Nerd Lunch

Buckaroo at Midnight

2012-02-11T12:32:00.001-06:00

I mentioned on episode 23 of the Nerd Lunch Podcast that I would be going to the midnight showing of Buckaroo Banzai that was playing at FSU's Student Life Cinema. And I did just that. I was joined by Aaron Nix who was our guest on episode 22 and also Vince who I met when producing episode 1 of Nerd Lunch: The Web Series.

Honestly, I was a bit disappointed but did get over that quickly. It was my understanding that this would be a print of the movie shown on their really nice theater. This was something I called and "confirmed" before showing up. When Aaron and I got there, we were shuffled into the second, "not-as-good" theater and just watched a DVD on a projection TV. You know, the DVD that I own. That I could watch at home. On my big screen TV. Not at midnight.

No matter. We made the choice to stay and it was still rather fun. I've talked before a couple times about how I like this movie, my history with it, so I won't rehash that here. But needless to say, this has been a long-time "go-to Saturday matinee" movie for me. It made into my "Rewatchable Film Festival" four and a half years ago and is a movie that I repeatedly find enjoyment out of no matter how many times I go back to it.

So since I had seen it so many times, I was actually able to enjoy the reactions of those around me. Now, I'm not one to really care about audience reaction, but this is such a quirky movie, that I really wondering how people would take to it. Even though I really like this movie, I'll be the first to admit that there are some nonsensical things that happen. But that adds to the charm for me and give the world flavor and texture. So I was worried that the movie showing might turn into a huge episode of MST3K with 50 people chiming in with jokes instead of just three guys. That wasn't the case though. The crowd really seemed to get into it and there was lots of appropriate laughter. Hopefully a new group of Buckaroo Banzai fans were born that night (although the girl sitting behind me and Aaron was probably not one of them).

All in all, a fun time even if it wasn't a print and was up past my bedtime.

This report on the movie also serves as my first entry into the League of Extraordinary Bloggers. Brian over at Cool and Collected has set up a fun little program were a bunch of bloggers all post about the same topic and share links to the other blogs. Great idea. This week's topic was your "go-to matinee." Great timing!

Check out some of the other blogs on this topic:

(Nerd) Lunch Special: Bulldogs Grill

2012-02-08T12:00:00.000-06:00

Bulldogs Grill is a local joint with two locations in my area of the Chicago ‘burbs. After some recent rave reviews on TV and one of my favorite food blogs, Burt’s, I quickly moved Bulldogs to the top of my fast food itinerary. Aside from Five Guys setting up shop in the area, the premium burger craze has been a trend that I’ve mostly missed over the last few years. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but when the line to order snaked out into the street at 7 PM on a Saturday night in the dead of winter, I knew Bulldogs was doing something right.

The formula at Bulldogs is pretty simple:

Premium ingredients with all the fat and sugar
Lots of specialty burgers with interesting toppings
BIG portions
The Asylum Wing and Bluto Burger Challenges that would be worthy of Adam Richman

Rather than diving into the deep end with one of the specialty burgers, I went with the conventional single burger, The Diner, so I could more easily compare it to my other favorite burgers. The Diner can be outfitted with mustard, ketchup, pickles, onion, etc. and at 1/2 pound is the smallest burger on the Bulldogs menu. To round out my meal, I got a small order of fries and a small vanilla shake. Yeah, all of the photos in this post are the smallest sized items on the menu.

The burger was fantastic; high quality beef and cooked on the griddle like the best hand-formed, pan fried burger I could make at home. The fries and shake were also quite good, though did not stand out as much as the burger. I think I may be spoiled from all the places in my area which serve fresh cut French fries and custard; it’s just hard to go wrong with those. The basics at Bulldogs were so good that I’m excited to try some of the more adventurous fare. For my next visit pencil me in for the Scarlet Johansson burger with cream cheese, jalapeños, and bacon with some fries cooked up in duck fat.

There are two downsides to food of this quality: it doesn’t come cheap nor quickly. In my review of the aforementioned Five Guys, I dinged them for their high prices and slow service though Bulldogs is just as pricey and slow. Somehow the prices and the fact that it took me 30 minutes to get a burger and some fries did not not bother me the same way as it did with Five Guys. It may be because Bulldogs is local rather than a chain or that it feels more like an event than a trip to a quick service restaurant. I’m not sure, but I won’t be deterred from future visits.

In short, Bulldogs is great eats. I fully intend to take my buddies there the next time they visit and if Nick from DudeFoods ever wanted to stop over on one of his Chicago visits, Bulldogs would be a worthy stop for a hossin’ blog crossover.

Nerd Lunch Podcast 23: Time Travel in Pop Culture

2012-02-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

We gotta get back in time! No, we’re not revisiting episode 2 about Back to the Future, but we are talking about some of the best and worst uses and methods of time travel in pop culture. Of course, Doc Brown and his DeLorean are mentioned, but we also dig up some gems like The Final Countdown and Timecop. In our Nerd To-Dos, we hear about Pax’s preparation for seeing Phantom Menace in 3D, find out why CT will soon be hanging out on the Banzai Institute Facebook page, and discuss a little news (gasp!) about the long rumored Star Wars TV show

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Nerd Breakfast

2012-02-06T08:10:00.000-06:00

I recently received a copy of The Great American Cereal Book to review from Abrams Books. Written by Marty Gitlin and Topher Ellis, this book is 368 pages full of cereal history. Ellis is a cereal expert and editor of a long-running cereal publication and that expertise shows in this book.

There is not much of a narrative in the book. There is a lot about the early days of cereal beginning in 1863, but the true impressive nature of the book comes in that it is a list of every American cereal produced and contains hundreds of pictures of actual product.

As a kid, I didn't get a lot of sugary cereals growing up, but I'm very familiar with them as I pined for them thanks to Saturday morning commercials trying to push them on me. In a way, I feel like looking through this book is like many of my trips to the grocery store with my family when I was in grade school. Oh, that cereal looks good! I wish I could try it. Sadly, much like the answer I got 25 years ago, the answer is no. But this time it's because a lot of these cereals are no longer in production.

Cereals are huge and there have been thousands of different types with hundreds of different franchises from Star Wars to Batman getting their own cereal. I have to admit that I was slightly blown away at just how much a part of American culture this stuff really is. This is a great book for anyone looking to walk down memory lane...or in this case, the memory cereal aisle.

Nerd Lunch Podcast 22: The Expendables Of Other Genres

2012-02-01T07:30:00.000-06:00

We steal from the playbooks of Sly Stallone and guest Aaron Nix this week by assembling our own superstar teams for movie genres. First up is a Western where we come up with a list of stars worthy of the obvious headliner Clint Eastwood. Then we put together a Rom Com cast which includes the “John Wayne of romantic comedies” and that should strike fear into boyfriends and husbands everywhere. In our Nerd To-Dos, we find out which nerd has a gold Yoda Pepsi can in his collection and hear Pax’s review of the dreck that is Transformers 3 (Hey kids, can you guess who’s writing this episode description?).

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88 Days

2012-01-31T21:45:00.001-06:00

Now into double digits, the end is within arm's reach. Too bad I don't have a time travelin' Delorean where I can drive 88 mph and skip ahead to the end. I am looking forward to breaking out my Back to the Future Blu-rays again and watching this phenomenal trilogy all over again.

The Marvels and the DCs, part 4

2012-01-27T11:00:00.000-06:00

ATOMIC EDITION!

A few weeks ago, I offered to send post cards to readers of this blog. All I asked in return was that you would send me back a picture with you and your card. Today, I feature three more who have done just that. Today's post features two of the four Atomic Geeks and another fine fellow I've met because of the Geeks.

Christian sent in two pictures. I debated trying to just run the one with his daughter and cropping him out but decided against that. Christian can be briefly heard on the tenth episode of the Nerd Lunch Podcast.

Michael "DiGio" DiGiovanni has professed to be a huge fan of Green Lantern on the podcast so a GL card was a must for him. DiGio can be heard on...oh wait...that hasn't happened yet...

