This Nerd's Life: Thor, Man of Steel and More

Egad! A whole week without a blog update and still don't have a full one for tonight!

But it's been a busy week.  I started a new day job (#RealWorldQuest) and am just going 90 to nothing with that...   We went to see Thor 2 last weekend and bought Man of Steel this weekend so I've seen both of those now... hope to put up reviews of both in the next little bit... I also bought and read Valiant's Unity 1 - the first Valiant book I've picked up in awhile - it was ok but not award winning...

That's all for now, lots more in the days to come... and we will be starting our Christmas Countdown pretty soon...

If you haven't already go and like us on Facebook Nerd Is the New Cool and as always follow us on twitter @NerdIsNewCool

Until next time,

Nerd Is The New Cool, signing off

This Nerd's Life: Halloween Weekend

I know, I know.  I said I'd post something Thursday for Halloween but that day was a huge headache.

I don't mind the company, but my dad came over Thursday morning and spent a couple hours hanging out. Which was cool, but it really put me behind on getting ready for that Evening's Trick 'r Treaters.

But I was able to get the house in order.  And low and behold, 2 kids all night.  A super-tough red Power Ranger and a cute little Minnie Mouse.

My wife and I settled in for the evening with Halloween 4 and after she headed to bed for the night I watched my favorite modern Halloween based film, Trick 'r Treat - which I watched right after Season's Greetings the cartoon short it spins out off.  I also hopped onto YouTube and was able to check out FEARnet's Trick 'r Treat shorts.  I highly recommend them.

Then, Friday Dad and I ran by a couple of Vintage Stocks to check out the big sale they had going on.  I was able to pick up DVD's of Friday the 13th Parts 3 and 4, Zorro's Black Whip Volume One (the first six episodes of a serial featuring "Zorrita, the one and only 'female' Zorro!"), and Star Odyssey (an old sci-fi flick I've never heard of.  Included on the DVD are four shorts: a Fleischer Superman cartoon, a Felix the Cat, a The New 3 Stooges cartoon, and an episode of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger).  I was also able to add a couple of early Man-Things to my collection Adventures into Fear 17 and Daredevil 113, the latter of which is part of the Sallis Papers story arc staring Daredevil, Man-Thing, and Foggy Nelson's sister Candace.

Over the weekend, my wife and I - along with our faithful companion the Nerd-Hound - went to my parent's for a horror movie marathon.  I can't remember the exact order of things, but we were able to squeeze in It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, World War Z - not as bad as I'd feared but still not as great as I'd hoped - Jack the Giant Slayer, Sharknado, Dracula: Prince of Darkness, Twins of Evil, Hands of the Ripper, The Incredible Melting Man, Godzilla vs. Megalon, and The Town that Dreaded Sundown.  

Overall, a very fun and entertaining weekend.

Hope your's was as much of a blast!

I'll be back on Wednesday, with a new New Comic Day.  In the meantime, I'd love to hear how you spent Halloween or your weekend down below in the comments or over on twitter @nerdisnewcool and you can share any pics of your Halloween costumes on our new facebook page located here:  https://www.facebook.com/NerdTheNewCool

Until next time,

This is Nerd Is The New Cool, signing off.

P.S. Since it's the Spooky Season and cause I haven't in awhile:

#AllisonScag4Cassie

This Nerds Life: Countdown to Halloween - 2 Days to Go

Halloween is just days away and here at Nerd Is The New Cool, we couldn’t be more excited.  The candy has been bought, the decorations are up, and we have been binge watching horror movies (we spent all day yesterday watching Stephen King’s Rose Red). 

I was originally going to do another 3 Top Tens set for today, but felt a bit more personal This Nerd’s Life style blogging might be a better way to go tonight instead. 

There is so much more I want to get done between now and Thursday. My wife has seen the first 2 Halloween films, so I’m thinking Halloween night will have to feature a viewing of Halloween 4 (as III isn’t part of the main series, we will probably go ahead and skip it).   But do I want to rewatch the first two before then or hit some other films instead (Trick or Treat springs to mind, as do Plan 9 from Outer Space and any number of classic Universal and Hammer films).  There is also The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but the wife loves that and will want to be in on that viewing so we’ll save that for her.  Netflix was a few good films, but the selection is limited and both HuluPlus and Crackle seems to mostly have the same limited selection with each of the three having a few films the others don’t have, but most of those don’t look that interesting.

