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Waving My Geek Flag Madly
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dcos
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 12:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I looksforward to that discussion Very Happy

Not with a mumorpeguh (MMORPG) thats for damm sure!
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Professor Askew
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 1:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dan, I'm glad you brought up Asimov and Foundation. One of the Foundation books, I forget which one, lists all the Foundation, Robots, and Empire books chronologically so that they can be read as one long story. Which, of course, I did. Great fun. It's about fourteen or sixteen novels in all.

And, ah yes, the Matrix. Everyone seems pretty consistently disappointed in the same things. The first movie held such promise! I mean, I was really blown away. But, alas, the Wachowski's envisioned something outside of the collective thought process. It might have been a huge benefit to them to not film all three movies at one time but rather waited for audience response before proceeding. I'm not saying they should have compromised their artistic vision but they might have benefited by tailoring their output somewhat to meet people's expectations. /shrug

I played Matrix Online for a couple of weeks. Didn't grab me.

MST3K never grabbed me either. I never met anyone else who didn't like it. I find reactive comedy fairly easy to write so I never respected the work. I have nothing against the creators, they did a good job and I'm sure they had fun doing it. Just not my cup of tea.

I'm SICK of the Japanese imports! Whew. Just had to say that. It's not entirely true but I wanted to show my age. LOL I'm a huge fan of Lone Wolf and Cub. I'm on Volume 13 of the 26 volume set. In the 70's they made six films out the series that I have yet to catch up with. Soon, though.
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BladeLakem
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I grew up on golden age SF, as my father was a big fan of it. I'm a big fan of most of Asimov's work. I've read a bunch of odd little short stories from various authors. Early on, I was reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and some of Heinlein's work (I read Job: Comedy of Justice when I was in 5th grade, as well as Fred Saberhagen's first Books of Swords trilogy).

As for TV, I started with Battlestar Galactica. I love the original series. *shrug* Also went to my first Star Trek convention when I was 13, before TNG came out. In college, we used to sit down and watch Babylon 5 religiously (I still remember when we had 30 people packed into a lounge for the premiere of season 2 and the reaction when the intro talked about 'the year the great war came upon us all').

We watched a lot of MST3K in college. Honestly, it fits my sense of humor superbly. I still have a copy of _Manos: Hands of Fate_. And I still get the giggles when people talk about forklifts.

I watched old school anime in college too. We had Robotech marathons, watched Lupin the 3rd, Ranma 1/2. I haven't kept up on any of the anime in the last 7 years tho. That must mean I'm old...

As for computer games, I have a long history. I got a C64 when I was 13 for Xmas. I played a bunch of the Infocom games, like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Bureaucracy. Also games like Archon, Ultima, Mail Order Monsters and Legacy of the Ancients. My favorite was the Bard's Tale series (I spend 8 hours on the last fight with Tarjan in Bard's Tale III). I also played the Sierra games (Space Quest, King's Quest, Leisure Suit Larry). Later on, I played Loom, Full Throttle, Monkey Island.

I played Myst, of course. Interesting story, that. I'd played 7th Guest before it and thought that was just too cool. Heard of Myst but hadn't seen it. So, I'm back home from college for the summer and my friend wants me and her other friends to housesit. She and her family were going on vacation, you see. My friends, being young red-blooded American men enjoying being adults, go out and rent a ton of porn videos for the week. While they are preparing for the festivities, I decide to take a look at their computer just to see what they have. They have Myst installed. So, I spent the next three days playing Myst while my friends are having a pornography marathon in the next room. I was much more impressed by the fact that the pages on Myst sounded like pages turning when you clicked on them to continue. Go figure.

In other geek cred, I was online early, from my C64 and it's 300 baud modem. I did BBSes, played TradeWars, etc. I was also on an online service for Commodore computers called QuantumLink. You may have heard of it by what it changed into - America OnLine. (So yeah, I was on AOL before it was AOL).

More recently, I was very much into Lord of the Rings due to the movies. I found that I really love the background (if not Tolkien's writing style). And Elvish didn't hurt. Wink I went to see the Lord of the Rings Trilogy Tuesday - they showed the extended editions of the first two in the theatre followed by a premiere of Return of the King. All back to back. I was even mentioned in a local article about the event (I was wearing a t-shirt that had a picture of Hugo Weaving as Elrond, with sunglasses photoshopped in on a Matrix background - it said "The Matrix has you, Frodo.")

Thanx to the wonder that is DVDs, I was able to get into LOST after the first season, then Firefly after it was canceled.

Oh, an aside - I am a constructed language geek. Quenya, Sidnarin, D'ni, Klingon, etc. I have made several of my own, including the language used for the Ages of Ilathid project. I blame it on Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat series, which introduced me to Esperanto when I was 14.

On another geeky vein - RPGs. Been playing as long as I remember. D&D, AD&D, Gamma World, Star Frontiers, Marvel Super Heroes, GURPS, Amber Diceless and more. In the late 90s, I played a lot of White Wolf - Vampire, Werewolf, Mage (my favorite), Wraith, Changeling. I've run a bunch of LARPs, including official ones for conventions while I lived in North Carolina (including the first Long Night LARP ever run). We had some big games, up to 125 people per session. I haven't gamed much in the last few years, unfortunately. I've used Uru as an outlet for that, for the most part.