Chris Lockhart is a fellow fan of the Atomic Geeks and has also been listening to the Nerd Lunch podcast quite a bit as well. He's a huge Star Trek fan as well. He's had the opportunity to meet a couple of my favorite Trek actors and you can read more about him and his encounters with those celebrities here.

Nerd Lunch Podcast 21: Comic Book Scenarios

2012-01-25T07:47:00.001-06:00

While Jeeg is off jet setting overseas, Pax and CT take advantage and welcome Vanessa and Erika from Girls Gone Geek to discuss "comic book scenarios." The podcasting crew discuss super powers, sidekicks, and which characters should be killed and stay dead. Plus, one member's "Nerd To-Do" reveals a desire to finally do some Black Canary cosplay. No...it's not CT's to-do, but just saying that paints a picture you'll never get rid of. You're welcome, Internet.

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Countdown to Avengers: Before the Avengers Initiative

2012-01-20T11:30:00.000-06:00

Most nerds would agree that in the current state of comic book movies, Marvel is outshining DC. Since Blade in 1998, a surprisingly decent film, Marvel has slowly but surely overtaken and far surpassed DC in terms of overall quality and scope with their properties on the silver screen. This is all culminating in one of the largest, most grandiose film experiments ever--The Avengers.

But before 1998, Marvel was a laughing stock. Especially because every other month, Stan Lee was bragging about how some character was going to be appearing in a movie soon. These announcements were hard to believe because they rarely happened. And when they did happen, they were less than stellar. Many of the characters that we have slowly met again for the first time during the last five years appeared in live action form before.

Captain America Serial (1944)

I have to admit that I have not seen this in its entirety. While I like old serials, this one is not high on my list to check out due to the changes it made from the comic series. Cap is not Steve Rogers, a soldier but rather Grant Gardner, a DA, who fights mob crime instead of Nazis. The costume is moderately faithful to the comic, but he does not use his shield. There is a sequence in 2011's Captain America film that is a throwback to old serials, but beyond that scene, this 1944 production cannot have inspired much of what is being produced today.

Incredible Hulk TV Series (1978)

Kenneth Johnson was fairly irreverent when it came to the comic books and producing this show. He admitted to wanting to change the color of the Hulk in the show to red, he changed the name of the main character to David (from Bruce), and dropped the idea of having the Hulk ever talk. These departures from the comic worked in the context of the show, but it is ironic is that the 2008 (Ed Norton) and 2012 (Mark Ruffalo) versions of the character both admit to using Bill Bixby's interpretation as an inspiration. In fact, Ruffalo has even said that the show was a huge inspiration to himself and director Joss Whedon with Banner being more of a hero and focusing less on the cure. The show's theme shows up in 2008's Incredible Hulk. There are also little homages to the show such as seeing a Bill Bixby show on a television, a Lou Ferrigno cameo, and a letter addressed to "David B." intended for Bruce Banner. It is clear that this show makes up the DNA of the modern-day Avengers movie.

Captain America (1979) and Captain America II: Death Too Soon (1979)

Oh boy. Of everything on the list, this may be some of the most unwatchable material ever produced. Starring the second worst actor in the history of Hollywood, Reb Brown, this movie was yet again a departure from the comics. Steve Rogers was a soldier, but he was done fighting and wanted to travel the country painting pictures of nature. Then he gets involved with a scientist friend of his late father who revealed that Steve had a unique body chemistry that could benefit from a super steroid. Steve rejects it until he has an accident and it saves his life. The reluctant hero, Steve dons a Captain America costume and has to stop terrorists with a bomb. This had some of the worst dialogue and acting ever. Cap's first outfit in the movies was a departure from his comic outfit but he eventually changed to one that was closer. He did have his shield, but it was large, clunky, and obviously plastic. Hopefully the Avengers folks stayed away from this one in their research.

The Incredible Hulk Returns (1988)

Of all on this list, this is the closest we come to a live action Avengers in that it is the only time we have two Avengers team up in live action form before 2012. In a made-for-TV reunion movie of the original series, David Banner is found by Donald Blake who was a medical doctor on a Norse expedition. He found Thor's hammer and is able yell "ODIN" and Thor appears. Thor and Hulk team up to fight bad guys and save David's girlfriend. There are a couple of nice bits in the movie, but it mostly plays as mediocre episode of the TV series combined with being a pilot for a proposed Thor TV series. In a setting that was largely intended on not being "comic bookish," this was a bit of a stretch. Thor was little like his comic counterpart although there are a few moments from the 2011 Thor movie that I felt like were throwbacks to this. Both have scenes in bars, and in both, Thor is a bit of a destructive fish out of water. I doubt they did those things on purpose, but it is worth noting.

Death of the Incredible Hulk (1990)

The final reunion movie for the Bill Bixby Hulk series did not feature a comic book team up like the previous two (Daredevil in the second one), but did feature a Russian spy that many have thought was derivative of Black Widow. She does have some similarities, but I don't buy it. I only bring this movie up due to those comparisons and her character's appearance in the upcoming Avengers movie.

Captain America (1990)

Maybe the third time's a charm? Nah... This movie was only released in the theater internationally and went direct-to-video in the US. It gets closer to being comic book accurate, but still misses many of the details. Cap is Steve Rogers, is a weak guy who is chosen to receive the super soldier serum, and just after receiving those abilities a spy kills the scientists involved meaning it can never be replicated. There is an added bit that the scientist responsible for Cap was also responsible for the Red Skull which was a piece used in the 2011 film. The origin is knocked out in 20 minutes but much of the movie takes place after he wakes up in 1990 rather than in WWII. He hardly spends any of the movie in his native time at all. There are a couple of okay bits, but again, this is a miss.

Nick Fury: Agent of Shield (1998)

It has been a while since I watched this so my recollection of it is hazy. The important points worth mentioning are that David Hasselhoff plays Nick Fury (this is before the Ultimate Universe made Nick a black guy that looks like Sam Jackson) and Hydra is the main opponent. A reasonable attempt at telling a Nick Fury story. The Hoff does a surprisingly decent job in the role, though he's still the Hoff playing Nick Fury. There are a lot of pieces that are faithful to the comic, but it's just a big spy/action story. Not a whole lot to use as inspiration here for the modern-day Nick Fury character who has, thus far, been less hands on.

The Hulk (2003)

An odd movie, this Hulk film is more artistic in nature and has a narrative that is all over the place. More faithful to the comics than the TV show, this movie brings in Betty Ross, Thunderbolt Ross, and gives us a "Hulk versus the Army" chase scene that is quite epic in scale. Ultimately, Eric Bana's portrayal of Banner lacks heroism and isn't as a sympathetic character as he is maybe intended to be. The worst part of the movie is the weird final fight in which Hulk fights his dad who is now essentially the Absorbing Man. There is a giant gamma cloud thing and then the Hulk disappears only to reappear in another part of the world. In 2008, many thought it was too soon for a reboot, but I welcomed it as this movie was a mess. I did like the supporting cast, but William Hurt and Liv Tyler did fine jobs in their roles as the replacements.

With this, we begin a blog crossover with To the Escape Hatch that is counting down to the Avengers film in May. Over the next few months, we'll revisit the five films leading up to the Avengers, look at some extra stuff, speculate about where it is all going, and eventually end with a giant review of the film.

Nerd Lunch Podcast 20: Movie Sequels

2012-01-19T10:56:00.001-06:00

The Nerd Lunch crew is back together with Robert Zerbe for a bigger, louder, and uncut episode. After hearing about the latest happenings at To The Escape Hatch, we dive into movie sequels. We discuss what makes a good sequel, debate the differences between movie series and sequels, give our favorites and least favorites, and propose our own sequels for movies that don’t yet have any. In this week’s Nerd To-Do List, we offer a heaping helping of British TV and Pax provides an update on the Star Trek/Quantum Leap fanfic story mentioned in episode 18.

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A couple of notes about Burger King…

2012-01-17T07:56:00.000-06:00

Last fall, we got a pretty decent coupon for Burger King. For one cent less than $10, we got:

1 Whopper
1 Whopper, Jr.
10 piece chicken tenders
3 small fries
3 small drinks
2 pies

Pretty good deal that fed our family quite nicely. After the coupon expired, they brought it back as a regular promotion but changed a few of the items. They dropped the chicken, pies, one of the fries, and one of the drinks and replaced them with a kid's meal. Not horrible bad trade. That would have still worked for us although we might have had to supplement a little bit. And by not getting pies, it would have meant no one fought about pies.