I was planning on making some caramels if not go all the way and make caramel apples or even popcorn balls but I keep putting it off.  I also bought some fresh veggies with the plan of making salsa but haven’t got around to it yet.  If I don’t hurry up and get to it, we might have some quality issues pretty soon.   

We don’t plan on hitting any Halloween parties, so the wife and I probably won’t be dressing up this year – especially with her working late on Thursday and us going out of town over the weekend.

I might try to put up an extra post tomorrow, a Nerdy Top Ten or one of a couple of other things I’ve been working on so check back tomorrow night to see.  I will be putting up a New Comic Day Wednesday and if I get a fire going under myself I will put up an early post on Thursday for Halloween. 

Well, that’s all for now, I’ll be back either tomorrow or the next day – I’ll be in checking for comments tomorrow whether I post or not.  In the meantime, to make up for only having this wimpy blog post, here is a pic of our good friend Liz Katz dressed as an Elvian Theif

You should go follow her on twitter here, like her on facebook here, and subscribe to her YouTube channel here.  She’s awesome.  (And tell her your old buddy Nerd Is The New Cool sent ya, to score me some brownie points).  Also, she’ll be at Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo in LA Novemeber 1-3 booth 1049 selling posters and hanging with her fans.  She’s pretty cool and one of the nerdiest girls on the Interweb, so go say hi. 

And while we are on the subject of Comikaze Expo, if any of our readers are going and would like to act as the official Nerd Is The New Cool correspondent at the event, send me a DM on twitter. 

This is Nerd Is The New Cool, signing off.  

Army of Darkness/Reanimator, Daredevil, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and More (New Comic Day #7)

This Nerds Life: Sad Times

Those of you paying attention, all both of you, will know that there was no New Comic Day last week.  For that I am sorry, but last week was an emotional time for us here at Nerd Is The New Cool.  Our beloved comic shop Starbase 21 – which will celebrate its 29^th Birthday next month – announced last Wednesday that it will be shutting its doors as of December 31^st of this year. 

It has been a long time coming – the owner is sick and hasn’t been able to take an active hand in running the store for quite some time and with the state of comics in this day and age – most casual readers and many collectors using national chains – keeping the store going is unfortunately not feasible. 

This will mark the end of a beloved Tulsa landmark and the loss of a major part of my week. 

But worry not, Fan Boys and Geek Girls, your good buddy Nerd Is The New Cool will soldier on and continue to bring you the best of what’s gracing this week’s shelves. 

New Comic Day Presents: Countdown to Halloween (8 Days)

What with the Scary Season in full swing, I focused this week’s shelf searching on Halloween issues and didn’t come up too shabby.  Daredevil 32 features a crossover with a number of Marvel’s Mighty Monsters – including a stylish cover featuring Satana, The Marvel Zombie, Werewolf by Night, The Monster of Frankenstein, and the Living Mummy facing off with a mob of angry torch and pitchfork totting villagers.  Be warned, fair readers, the three dread works appear at the climax of this issue “to be continued.” 

Marvel’s other entries this week include the special Marvel Now What?! a humor title in the vein of What The..?!  Written by a host of TV comedy writers, the book doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that is somewhat refreshing against Marvel’s often blotted lineup of titles. 

DC isn’t doing quite as well in the Halloween department.  But a $1 reprint of the first issue of  Neil Gaiman’s seminal title Sandman is a passable offering to the ghost and goblin crowd. 

Also at DC, is – and Starbase 21’s Pick of the Week – is Beware the Batman 1 a comic adaptation of Cartoon Network’s (already cancelled?) Batman series of the same name. 

Leaving the big two behind up, over at Dynamite a true Halloween offering appears in the form of the Army of Darkness/ReAnimator one-shot.  As is so often the case with comics nowadays, the cover art – by Randy Valiente – far surpasses its interior art – also by Valiente.  The story by Mark Rahner – featuring a time lost Ash (though he only uses that name in a single panel of this book) finds himself in H.P. Lovecraft’s New England of the 1920s, butting heads with a fairly true to Lovecraft Herbert West and battling both AoD’s Deadites and ReA’s Re-Animates – though far from great is fun and engaging and does lead me to forgive the art.  The issue also reprints 2005’s Reanimator 0, featuring a more detailed retelling of Herbert West’s origin.  The story is by Jim Kuhoric with art – that makes me remember the main story’s art fondly – by Nick Bradshaw. 