MMO-wise, I used to play MUDs back in the day. I avoided MMOs until Uru Live, because I knew I wouldn't have a life otherwise. I eventually got into City of Heroes and occasionally play Guild Wars.

Um, okay. I'm done for now...really....
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Erik
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Everyone who dares to call me a "geek", a "nerd" or whatever, can be sure to receive a punch... I actually find those terms quite offensive, so I don't really get why people could be proud of it...

Anyway, since I see some familiar titles here. I should add the things I like to it as well. Wink

First of all, I'm a big fan of the Lord of the Rings (really, who isn't? Wink). I have all the movies (extended versions), I have the deluxe versions of the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, illustrated by Alan Lee, the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and the Children of Húrin.
If that's not enough, I recently bought the Return of the King: the Complete Recordings, which is what you could call the extended version of the soundtrack, and I plan on buying the Complete Recordings for the two other movies.

A while ago I also painted table-top miniatures for the Lord of the Rings, and I even created a website for fellow hobbyists to share their creativity.

That hobby was conquered by Uru actually. When I learnt about Myst and Uru, I started to neglect it. (School work attributed to that as well) But the website is still running and still has lots of visitors each day.

So... that about my "obsession" with the Lord of the Rings. Cool

PS: I also like Harry Potter. I have all the books in hardback (all in Dutch, and the last two also in English, because I couldn't wait for the translation Razz). Even bought the "Fantastic beasts and where to find them" and "Quidditch through the Ages" books, but that was about 4 years ago I think.
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CuzinJohn
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 3:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well... I didn't realize that this was turning into a thread where we all wave our respective geek flags.

I could tell you with my obsession with MYST... the games, the books, etc... but somehow I think that's one color that all of our flags share.

In general, I've been fairly obsessed with the entire concept of Dreams. I'm probably the only person in the world who cheered when I found the 1984 movie "Dreamscape" in the bargain bin. Add to that the entire set of Nightmare on Elm Street movies, and countless books on the topic, factual and fantastic. Not the least of which is referenced by my Avvie, Lord Morpheus himself.

That began my segue into a mild obsession of all things by Neil Gaiman. His books- both graphic and prose, and his movies have all affected me on some level, and I crave more.

As far as computer games go (Note: I did NOT say 'video games' - explanation to follow), the only one that I ever found myself obsessed with was the ZORK series. The games that had no graphics. Can you kids out there beleive it? They fascinated me more than some books I've read... while they had all the reading and imagining of the environment that books gave me, these games were like books that I was not just the reader and page-turner, but an active participant. Is it any wonder that this passion lended itself so well to the MYST series?

Classic Sci-Fi was a staple of my life. Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke, of course. Tolkien - without question. Douglas Adams - what more is there to say? There's also a fantasy writer named James Morrow who I met at Penn State Univ. If you don't kow his work and like to read things that make you think about what makes things status quo, and what makes them otherwise, it's worth the read. Most recently, three of the books by Jeff Lindsay... never heard of him? Read on...

TV and Movie obsessions include Star Trek in all it's incarnations (yes, even the short lived Enterprise Series) Star Wars - ALL of them, despite my personal feelings on 'midichlorians', BOTH Battlestar Galactica series, and LOST are worthy of mention. Remeber those Jeff Lindsay books? They were the forerunners to the Showtime series "Dexter"... another one of those status quo turned sideways ideas that I tend to enjoy.

Oh! and LEGO blocks!

That's all I can think of for now... /me salutes the line of geek flags waving
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dcos
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 3:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh Oh! Neverwinter Nights, I used to love playing that online in this fairly small RP server where the DMs were generally about most of the time. The head DM loved my Druid character (not many people went druid) and kept giving me cool stuff (usually in the form of a mini DM quest) just cause he wanted me to look cool and Druid-y Very Happy
That rawked! I would probably still be playing it, except NWN2 came out. And it would probably kill my 'puter Sad

Cuz have you ever played psychonauts? Smile
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CuzinJohn
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 3:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dcosgrove wrote:
Cuz have you ever played psychonauts? Smile

Nope. But if it carries the dcogrover seal of approval, I'm all over it like green on grass.
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dcos
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It does indeed. The main game hook is that you can venture into people's minds. Its wonderfully written and very funny (it more than excuses a few gameplay issues) and as Yahtzee says
Quote:

I'm just going to list out of context some of things which occur in Pyschonauts: A telekenetic bear, a dentist who harvests brains, a sequence were you become a giant godzilla style monster and terrorise a civilisation of talking fish and a shadowy trench-coated governemnt agent who disguises himself as a housewise by brandishing a rolling pin and talking disjointedly about pies.