I don't think this promotion is going on right now, but let me belatedly applaud BK for this promotion. Jeeg mentioned on the podcast a few weeks ago about the dwindling fast food deals like this. I like the idea of buying a big sack of food and feeding my entire family for around $10. It's why we go to Taco Bell so often.

The only downside is the fries. While I like Whoppers and their inexplicably good chicken sandwich, I've not ever been a big fan of their fries. BK has changed out their fries recently for a thicker cut. I was hoping this would translate to a new flavor, but it's just a thicker version of the same-tastin' fries. If you're stuck paying full price for a side at BK, I still recommend going with the onion rings.

Perhaps next time I post about Burger King, I will be reviewing what I think of their delivery service.

Green Walrus

2012-01-13T11:30:00.000-06:00

I think it was around 1990 when I remember reading news of a Green Lantern movie that was in production. Being that he has long been one of my favorite comic book characters, I was excited for such a project. Needless to say, that movie either had a long development time or that exact project failed to happen. It would be 21 years before I would see Green Lantern realized in big-screen live action form. Never would I have thought that a movie about Thor would eclipse a movie about Green Lantern, but it did. Although it was probably better than the film I would have gotten had they made a Green Lantern movie in 1990, this is not the film I have waited 21 years to see.

Story:
The basic origin story was fairly faithful to the comic book but did take some slight deviations. Also, with DC it's hard to know what is "faithful" to the comic anymore. Green Lantern has probably had three major tellings of his origins over the 50 or so years he's been around. This was probably pretty faithful to the most recent one. That aside, the story suffered from forcing the themes down the viewers throats rather than letting them see them displayed through the actions of the characters.

It also read as DC's attempt to make a Marvel movie. That's an understandable thing right now given that Marvel movies are rocking the super hero movie world right now. But DC and Marvel characters are different from each other. Marvel origins are very much about redemption and humanity. The characters in Marvel start at a low point and must take on their heroism to redeem themselves. This is not the template for a DC character. Most DC characters are naturally good people who are granted powers for who they are already rather than what they can become. I found it very hard to believe that the ring chose this guy out of the 7 billion people in the world.

I did find Sinestro to be an interesting character and wished there had been more interaction between him and Hal Jordan. This was a prominent part of one of the recent DC Universe animated movies and makes the eventual turn of Sinestro mean so much more. It would be akin to not giving Batman much time with Harvey Dent before his turn to Two-Face.

Presentation:
The biggest issue with this movie was casting. I don't mind Ryan Reynolds, but Hal Jordan he is not. I could see him as a wise-cracking Wally West or he was okay as Deadpool, but something about him seemed off as Hal Jordan. He was too aloof and really a big jerk. He's not the only casting problem. Blake Lively really doesn't live up to her name with her cardboard acting and lack of chemistry with the lead. I didn't buy her as an aspiring entrepreneur nor as a friend of Hal Jordan's.

The effects weren't bad, but I do question the need to change the classic costume from the comic book version. The Gil Kane-designed outfit is one of the greatest costumes in comics. It's a shame that we still have not seen it truly realized on screen.

STORY

PRESENTATION

REWATCHABLE

Nerd Lunch Podcast 19: Drill Down on Soda

2012-01-12T11:30:00.000-06:00

Podcast regular Shawn Robare occupies the fourth chair for a discussion of sodas, pops, fizzy drinks, cokes, or whatever you might call them. We kick around our favorite and most hated carbonated beverages, wade into the cola wars, and talk about ill conceived soda disasters. Crystal Pepsi, anyone? Plus in the Nerd To-Do List, we finally get an Earthworm Jim reference and CT's review of the Green Lantern movie. (Full-length blog review of the Green Lantern movie coming tomorrow!)

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(Nerd) Lunch Special: Cheerwine

2012-01-10T07:55:00.001-06:00

Usually on Tuesdays we are announcing a new episode of our podcast, but this week's episode will be delayed by one day. We will be doing another Drill Down and this time we will be talking about sodas. It's a good one and I'm looking forward to sharing it with our Nerd Lunchketeers.

In the meantime, I wanted to bring up a soda that I neglected to mention on tomorrow's episode. This is a "new to me" soda called Cheerwine. Cheerwine has been around for 95 years, but hasn't been widely distributed until recently. It is finally available in Tallahassee and signs like the one above can be seen around town announcing it. I guess it's a legend, but it has been completely off my radar until this past Fall.

To see what was so legendary, I picked up a two liter and gave it a try. In essence, this is Dr. Pepper turned up to 11 and then turned up some more. It has a strong cherry flavor. Some might argue that it's a cherry-infused cola, but I would argue that it's a cola-infused cherry soda. I didn't hate it, but it's so strong that I can't see picking this up again.

What about you? Have you had this legendary drink? What were your thoughts?

The Marvels and the DCs, part 3

2012-01-07T11:30:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, I offered to send post cards to readers of this blog. All I asked in return was that you would send me back a picture with you and your card. Today, I feature three more who have done just that.

[Note: I do have some remaining cards. Email me if you are interested in one. No guarantee that you'll get the company that you want at this point.]

Jack is one of our favorite readers of this blog and stumbled upon us a little over a year ago. Since then, he's been one of our biggest commenters and always offers insights and encouragement to us. Being that he served in the Navy, I sent him a Sub-mariner card. You can find Jack over at Jack's Hideout.

I met MonkeyJedi through Twitter. He runs a blog/review site over at http://geekhash.blogspot.com. Definitely worth checking out. Lots of great tips for things to check out and even ways of landing some of those things on the cheap.

What is there to say about Rob? Absolutely nothing. But I'll try anyway. I found Rob through Twitter via Marvel's Senior Art Director Jeff Suter. We were both listed in a "Follow Friday" one day and I decided to see what this @Spidey004 guy was all about. And I have never regretted an action in my life more. In all seriousness, he's hilarious and it is my secret hope to have him on our podcast some day.

Nerd Lunch Podcast 18: Fan Fiction Reviews

2012-01-03T07:30:00.000-06:00

Jay from The Sexy Armpit returns to our guest chair to kick off a new year of the podcast. Jay joins Pax, Jeeg, and CT in an exploration of the terrifying majesty that is FanFiction.net. After coming to grips with the site, each of us selects a fan fiction story for a favorite property, does our best to actually read it, and offers up a review. If you ever wanted to know who wears the pants in Hordak's Horde family or were curious about Amy Allen's dating life, this is the episode for you.

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Nerd Lunch 2011 Year in Review

2011-12-29T11:30:00.000-06:00

This year has been a big year for Nerd Lunch and I want to reflect on it and maybe brag a bit about what we did in 2011.

Almost right out of the gate, we launched the short-lived, but much loved "Nerd Lunch: The Web Series." This was quite a departure from the blog and featured me co-hosting with Savannah Staverosky, another local blogger. Each episode ran about 11 minutes in length and featured a look at a "nerdy" thing in and a food-centric thing in Tallahassee. We connected with a comic book artist, battle gamers, local geek bloggers, local food bloggers, and various eating establishments. We had a great time doing it, but ultimately it was too much of a challenge to keep it going with all that we had going on. So we said farewell over the summer to the chance of doing anymore and ended by recording commentary tracks for each of the episodes.

Meanwhile, our next "outside of the blog" venture would be percolating in the background. I had guested on The Atomic Geeks podcast in September of 2010. It was fun joining them and I guess they felt the same because they asked me to come back and even host one of their episodes in June of this year. Shortly after that (knowing that Nerd Lunch: The Web Series was concluding), I approached the Geeks about the Nerd Lunch crew starting up a podcast of our own and doing it under their banner. They agreed and we began making plans for that.

Meanwhile, Nerd Lunch had our first "blog crossover" with Paxton Holley from the Cavalcade of Awesome. Pax and I met up at the Tallahassee Auto Museum and blogged for a week about the activities of the day. It was during our day together that I realized Pax would be a good fit for joining us on the show. He said he was open to the idea and we spent the summer discussing ideas for it and nailing down our format.

