the day, playing board games was seen as uncool because only adults or non cool people did it. Nowadays it’s become quite popular with folks my age to gather a group of people over and do some tabletop gaming.

Now there’s a difference between tabletop gaming and your classic board/party gaming. I have had game nights where we’ve had a rousing game of Pictionary that involved the white board being thrown off the easel, a lot of shouting (IT’S THAT THING!!! YOU KNOW??! THAT THING!! IT’S A TINY WORLD!!! *baffled looks from everyone*), and surprising amount of sweat.  Now while games like Monopoly or Scrabble (hmm, it’s a been a while with that one for me) can be fun, I’ve grown to prefer playing new types of games.

There’s your new types of party games such as Apples to Apples and Quelf.  Though I prefer playing The Big Bang Theory Party game, which really doesn’t have much to do with the show, and is basically a raunchier (but not Cards Against Humanity type level) version of Apples to Apples. Make sure you play the game with people who don’t get easily offended and can tolerate dirty humor. Quelf is a silly but fun game. I prefer playing in a larger group because if you play with just a few people, it goes by really fast. Another fun party game is called Funglish. It’s a word guessing games with tiles. Play this game with me and my friends and it will involve massive amounts of giggling and extreme moments of panicking (I’M SO STRESSED OUT RIGHT NOW!!! I CAN’T HANDLE THIS!!!).

Mainly though the games I’ve been playing lately are either deck card games or tabletop games. I will most likely go into more dedicated detailed posts later on, since there are so many that I like.  So here are a list of these two types of games that I’ve been introduced to and enjoy playing over the past few months.

Hmm there are more but their names are escaping me at the moment. And before you ask, I do not play Magic or D&D. Simply because I have not yet had the time (or money) to really invest into playing either.

I’m lucky because I live in an area with several good comic book/gaming stores that keep in stock a nice supply of different tabletop games that you normally can’t find in typical stores. They are a bit pricey though, so it’s also been awesome that I have several friends who are also into gaming so I can usually count on at least one person to get the game and then we all play. Playing these games can be challenging. They usually include instructions that read like a novel. If you want something fast, quick, and easy don’t play with us.  I also am lucky that I have a good group of friends who do enjoy this past time as well. Hence why they are my friends.

Two excellent sources for more information on tabletop gaming and the like:

Tabletop – a show hosted by actor Wil Wheaton that includes many of the games from my list played by him and his celebrity friends

BoardgameGeek – a huge database of everything gaming with news, reviews, and forums

What are some of your favorite tabletop games? Any ones you can recommend?