Also of note this month, Rocketeer/Spirit 2 finally graces us with its presence – the first issue of this mini-series, my long ‘memberin’ readers will recall, I reviewed back in July.

Tell us what you thought of these titles or if you read something else you think is worthy of getting picked up let us know in the comments below or on twitter @nerdisnewcool. 

Until next time,

Nerd Is The New Cool, signing off.

This Nerd's Life: Babysitting

There will be no new Nerdy Top Ten today.  I had a long day babysitting my niece and am just too warn out to come up with anything interesting/witty/wise/funny/entertaining.  How is this different than every other week you ask?  I don't know, but I will contemplate that in the meanwhile.

I will be back Wednesday with an all new New Comic Day.  

Until then, stay nerdy my friends...

Nerd Is The New Cool, signing off.

This Nerd's Life vs. Nerdy Top Tens

So, I have three Nerdy Top Tens at various stages of completeness setting on my flashdrive all refusing to right themselves.  The more completed one - entries 1-8 completed but no 9 and 10 - I decided against doing at this time as I've spend far to much time on board games (and card games and dice games) on the blog already.  The second - which suffers the same board game stigma of the first - is comprised of a list of 10 but has no fluff text yet.  The third and final Top Ten, which focuses on comics - which I haven't abused anywhere near as much as that other subject above - is little more than a concept and some likely entries at this point.

And as much as I would rather do a Top Ten today - especially in the wake of not doing one last week - I feel today is going to be another This Nerd's Life.  Unfortunately, I had a pretty run of the mill boring week. I went by the comic shop on Wednesday and bought the first issue of the new Astro City series (see my review below).  I worked on a short story I hope to get published soon.  It's called "The Flush" and concerns a fellow with a unique view of his own story, an unimportant field of daisies, and a toilet with an extra handle.  I'll keep y'all informed about any developments concerning that or any other story I get published.

That's about all the excitement for the week, the rest was the usual daily grind.  This weekend, I did get the chance to pull some boxes out of my parents storage shed and find some of my old junk - including my action figures (Star Wars, TMNT, Dick Tracy, Star Trek, Aliens vs. Predator, etc.), as well as some other cool stuff.  But that is a large part of what put me behind on getting a Top Ten ready for today - true I write them on Sunday, but I usually have at least something ready before hand (I'm trying to get a stockpile ready for weeks I'm under the weather or busy but haven't yet).

But what do you, dear reader, prefer?  How do you like my various blog titles?  Do you prefer Nerdy Top Tens or would you rather I do more This Nerd's Life entries?  How about my other newer series: New Comic Day, The Five Dollar Bin, and the upcoming Reader Copies?

Reply in the comments below or hit me up on twitter @nerdisnewcool.

Until next time, Nerd is the New Cool signing off

This Nerd's Life: Independence Day Weekend

Nerd Is New Cool here,

Those of you who regularly follow my blog will already have seen that we didn't have our premiere of the new Reader Copies this last Friday, nor our we going to be posting an installment of Nerdy Top Ten today, both are due to the busy schedule my wife and I had over the long holiday weekend.

We were babysitting my sister-in-law's Aussie Shepard mix, which we hauled along with our 2 lb. Chihuahua to my parent's house Wednesday.

I spent most of Thursday morning slaving over a hot grill to produce some awesome fall of the bone ribs, which got finished about 3 hours early so they were nice and cold and no longer fall of the bone by the time we ate - nor were they very popular and we still had a ton left over after dinner - I have now eaten them for at least four meals.

Thursday evening we had games with my parents and cousin Lizard: Mexican Train Dominoes, Smart Ass, Dixit, Buzz Word, and Pandemic: On The Brink (Bio-Terrorist Challenge).