Meanwhile, DC Comics announced that they were rebooting their entire line of comics. This inspired a whole series of blog posts about that and even inspired another Nerd Lunch Challenge. This time, we were each tasked with rebooting an existing property and talking about how we would tweak it for modern audiences.

I made a road trip back to Illinois and did a series of posts about that trip which ended with a rundown of the food I had eaten on the trip. There you can see a somewhat obscured photo of the Nerd Lunch blogging crew.

After my return, we began finalizing details for recording a pilot episode of the Nerd Lunch Podcast. Unfortunately, PLee made it known that he would be unable to join us and our (thus far unaired) pilot only had Jeeg, Pax, and myself. It went well and and our next recording became the first episode of 17 episodes we produced in 2011. It has been a blast and because of our "rotating fourth chair," we have gotten the chance to connect with some great people this year:

Speaking of connecting, I offered to mail out post cards to our readers (and I still have a small number of cards left if you are interested) and we have begun featuring pictures of the recipients of the post cards and will continue to post pictures into 2012.

As if we didn't have enough excitement in 2011, we let our wives run the blog for a few days during the "Nerd Lunch Wives" series. This was great and seemed to get a lot of great feedback.

There were lots of other fun posts this year including my defense of Batman & Robin, my concern about the Muppets and subsequent glowing Muppet review, talk about drinks and hossin', and a grad school countdown series that began and will end in April of 2012. Also coming in 2012, is another blog series and crossover as we look forward to the coming Avengers movie.

So I think 2011 was a great year for Nerd Lunch and I look forward to 2012 as we hit our five year mark in June and 500th post soon. Thank again to all who stop by and read our posts. We hope you have a wonderful 2012. Keep on, nerdin' on!

Nerd Lunch Podcast 17: List Busters!

2011-12-27T09:00:00.000-06:00

Lists have become the one of the Internet's favorite ways to cook up easy content and generate views. They're also one of our favorite ways to cook up easy episodes and generate downloads. In this week's episode we turn our critical eyes to a list of the top 25 sci-fi movies and tear it to shreds... or do we? In hindsight we probably should have decided what it meant to bust a list before we started.

Also, please note that if you downloaded this episode already and the runtime was only 65 minutes, you'll need to delete that file and redownload. This one is a doozy coming in at a whopping 94 minutes! Also know that the Nerd Lunch staffer responsible for the error has been appropriately reprimanded (i.e. forced to watch the Star Wars Holiday Special for 24 hours straight).

Happy Holidays!

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(Nerd) Lunch Special: Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy Burgers and The W

2011-12-22T15:00:00.000-06:00

Note from Jeeg: The terms of use on Wendy’s web site actually forbid people from linking to it, so you’ll have to Google anything of interest yourself this time around. Maybe our friends at Wendy’s will see this and realize that it’s a bit weird to encourage people to Tweet or post about your product on Facebook while also prohibiting them from linking to your site.

Recent road trips afforded me some great excuses to eat fast food along the highways and biways, including a couple stops at Wendy’s. Rather than my usual value menu purchases, I decided to indulge in their newly released premium burgers. Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy Burgers are reboots of the Classic Single, Double, and Triple cheeseburgers with thicker beef patties and premium toppings. The “W” is a smaller double cheeseburger (akin to the Double Stack) with the same new toppings and a special sauce. The new sandwiches were rolled out in November in what has to be an effort to move a bit upmarket where players like Five Guys are making hay.

The Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy Single I had was very tasty, but not much different than a Classic Single. I did like the red onion and thick cut pickles, but it’s a bit of an overstatement to call them premium toppings. The lettuce and tomato were just average fast food quality (CT would say “quick service” quality) . While the lettuce and tomato wouldn’t be mistaken for In-N-Out Burger, the packaging might. For dine in orders, the classic wrapper is gone and the burger is presented vertically in an open face box.

The “W” appears targeted at the budget between the value menu and full sized sandwiches. It features the smaller 1/8 lb beef patties used on the value menu burgers, the toppings of the mainline sandwiches, and is priced at $3. Beyond the Goldilocks position on the menu, the special sauce is the distinguishing factor for The “W”. Wendy’s special sauce, just like the Big Mac special sauce or In-N-Out Spread, is similar to Thousand Island dressing. I’m a fan of Thousand Island, but I thought the Wendy’s special sauce was too sweet and overpowered the burger’s other toppings. It wasn’t bad, but I will probably stick with a Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy or Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers next time.

Much like the revamped fries at Wendy’s, the updated sandwiches are move evolutionary than I thought they would be and feel quite familiar. That’s a good thing, in my opinion, since Wendy’s has always had one of the better burgers of the national chains. The tweaked recipes may not win over many converts, but luckily for Wendy’s fans they also didn’t fix what wasn’t broken.

Nerd Lunch Podcast 16: The Trial of Michael Bay

2011-12-20T08:22:00.000-06:00

Director Michael Bay stands accused of crimes against movie going audiences everywhere. Arguing the case for the prosecution is Jeeg, leading Bay's defense is CT, acting as star witness is Jeremy of Geekchunks.com, and presiding over our podcast courtroom is the honorable Judge Paxton Holley. Find out if Transformers, Bad Boys, Pearl Harbor, and the rest warrant keeping Bay off the streets and out of the director's chair. To paraphrase the late Johnnie Cochran (well, not really), "if the earbuds fit, you must listen to this."

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Nerd Lunch Podcast 15: Brilliant but Canceled

2011-12-14T16:03:00.001-06:00

Our original idea for Episode 15 was a great one, but it was shelved. Instead our old pal Fitz from Episode 8 returns to talk about great TV shows that were axed too soon. Of course Firefly and Arrested Development come up, but we delve into an interesting selection of other shows including nerd favorites Veronica Mars, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., and Cleopatra 2525 (huh?). Grab this episode now before the suits at The Atomic Geeks Podcasting Network get wind of our ratings.

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141 Days

2011-12-09T11:00:00.000-06:00

I discovered The Atomic Geeks in July of 2009, just before I began my Master's degree program. It has been a stressful past two and a half years with school on top of everything, but the weekly podcasts by those guys up in Canada have helped get me through it more than they realize. And they inspired the creation of our very own Nerd Lunch Podcast. Recently podcast member, Mike Downs, was kind enough to actually give me some assistance on a project I was working on for one of my classes. This week marked episode 141 and I even got to cameo on it. As I continued this countdown, I wanted to be sure to give those guys a shout out.

The Marvels and the DCs, part 2

2011-12-08T11:00:00.000-06:00

The "Are You a Marvel or DC" post card fun will be coming to a close soon. I have one DC card left up for grabs and four Marvel cards, only one of which is any good. Please email me at ct [AT SYMBOL] nerdlunch.net if you want one.

In the meantime, here are three more fans who sent in pictures. Last time we had all DCs. Today, we have all Marvels.

Cordy was nice enough to join us for episode 6 of the Nerd Lunch Podcast and before that, wrote some blog posts for us. Cordy and our fellow blogger, PLee were pals in college. In this picture, I sort of worry that Cordy might possibly be Galactus without the giant head gear.

Vince is a huge fan of dental care and facial hair. I had the pleasure of meeting Vince in person almost a year ago. We had a little gag planned for episode 1 of Nerd Lunch: The Web Series where Savannah was going to fall into the comic art and interact with the characters. One of the characters is actually based on Vince and he met up with me to record the audio for that never to be completed scene.

I'm pretty sure Mike is a friend of our buddy Pax. He also likes to hold tacos hostage if they don't meet his demands for more pictures of Iron Man. Fortunately for Taco Girl, my post card arrived just in time.

(Nerd) Lunch Special: Red, White and Dew!

2011-12-07T11:00:00.000-06:00

On two previous occasions I have mentioned this idea and today...today, I finally tried it.

A few months back, I purchased the Dunkin Donuts "Thirst Avenger" (aka Captain America Tri-Cup Coolatta) and said that I needed to come up with new things to do with the somewhat awkward cup. One idea I had was to make a Red, White, and Dew
which combined the Mountain Dew Code Red, Mountain Dew White Out and the Mountain Dew Voltage flavors into the cup. For months, my cup has been taunting me and after finally publicly declaring that this was on my "Nerd To-Do" list during episode 12 of the Nerd Lunch Podcast, I made it happen.