And heck he liked it! That is rare for him, he never likes anything: Warning Swearies!
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Professor Askew
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is becoming a great resource thread for anything I may have missed along the way. Would you believe I have never read or seen Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy? They could take away my geek flag for that.

Dreamscape! Great movie, CJ. I assume you've seen Mirror Mask? Awesome film, Cuzin.

Dan, you're going nuts on this Psychonauts. I tried it but it didn't work for me. I really loved the world and the characters but I stunk at gameplay. I didn't get very far with it so I moved on.
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dcos
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Heh its like Firefly, I wouldn't shut up about it for months after I found it. Its like somesort of informational genetic imperative.. or maybing I'm just an annoying berk Razz I like to think a little of both.

Not knowing HGTG is almost worthy of taking back you're flag... but you're the Prof, I mean it just wouldn't be right!
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Lord Chaos
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't really have a geek flag to wave, but I have at times passed through the borderlands of the Geek Nation.

I guess I crossed the border for the first time when my sister invited me to read her Andre Norton books. "The Time Traders," "The X Factor," many others. I still admire her economical, concentrated storytelling; she can put as much story into 100 words as most modern authors put into 400. I went on to Arthur Clarke, Asimov, went through the Harry Harrison phase, Gene Wolfe, and many others. I read "Lord of the Rings" in 1969 and re-read it periodically just because it's so well written, and a great story. And I continue to read whatever the library has. L E Modesitt is good, and Charles de Lint, and Terry Pratchett, who is one of the very few who has managed to keep a series going on with real creativity.

At about the same time I started getting interested in computers. Starting when I was, oh, 10 years old or so and read a long article in "Life" magazine, and then was visiting an engineering company run by some friends of my parents. "Do you have a computer?" I asked. 20 years later I owned one, an Osborne 1, and a short time after that was dabbling in the on-line world through RCPM and RBBS and, in late 1983, Compuserve. Email address was 71426,1437. I maintained that account for over 20 years, dropping it only after I got DSL.

So, that's one state in the nation. Another state is anime. I got into this because a friend suggested I would like "My Neighbor Totoro." I rented it and did like it, and it became the first DVD I ever bought, shortly after buying a player at a garage sale. After that I bought more Miyazaki movies. He simply makes magical things. An adjunct to that came from some other friends, who loaned me their copy of "Nausicaa." I liked that so much I went out and bought the deluxe large-size version of the manga.

The state that I visit the least is television. I watched the original Star Trek but never liked any of the follow-ons, nor the Star Wars lookalikes. People talk about Lost and Star Gate but I have no idea what they are other than TV shows. Movies are about the same. The original Star Wars is still one of my favorites, with the follow-ons rapidly descending into negative numbers. Never could get into the British things, Dr Who and the others. I refuse to see the "Rings" movies because they can't possibly be as good as the books and I don't want those vivid scenes to overwrite my own images.

I played a few computer games but was never obsessive about it. I liked "Tempest" because of the colors. Smile After blood and guts took over I quit playing, until a friend gave me "Myst." That led to the others in the series, and to play between games there were the Syberia games, and "Return to Mysterious Island," and a few others. None of them captured me the way "Myst" and its follow-ons did; the story hooked me. This is why I'm so disappointed with Uru Live: there just hasn't been much story. Which way does a Myst player jump when the ship goes down? A fellow Greeter gave me a 10-hour-free key to "Guild Wars" and I ended up liking it... for the most part. There are aspects I don't care for but it wins in expansiveness, and the game contains a lot of beauty.

If silicon is central to the modern geek experience, then I suppose my major art practice is fully geekish: sand sculpture. More silicon dioxide than a hundred computers, contained within one sculpture. Smile
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CuzinJohn
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 5:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Professor Askew wrote:
This is becoming a great resource thread for anything I may have missed along the way. Would you believe I have never read or seen Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy? They could take away my geek flag for that.

Nah... we won't take your flag away, though we may gaze upon it warily...

/me warily gazes upon Prof's geek flag...

Professor Askew wrote:
Dreamscape! Great movie, CJ. I assume you've seen Mirror Mask? Awesome film, Cuzin.


MirrorMask RAWKS! I file that under the "All things Gaiman" clause is my prior post.
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CuzinJohn
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

::Double Poast::

My wife mocked me... she accused me of hiding a portion of my geekitude from the masses.

So in the interest of full disclosure, I also confess my geek obsessions with Wonder Woman (beginning with Lynda Carter), Xena:Warrior Princess, and the short lived series Dark Angel.

My name is CuzinJohn, and I'm obsessed by fantasy brunettes with the capability to kick my a$$. Shocked Embarassed

My wife is a living testament to this fact.

Too Much Information?
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Durin Mephit
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lord Chaos wrote:
I refuse to see the "Rings" movies because they can't possibly be as good as the books and I don't want those vivid scenes to overwrite my own images.


I know I should respond to more than just this little bitty quote, but that would have to wait for later. All I'll say is that the movies almost are as good as the books, and I think you're missing out. (I've both read the books and seen the movies.)
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

/me throws her head back and cackles with mirth

How'd you feel about Charmed? Razz
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