We were going to come back Thursday night with plenty of time for me to do my back issue review for Friday, but one of my mom's cousins was in town and the extended family was doing a dinner Friday, so we ended up staying an extra night.

We ended up not getting in until late on Friday and I said forget it.   I figured Reader Copies could wait until next time rather than having a rushed first issue.

So yesterday we spend all day at my sister-in-law's running a yard sale which totally bombed.

On the bright side, after the yard sale was over, we hit up another yard sale and I picked up a couple of books including a Signet Classics edition of The Jungle Books from the sixties and a 1966 edition of Snoopy and the Red Baron.

Today involved a couple hours of housework, some time in the pool, and my wife and I lounging around watching the 2010 British Sci-Fi/Horror film Monsters (expect an appearance in an upcoming issue of The Five Dollar Bin) and the first two episodes of the 1943 serial Batman.

Anyway, back to the regular schedule next week.  In the meantime, stay nerdy my friends.

My American fans can let me know what they did for the Fourth in the comments below or on twitter @nerdisnewcool.  My non-US fan are as always welcome to join the conversation as well.

Nerd Is the New Cool signing off.

Also, congrats to Chad and Angie on the hundredth episode of Screen Team Sunday.  Love your work guys.  Watch the vid below, and get them a like and subscribe on their YouTube channel.

And We’re Back New Blog Schedule and More!

And we’re back!  So it’s been a few months and I’ve been busy – and by busy I mean lazy.  But now I’m back and the blog is back up and running.  I’m planning on Bringing back my classic Nerdy Top 10s starting this Sunday and then doing a couple other new things throughout the week. 

First up is Reader Copies.  On the first and third Friday of every month, we will be delving into my extensive comic collection to review some classic and not so classic back issues that can be picked up cheaply at your local comic shop. 

Then on the second and fourth Fridays will be The Five Dollar Bin!  I will be reviewing movies that can be found cheaply on DVD in places like the $5 bin at Wal-Mart.  From the campy to the crappy, from cult classics to cinematic masterpieces… ok, probably not any cinematic masterpieces, but I do own all the Puppet Master films!

I will also still be doing the occasional This Nerds Life and of course will continue to double post my Good Reads book reviews on here. 

Finally, I will be adding on New Comic Day, every Wednesday to review the hottest new titles, but that will be coming at a later date.  And I have several other ideas in the works so hopefully we can start posting Nerd is the New Cool daily!

In the meantime, if there are any classic comics or movies you'd like to see me review let me know in the comments below.  

This is Nerd Is the New Cool, signing off until this Sunday. 

P.S. While you're waiting for my triumphant return, if ya just gotta have more nerdy content hop on over to YouTube and check out my good friend Liz Katz's channel.  She's an incredibly funny, talented, and nerdy girl.  And let's face it, she's cute as a button.  

2013 Reading List

Bloggers Note:  This post was originally intended to be published the last Sunday in December, 2012.  Some of it reflects that.

In the upcoming year, I am undertaking several Heavy Reading Projects for myself.  Firstly I am taking the Harvard Classics 15 Minutes a Day Challenge, reading from the 50 Volume set daily for at least 15 minutes.  I have almost finished Vol. 50: Introduction and Readers Guide and the supplementary book Fifteen Minutes a Day: The Reading Guide (of which I have read all but the daily reading assignments and their brief introductions, but have left the 49 main volumes and the book of Lectures to the Harvard Classics untouched and will begin reading them in January, starting with Ben Franklin’s Autobiography from Vol. 1.  (My wife intends to take the challenge with me!)

Secondly, I am beginning a yearlong close reading of The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.  I plan to average 7 pages a day on this work, which will allow me to complete it in just under 1 year.  I will be doing some personal reflection writings on my readings from this and may post some of them (without a schedule) on here in the future. 

Finally, time permitting I am going to delve into Norman Davies’ Europe: A History and The Isles: A History.  I have had the books for over a decade and while I have read bits and pieces of both, I have not attempted a serious reading of either of these dense tomes.  3 pages a day would complete one in a year, or 6 pages both.  As I go through my reading of them I hope to whittle them down to less than half a year each, but with my other two reading projects above and the light reading I’ll discuss below, I am not sure how much time I will want to dedicate to these two monstrous volumes. 