When it comes to Mountain Dew, nothing beats the real thing. I don't think I will ever get tired of it. For a change of pace, I do enjoy Code Red quite a bit. Voltage and White Out aren't flavors I would go out of my way for all of the time, but are fun flavors and contributed to making this a beverage any red-blooded American should be proud to drink.

Nerd Lunch Podcast 14: Drill Down--Star Wars Holiday Special

2011-12-06T07:58:00.000-06:00

Access Hollywood's Ultimate Star Wars Fan, Jason Collier, accompanies us to Kashyyyk for our first (and last?) annual Life Day celebration. Rather than invoke our rights under the Geneva Convention, we endure the Star Wars Holiday Special for you. Harvey Korman's bad comedy, Carrie Fisher's singing, and Chewbacca's dad's "special time" with Diahann Carroll only scratch the surface of this TV disaster. Listen and find out why George Lucas wanted to smash every copy of the special with a sledgehammer and why each of us would gladly drive him to Home Depot to buy a sledgehammer.

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CT Reviews The Muppets

2011-12-05T11:00:00.000-06:00

I can admit that I was wrong. And I was on some things, perhaps not on others. (Light spoilers for "The Muppets" ahead.)

I recently detailed a whole blog post where I explained why I was not excited about the new Muppets movie. I knew there would be a day where I would revisit that post. That day is now.

To refresh your memory, I stated:

For me the Muppets begin and end with Jim Henson.

Subsequently, this post was found by a Muppets forum member and ridiculed for having that outlook. And in discussing that post with said forum member, I hit on a couple of points of personal Muppet reflection.

1. That's really not an accurate statement. I've stuck with the Muppets since 1990. I was there for when they aired "The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson." I still have the VHS copy when I taped it. I saw every post-Henson movie in the theater. I watched numerous TV specials and a good portion of Muppets Tonight. The Muppets didn't end with the death of Jim Henson. There's some decent post-Henson stuff. And while my previous post alludes to that, I do think that blanket statement was unfair to the group who have carried on. What is important to note is that while there has been some decent stuff, a lot of it has been disappointing and missed the mark of what Henson and the other original performers did.

2. With my lack of excitement for the new Muppets movie due to the disappointing direction of the past 20 years, I began to question if I was really a "Muppets" fan. Perhaps I wasn't but rather a fan of the work of Henson, Oz, Nelson, Goelz, Hunt, and all the others. I was really questioning whether or not it was me or the Muppets that had gone wrong.

Since "The Muppets" came out, I have heard almost nothing but good about it. Then I began listening to the soundtrack on Spotify and was really impressed with the Bret McKenzie-produced songs. So, now I had to know for myself. Not only that, but I have seen every Muppet movie in the theater. Does that matter? No, not really, but suddenly it seemed to. So I took my daughter and we checked it out.

Fortunately for my daughter, I have been adamant about exposing her to the Muppets of my youth. So she has seen several episodes of The Muppet Show and all of the Muppet movies. This meant that she was able to get several of the site gags and have a good appreciation for what they were doing. And it did my heart proud when a photograph of Jim Henson flashed on the screen and she exclaimed, "There's Jim Henson!" The man passed away 14 years before she was born and she was so excited to see him.

As for me…I loved it. This movie got so many things right that have been wrong for the past 20 years. For one, the emphasis of this movie was placed back on Kermit. Gonzo had been the star of the previous three theatrical movies. Here, Gonzo's role was back to that of crazy supporting character. Fozzie was also given something to do and acted like Fozzie for the first time in probably 15 years. Also greatly reduced were the amount of post-Henson characters. Pepe's role was virtually nonexistent. Johnny Fiama and Dr. Van Neuter weren't anywhere. Bobo the bear had the largest role of that group of Muppets Tonight generation characters and even it wasn't huge.

In fact, this movie was all about the era of the Muppets from 1976 to 1982. The movie is a love letter to The Muppet Show and when they redid the opening of the Muppet Show, I nearly got chills. The message of the movie harkened back to The Muppet Movie and its style of humor. The interaction between the characters was right. It didn't feel weighted down with forced humor. It had the right level of oddball, quirky, and irreverent humor that made the Muppets who they are.

I'm not going to say it was a perfect movie, but it was pretty close and evoked the emotional response they were going for, even from me. I think it's biggest flaw goes back to when I said in my previous post that this movie was nothing new. It's not. The plot of "The Muppets" heavily borrows from "It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie." In fact, some of the similarities are astoundingly similar.* Although, it's also worth noting that "It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie" borrows plot elements from episode 205 of "The Muppet Show."

"The Muppets" also borrows from "Muppets Takes Manhattan" and incorporates elements of "Muppets From Space" and "The Muppet Movie." Some of those were homages, while other things were rehashes of stuff we've seen before. This wasn't horribly bothersome as these rehashes were done well and freshened up.

Another slight weakness of the movie was that "The Muppets" also disavows the existence of a certain amount of post-Henson stuff, although it's uncertain exactly what was disavowed. The conceit of the movie is that perhaps the Muppets did end with Jim Henson, which again, as I mentioned earlier is unfair to the body of Muppets work from the past 20 years.

As one final note…us Gen X'ers grew up with a movie and property that told us to believe in our dreams and inspired us to go out and live those dreams. Successful or not, I do feel I continually am inspired to try to live my dreams. "The Muppet Movie" would have you believe that dreams are enough. "The Muppets" poignantly places the spotlight back on what is important. Even if it isn't the most original plot, it is a true thematic sequel to "The Muppet Movie."

Well done. I am a Muppets fan after all.

PS…ATTENTION ANYONE FROM DISNEY WHO READS THIS BLOG: Let me say again (and I think I'll end every single post about the Muppets this way from now on), when "The Muppets" comes out on Blu-ray, it better be in tandem with "The Muppet Movie" on Blu-ray and at least the long, long, long-awaited season four of "The Muppet Show" on DVD. Let's move on this Disney! Come on!

* Some of the similarities between "Very Merry" and "The Muppets" [BIGGER SPOILERS!!!]

In "Very Merry," Joan Cusack plays Rachel Bitterman who wants to tear the Muppet Theater down. In "The Muppets," Chris Cooper plays Tex Richman who wants to tear the Muppet Theater down.
In "Very Merry," Kermit must be reminded of the importance of the relationships over that of the theater. In "The Muppets," Kermit goes on the same journey.
In "Very Merry," Kermit wishes he was never born and sees what several of the characters are like in a world without Kermit. Among the characters are darker version of Scooter, Sam the Eagle, Bunsen Honeydew, and Beaker. In "The Muppets," Fozzie has hooked up with a group of Muppet knock-offs called "The Moopets" who are essentially darker versions of the Muppets.
The only thing that can save the theater in both movies is a big show. Both movies contain practice sequences and even more similarly, scenes were Kermit is making calls to celebrities looking for a host for the show.
Piggy must be talked into coming back to the show in both movies.
Both villains have Muppet sidekicks who turn on them, Pepe in "Very Merry" and Deadly (and Bobo) in "The Muppets."
Both movies have Whoopi Goldberg

Nerd Lunch Wives: What Makes a Good Nerd Wife?

2011-12-02T11:30:00.000-06:00

And so this series of posts written by the Nerd Lunch Wives comes to a close. An impressive series to be sure. My fear now is that they are going to go off and start their own blog that will put ours to shame. Or maybe instead, we can entice them to grace us with their presence again someday. For now, enjoy this final post in the series by the lovely Mrs. CT. -- CT

My favorite shows are Farscape and Firefly. I've seen every episode of ST:TNG, DS9, B5, Buffy, Angel, BSG and Red Dwarf. I heart Matt Smith (but David Tennant is a close second). I've read hundreds of comics. For our most recent anniversary I suggested going to see X-Men: First Class and really enjoyed it. Is it because I'm a nerd? Not really (well, maybe a little). Mainly it's because I'm a good -- dare I say, excellent -- nerd wife.

What makes a good nerd wife??

First, let me say that I've grown into my role. Fifteen-year-old Janay was NOT interested in Sci-Fi. At. All. But she was very interested in CT. When he asked me if I wanted to read his comics I thought, sure, why not? I cared more about impressing him than what my friends might think of me. Now that I reflect on it, I'm pretty impressed with my younger self. I was already showing signs of the most important part of being a good nerd wife -- respect his interests.

Now, you don't have to love everything your nerd is into, but you certainly shouldn't belittle it. Let him be himself. There is no reason for him to be ashamed, embarrassed or need to hide his nerdy interests from you, and no reason for you to have those feelings about him. He needs to be free to pursue what he likes.

Beyond respect for his interests, what your nerdy husband wants is a friend that comes along side him. And that friend should be you! Sit and watch the movies and TV shows he watches. Tag along on shopping excursions when he's hunting for action figures. Attend at least one convention. Wear a Wonder Woman shirt, but no need to invest in a Wonder Woman costume. (Well, unless he wants you to.)

Sometimes he wants you beside him, other times he wants to be with his buddies. Give him time to hang out with his friends (whether in person or virtually through the internet) WITHOUT feeling guilty. There was a time period in our lives recently where EVERYTHING was a challenge (work, grad school, baby) and the nerd stuff was one of the only thing that gave him an outlet and brought him joy. How could I not let him spend free time pursuing his likes?

So how does this work for me? Well, thankfully in the Venn diagram of our movie/TV interests there is a huge overlap, so I can easily be his couch buddy. I show interest and make conversation. I read the blog, I listen to the podcasts. I click "like" on facebook. But I don't comment on everything, I certainly don't want to be obnoxious!

I'm not the biggest twitter user, but I do follow several of the nerds/geeks that CT has gotten to know. I don't chime in, but I can (mostly) follow their conversations and be somewhat knowledgeable later in the day when CT recounts his funny twitter moments. Girls, if you want to have long conversations with your husband you have to know something about his interests!

If he wants to host a comic book convention in your house, dress up the kids and play the part of an annoyed wife. It's not that difficult! :)

If he wants to produce a web series, don't get in a huff when he finds a *perfect* co-host (and it's not you). Let him soar with a new project and do your part to support him behind the scenes.

Listen. Try your hardest to care about every single new G.I. Joe purchased. But don't feel guilty if you can't keep up with the names or how many variations of Snake Eyes he owns... I mean seriously, COME ON!

What are the benefits of being a good nerd wife? Well, when you spread your horizons you just might discover you actually *like* some of it. You'll energize your husband by caring about his interests and in turn, he just might care about yours. If you don't criticize or analyze how he spends his blow money, then he might not care how much fabric you buy. If you read his blog, he just might read yours. And if you tell him what you like about his most recent podcast, he just might smile at you when you show him your most recent embroidery project. Hey, he may even ask you to make awesome gifts for crazy people you don't even know and all of a sudden babies in Canada are wearing your custom creations. There's no telling what can happen when you let your nerd just be a nerd. Give it a try!

Nerd Lunch Wives: Married to a Nerd

2011-12-01T11:30:00.000-06:00

Continuing on with our Nerd Lunch Wives series, we asked Mrs. Holley, wife of our podcasting partner Paxton Holley, if she would like to participate. She jumped at the chance. Here is her submission.

Someone recently asked me, “So, what is it like being married to a nerd?” Hmmm, interesting question! When I hear the word nerd, I imagine a weird guy with greasy hair and tape on the rim of his glasses who carries his pens in a pocket protector and snorts when he laughs. Were they asking me because they think Pax fits this description or is it because he likes Star Wars and Star Trek? Or maybe it is because he is a computer guy? To fully answer this let’s consider what a nerd truly is. According to Merriam-Webster, a nerd is defined as “an unstylish, unattractive or socially inept person; especially: one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits.”

I had a friend in college who often told me that her boyfriend had a friend who was perfect for me. I was flattered and promptly told her to set us up! Her response was always the same, “you’re not ready yet.” What did that mean? Well, I think she meant that he wasn’t my type. I was attracted to the outgoing, fun party guys.

When Pax and I finally met, we totally hit it off! We discovered our mutual love of movies, movie trivia, and that we could finish each other’s random movie quotes. We also realized that we have the same varied taste in music and found the same things funny. He was also very witty; I love
when someone can verbally spar with me! Needless to say, we started dating, got engaged and then married. That was 10 years ago this past August.

I will say that when I first met my husband he had absolutely NO fashion sense! He loved (and I’m afraid still does) t-shirts with words on them. He had an amazing Star Wars collection that included a hideous bomber jacket with Darth Maul’s face on it. He owned 50 pairs of jeans and maybe 2 pairs of khakis. I’m proud to say that in our years together his t-shirt collection has shrunk while his polo shirt collection has grown. He’s also replaced his Darth Maul jacket with a grey pea coat, and he owns several more pairs of khakis. That being said, he’s pretty stylish now.

Even though beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, Pax is far from unattractive. He is a great looking guy. He has beautiful eyes and I love his hair and smile. Unattractive he is certainly not.

My husband is very reserved and can be shy at times. I am definitely the social butterfly in the relationship. He is also very thoughtful. For example, when he’s asked a question he thinks a really long time before he speaks. Deliberation is great when discussing social issues or politics, but when asked a simple question like, would you like a piece of gum? He’ll take 10 minutes to reply. Really?! It is just gum! I would have answered in 2.2 seconds flat, but then again, my husband never puts his foot in his mouth like I do. He is also capable of carrying on conversations outside of Star Wars or computers. As you can see he is not socially inept.

He is interested in computers, electronics, comic books, science fiction movies, and he is an avid reader. But I wouldn’t go as far as to say he is “slavishly devoted” to pursuing those interests.

I guess the word nerd encompasses many things. According to this definition, however, I do not think that my husband is a nerd. Sure he sometimes wears jeans to the opera (fist in air!) but at least he pairs them with a button-up shirt and more importantly, he accompanies me to said opera. Pax has given me an appreciation for many new things and I hope I have done the same for him. He is my best friend and a wonderful father. He doesn’t totally fit the Merriam-Webster’s description of nerd. But, if writing a blog, recording a weekly pod cast with other self-professed nerds, and dressing up as Captain Kirk for Halloween is nerdy, then I guess nerdy is just my type!

Nerd Lunch Wives: Talk Nerdy to Me

2011-11-30T12:00:00.000-06:00

Since all of us are married guys, CT came up with the idea to hear from the wives of the Nerd Lunch crew. What is like to be married to a grown man who buys action figures? When did these ladies figure out that the pile of oddly shaped dice were not leftovers from a European version of Monopoly? Why would they fall for someone who considers gyros and Mountain Dew to be haute cuisine? These are just some of the questions we’re hoping to illuminate in these posts. Today Dr. Mrs. Jeeg joins us with her take. -- Jeeg

Jeeg is a nerd. He loves Dungeons & Dragons, Star Trek, Futurama, the old WWF (not the World Wildlife Fund), Magnum, P.I., The Young and the Restless, and Maude. He can talk computer lingo till the Angry Birds come home. He knows all the scientific names for our pet rat’s medications, and he understands which one does what. He lives in fear that one of our children will be sporty and will want Jeeg to teach her/him to play ball.

He’s a nerd, and I love him.

When we first dated, he hid some of his nerdiness from me. But he veiled his references to D&D to no avail. I come from a nerdy family. My parents and aunts and uncles didn’t play D&D — they made up their own role-playing games. All of my siblings and I and both my parents read and write science fiction and fantasy. My brother draws fantasy art. (How many times have I had to tell him, “Women don’t really look like that, you know”? Also, “Her shirt would only cling like that if it was wet,” and “She looks cold.”) It was a special evening when Jeeg felt comfortable enough with me to not only show me his special bag of D&D dice, but also to let me touch them. I, a mere woman.

I grabbed all the dice and cackled, until Jeeg held out the empty bag with a dry “I think that’s enough for now. We don’t want to overheat you.”