On more fun notes, my light reading selections for the year begin with the King himself.  I am currently sitting between Dark Tower volumes IV and V.  And while I want to finish King’s magnum opus, there are several tie-in books I feel I should read first: It, From a Buick 8, and Talisman to name but three. 

My friends have also recommended a number of Geeky novels and series I should try out, including the Gor series by John Norman and the Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, of which I’ve read the first book A Game of Thrones.  So I’d like to get and read the next book in the latter and the first book in the former. 

There are, of course, numberous other books I have on my to-read list with Tolkien’s The Hobbit, Wells’s War of the Worlds (and Invisible Man which I started some time ago and never finished), Del Toro and Hogan’s The Strain, and Goldman’s The Princess Bride all topping the list. 

So that’s what I plan on reading this year.  What is on your 2013 Reading List?  Leave a response in the comments below or on my twitter page @nerdisnewcool.

                  
Nerd Is the New Cool, signing off.

Update- I received the first four volumes of Song of Ice and Fire for Christmas from my wife so should be able to start on them soon.  I also received from her Your Movie Sucks by Roger Ebert which I am currently reading.  I am also working on Cloud Atlas, which I started reading several years ago in college.  I have restarted it and hope to actually finish it this time. 

I have so far not managed to keep up with any of my three main projects.  I am a dozen or so pages into the Norton Anthology, have only read from the Harvard Classics twice, and haven’t started Europe: A History.  Likewise, I have not kept my Journal up either.  But I hope to do some catching up in the weeks to come and get on my actual intended schedule soon. 

-Nerd

This Nerd's Life

So, since last time I've done a few things...

Firstly, I bought an Xbox 360 and am on Xbox Live, both for the first time.  As I've said before, see our award winning blog entry Summer of the Nerd, I'm not a big (video) gamer.  So this is kinda a deal...something of a Real World Quest to add on some XP to up my Nerd Level.  

Secondly, I'm almost finished reading The Cases That Haunt Us by former FBI profiler John Douglas.  It's an interesting read, I especially enjoyed the sections on Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac.  If I don't get to lazy, I'll post a review on Good Reads and post a link in an upcoming blog.  But I'll probably get to lazy.  

Nextly, I started reading Game of Thrones.  Hopefully, this will get Katie Wilson to stop telling me over and over and over how great it is...hold on my wife is saying something...what?  No way... I am not an idiot...sorry for the interruption, my wife was trying to tell me Katie isn't talking to me directly in her blog, but it's prerecorded and everyone can see it...silly wife.  You know what I'm talking about don't you, person I'm writing this directly to... Anyway, Game of Thrones, I'm 225 pages in and it's pretty good so far.  Still haven't got to episode 3 of the HBO show yet, but, you know, eventually.  It's awesome and all, so...I'm just really worried about how my wife will react when...NO SPOILERS!...'cause she's crazy in the head...

Thenly (WTF's with all the "-ly" endings, Nerd?  You were an English major for crying out loud.  Knock it off...), my dad bought Last Night on Earth the Zombie board game...he took it home with him though...butt-head. 

Alsoly, Shadowman 1 came out it's awesome...go check it out...

Finally (I said knock off the "-ly" bullstuff...oh wait, that one's right, never mind ..), I went to Diwali Night: great show (singing, dancing, comedy), great food, and a great job by everyone involved.  Congrats to the Oklahoma State University Indian Student Association for putting together a great program.  Especially, to my kids - past and present who participated - who were part of this event.  You know who you are and I am very proud of all of you.   

And now back to our regularly scheduled Top Ten, already not in progress...

I was going to do a Top Ten Characters I want to see in the Justice League Movie, but that is a little more in-depth than I want to go tonight so will added to the "but that's another" blog list.  So this week, we're doing the whole no top ten thing this week.  

And I wanna hear from you...what have you been up to this last week?  Why didn't you write my blog?  Who do you think Jack the Ripper really was?  Why is a raven like a writing desk?  Should more words end in "-ly?"  Leave a comment below or hit up my twitter page @nerdisnewcool.

Nerd is the New Cool, signing off
  

P.S.ly, if Katie Wilson is reading this, you don't need a restraining order, I'm not actually crazy...but I understand if you get one.