I suppose I was uniquely prepared to appreciate and desire a nerd husband. I tended to shy away from dating athletic males — they also tended to shy away from dating me. One thing I have never been shy about is telling people when I am smarter than they are, or at least that I am right and they are wrong. This happens more often than you might think. Most men, especially athletic men, don’t respond well.

I tested Jeeg’s mettle on our first lunch date. He voiced an opinion, and I told him that actually, a recent study with a large sample size suggested that his view was wrong. He said, “Interesting.” When I got back to my computer, I emailed him a link to said study. He emailed me back right away — no, not to tell me where to get off. He said, “You have excellent research skills.”

From then on, I was hooked on Jeeg.

To tell the truth, I do not understand why people think being a nerd is bad. Some nerds are irritatingly pedantic about their interests, but so are a lot of non-nerds, so I can’t agree that being an irritating pedant is a core characteristic of nerdiness. In fact, Jeeg plays off his nerdiness by pretending to be a D&D pedant: every fantasy-based movie or TV show we watch must conform to the D&D versions of mythological creatures, or he points out repeatedly how they are wrong about vampires / zombies / naiads / giants / warlocks / druids / elves (Note from Jeeg: What the heck is a naiad?). Most of the time, this makes me laugh. Most of the time.

But I really don’t get why nerdiness is supposed to be bad. Nerds are smart, quick, witty, passionate, imaginative, and colorful, as well as brave and honest about what they really, really enjoy. I find that people who try to be like other mainstreamers end up succeeding; they become just like everyone else in the main herd, with no funny little individual hooks to catch my interest. The color greige might be terribly sophisticated, but there’s no joy in it.

I was surprised that I had to spell it out to Jeeg a few days ago. I thought that, after three years of dating me and four of being married to me, he would have picked up on the fact that I value his nerdiness very highly. It is the key characteristic (or set of characteristics) that prepared him to be my mate, in every sense of the word. If he were not a nerd, he would not have been worthy to be my husband.

Fortunately for me and my sex life, Jeeg is a nerd, through and through. I adore him. I only hope he’ll stay that way.

Jeeg here again. Let this be proof that there indeed is a lid to every pot. I’m grateful that my particular lid digs fantasy novels, Britcoms, Jackie Chan movies, and was more than willing to watch all 173 episodes of Deep Space Nine on DVD. And yes, I am a sexual Tyrannosaurus.

Nerd Lunch Podcast 13: Cartoon Crushes

2011-11-28T07:30:00.000-06:00

Kristin from the Geeks Girls Network joins CT and Pax to discuss characters that would animate our cels, so to speak, if we were also cartoons. Find out who we choose as the one to reject, the one who got away, the ideal bad girl/guy, and the true love. Also listen for the patented TAG Network creepiness detector to alert when we consider the ages of some picks, discuss "He-Man's sword", delve into cross species dating, and think about the prospect of cartoon babies. Plus in the most unexpected twist of the week, one of the Nerd To-Do Lists includes a marathon... in real life... involving actual running.

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The Marvels and the DCs, part 1

2011-11-25T13:41:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago, I announced that I would be sending out Marvel and DC Comics post cards to anyone who asked for them. All I asked for was a photo of you and the post card once you go it. Well, I have sent a bunch out and even have several photos back.

First, I should say that I have a very few number of post cards left. Our results so far put DC clearly in the lead. I have only 1 of the 20 left. If you still want a DC post card, check out the rules in the other post and jump on that quick. If you want a Marvel post card, I have six left. I should warn you, the post cards at this point are some of the more lame cards I have left. But, it's still fun and I hope you let me know if you want one.

I want to highlight some of the fans who received post cards over the next few weeks. I will just do a few at a time to spread out the fun over time. Today, we have the first three who got pics back to me and they are all DCs.

Amanda (DC)

Amanda was the first to get a picture back to me which is not surprising since she lives only a few minutes away from Tallahassee, Florida. She is a big fan of Batman but I later found out she is not that big of a fan of Robin. I'm a huge fan of Robin and have always thought that if he's good enough for Batman, he's good enough for me. This argument seems to have convinced Amanda

Marc (DC)

Visitors to Nerd Lunch should know that this is the guy who drew the caricatures of me, Jeeg, and PLee. I worked with him for a few years and we would often argue about the finer points of nerdom. However, whenever we did agree about an issue, it could be noted as no longer just being an opinion, but fact. This was "sealed" with a high five that could be heard throughout the Leon County area.

Geekarino (DC)

Geekarino is a good Twitter pal and I've gotten to know him a little bit by both of us being fans of The Atomic Geeks. I recently discovered through The Atomic Geeks forums that Geekarino is a fan of Micronauts which is cool because the Micronauts are awesome. He's also recently given us an iTunes review. Have you?

Nerd Lunch Podcast 12: NerdHF

2011-11-22T07:40:00.000-06:00

This week we follow in the footsteps of Weird Al Yankovic and program our very own UHF stations. None of us are bold enough to reboot the Volcano Worshiper's Hour, but we devise some interesting line-ups regardless. As long as it’s nerdy, we’ve got it all on NerdHF.A local creature feature host? Check. Classic 80s cartoons? Double check.Star Trek reruns? Of course.Angel reunion movies with David Boreanaz? Sure, why not. But wait, there’s more! All listeners will also receive the new Nerd To-Do List segment at no extra charge.

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Element: Klingon

2011-11-16T10:00:00.000-06:00

As a special little coda to yesterday's post about Episode 11 of the Nerd Lunch Podcast, we wanted to share this awesome graphic that Jen sent us. In fact, I will just share her email:

Background....We're hosting a party room at WindyCon this coming weekend and the theme is The Periodic Table of Sci-Fi Elements.

Our stage manager offered to create a poster and fliers for us to hand out..... as we were kicking around ideas, we both thought "how cool would it be to have the periodic table in Klingon...?"

And she did it.

She used the actual piqad characters and matched them up with their letter equivalent on the table. The one that's zoomed in is the "new element" and is the symbol for the "tlh" sound that is the first letter of the word "Klingon" (tlhIngan). :)

So... yeah. :)
This now exists.

Amazing.

Nerd Lunch Podcast 11: A Klingon Christmas Carol

2011-11-15T07:37:00.000-06:00

Cast member and official tweeter for A Klingon Christmas Carol, Jen Usellis Mackay, joins us at the lunch table this week. Jen gives us the inside scoop on what it's like to work on the first play performed in the Klingon language, how to get in on this year's performances in Chicago, and Yo-Yo Ma's Romulan music project (not really). Later the Nerds get a mini language lesson from Jen and we all play a few rounds of "our favorite Klingon things". Listen and find out why tlhutlhlu'meH QaQ jajvam!

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(Nerd) Lunch Special: The Old Fashioned House Burger

2011-11-11T11:30:00.000-06:00

My wife and I recently took a day trip to Madison, Wisconsin. While Madison is a great place to visit in general, one element I need for a satisfactory road trip is quality eats (hossin’ as we say around here). My online scouting for a lunch spot led me to The Old Fashioned tavern and restaurant downtown on Capitol Square. I was not disappointed.

The lunch menu at The Old Fashioned features a variety of fantastic sounding sandwiches. I thought it would be difficult to settle on an order because of that, but when I came across item #30 the choice became clear.

No. 30
The Old Fashioned House Burger-grilled over a live fire and topped with fried onions, Bavaria's hickory-smoked bacon, aged Cheddar, garlic sauce and a soft-cooked egg on a buttered and toasted roll

I had never tried a burger topped with fried egg, but whom am I to argue with a thumbs up from our buddy Nick at DudeFoods? Nick is right, the burger and egg are a great combination. The House Burger’s bacon slices, cheddar, and garlic sauce all complimented the beef and runny yolk perfectly. The french fries did not live up to the burger, so next time I’ll pre-book double bypass surgery and spring for the fried cheese curds on the side.

Of course, I may have to time my next visit to The Old Fashioned for brunch instead so I can try their bratwurst eggs benedict. It may be good for my health that I’m only a visitor to Madison rather than a resident.

Nerd Lunch Podcast 10: Classic He-Man Toys

2011-11-08T07:35:00.000-06:00

Shawn Robare of Branded in the 80s returns to join CT, Jeeg, and Pax. We discuss the Masters of the Universe toys of our youth including favorites, disappointments, and those figures or vehicles we wanted but never got. Along the way we learn about our collective obsession with Faker, the dirty hippies employed by Mattel, and Shawn's quest to create a topless Evil Lynn. Last but not least, Atomic Geek Christian Nielsen makes an unexpected appearance by the power of Grayskull (or some evil sorcery called Skype).

If you're listening along and are not intimately familiar with He-Man, you might enjoy checking out He-Man.org.

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24, Ten Years Later

2011-11-06T11:00:00.003-06:00

Ten years ago tonight, the first episode of 24 aired. Having already been in the pipeline for months before the World Trade Center and Pentagon tragedies, this show wound up being incredibly relevant and played into the mindset of society at the time. As a society, we lived in fear of more attacks but we had a fictional hero in Jack Bauer who could prevent those attacks. In fact, I think the atmosphere of the time changed the show and the characters turning Jack Bauer into an even tougher force of nature delivering swift justice to the bad guys allowing us to live vicariously through him. He was smart, but it appears he is set up to be much more of a thinking man initially. Although, I could be reading more into that game of chess than I should.

The concept of the show was that the season would be twenty-four episodes long and each episode would show one hour of this particular day. The first season of the show is incredibly strong and with the exception of a couple of missteps, I would say it was a creative success and the best of the entire series. The beauty of the first season is the mundane. Because of the time constraints and the real-time aspect of the show, common things such as red lights could lead into incredibly tense scenes. The plot of the first season was also relatively simple in comparison to later seasons. This brought it down and made it more relatable. When this show originally aired, I remember saying that I wish it would have only gotten a season and just be a one-time experiment. I even flirted with the idea of not continuing on watching the show, but things were left hanging and I wanted to see more of Jack Bauer.

Season two wound up being another particularly strong season. But the stakes had to be raised and setting off a nuclear bomb on American soil seemed to be an upper crest of plot ideas that shouldn't be topped. I would have been fine with them bringing the story down in scope, but Hollywood never seems to share this idea with me. Instead, season three came along and made so many odd choices that I contemplated dropping the show. I stuck it out and it got better, but not resolving the President Palmer cliffhanger ending and turning Kim Bauer into a CTU agent never set well with me. Season four made an attempt to purge some old characters and introduce new ones all the while trying to again raise the stakes with a long series of terrorist actions over the course of one day. It has a rocky start, but eventually shows strength in a solid, season-long villain played by Arnold Vosloo.

For me, this marked the end of 24. Although I did continue on to watch season five, I found that season to be absurd and I gave it up after that. Season five begins by killing off two major characters and eventually appears to kill off a much beloved third. I wanted to like this season with the inclusion of Peter Weller as the villain, but new writers, including one from the just canceled Enterprise, killed the consistency and quality on this show. By this point, the real-time novelty seemed to have worn off for them and they were cheating that more and more instead of using it. They also couldn't get away from several tropes. CTU had to have a mole in every season, sometimes more than one mole. They also couldn't get away from having to include the president in the storyline. And there were several presidents throughout the series.* [See below for a big rant about the whole presidents thing.]

I can't speak to seasons 6-8 since I have not seen them. I do feel like I will watch them someday, but I'm not rushing out to do so.

There has been talk of a 24 movie. In fact, my understanding is that the show ended rather weakly leaving it open for Jack Bauer's return. That's a shame if that's the case. With eight seasons, the show deserved a solid ending. And the character of Jack Bauer may no longer have the relevance he once did now that Osama Bin Laden has been found and killed. If he were to return, he would need to find new cultural relevance, perhaps being a force that can unite a country that seems so divided and hateful towards one another. Jack Bauer inspired many common people on the show to fight for his cause. Perhaps he could once again inspire an audience to work together for a common good. Or perhaps it is best that he not move on from that period of time where we needed him the most.

*The president thing did get stupid. If I lived in the 24-iverse, I'd probably move to Canada. To highlight the absurdity of the show, I'll list out the nine presidents that the show had over eight seasons:

Season one does not show the president, but there was one presumably. There was reference made to another fictional president named Harry Barnes that would have been president after Reagan and before Palmer. It does not appear he was president during season one, but there is no confirmation on that to my knowledge.
In season two, Palmer has become president, but near the end of the season, James Prescott, Palmer's VP becomes president after a vote of no-confidence. This does not stick, but Prescott was acting-president for a short time.
In season three, Palmer is president in spite of an assassination attempt. Palmer decides not to run for a second term after his ex-wife is killed.
In season four, John Keeler is president but an attack on Air Force One renders him incapacitated. He never returns and it is my impression that he died, but I guess that was never confirmed. As a result, Charles Logan becomes president.
In season five, Logan is still president, but turns out to be one of the big bads in that season. He is arrested. Hal Gardner (comic book fan writer on the staff, I presume?) becomes president and finishes out the term.
In season six, Wayne Palmer, brother of David Palmer was president. He was assassinated and replaced by his VP, Noah Daniels.
In season seven, Allison Taylor was president and she remained president for all of seasons seven and eight. Although even during season seven, there was an attack attempted on the White House.

It is also interesting to note that the entire series takes place over 14 years or so due to the referenced gaps in time between seasons. So, in 14 years, at least one, if not two sitting presidents were assassinated, a presidential candidate had an attempt made on his life and was eventually assassinated after his time as president, a president was charged with major crimes, and an attack was made on the White House. And according to 24: The Game, there was an assassination attempt on Vice-President Prescott's life. I realize this is fiction, but it's just a bit much in my opinion.

176 Days

2011-11-04T11:00:00.006-05:00

For those who don't know, I am in grad school and have been since 2009. I am in my home stretch. If all goes according to plan, there are only...

In January, a teaser disc with four episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation in full 1080p comes out. By the end of 2012, more episodes will make their way to Blu-ray. Whether I own these or not, I am anxiously looking forward to making my way through 176 episodes of the series again in HD.

Nerd Lunch Podcast 9...The Replicators Are Broken!

2011-11-01T07:30:00.000-05:00

On this week’s episode CT, Pax, and Jeeg embark on an excursion under the command of starship captain and pop culture blogger Jay Amabile of The Sexy Armpit blog. When a wormhole flings the ship across the galaxy and damages all systems, some hard choices have to be made. Jeeg can get the damaged food replicator back online, but with only 10 recipes. The guys have to come together to decide what will be on the menu for the next several decades and, to nobody’s surprise, it won’t be health food. Hopefully Jeeg can fix the Emergency Medical Hologram program next.

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Are you a Marvel or DC?

2011-10-26T11:00:00.005-05:00

Are you a Marvel or a DC?

It does seem that most people have a preference between the two companies. I do happen to like both quite a bit, but I did grow up collecting predominantly DC. Factoring in digital comics, I might own more Marvel books though. I have a hard time deciding between the two at this point.

So I turn to you Nerd Lunchketeers, which do you prefer...Marvel or DC? And, stealing an idea from our ol' pal Shawn from Brandedinthe80s.com, I'm going to give you a fun way to voice your opinion. At least, I think it will be fun.

I have 40 post cards that I'm going to mail out. Half of them are DC themed and the other half are Marvel. Email me your name, mailing address and choice between the two and I will mail you a post card. And if you send me a picture of yourself with the card after receiving it, we will feature you on the blog and Nerd Lunch Facebook page. We'll see which stack of post cards gets depleted first.

So, to recap:

Marvel or DC?
Email CT your name, mailing address and choice: ct [at symbol] nerdlunch.net
Wait patiently by your mailbox.
Email me back a picture of you with your card. (Optional, but I sure would appreciate it!)

And hey, if you are not in the US, I will still send you a post card!

So get to emailing and tell everyone in the comments field which one you chose.

Nerd Lunch Podcast 8...Nerd Interior Decorating

2011-10-25T07:28:00.000-05:00

Long time friend of Nerd Lunch, Fitz, occupies the fourth chair this week. In this episode the guys outfit some rooms with the finest in nerd decor. Fictional decorating budgets are blown on vintage pulp magazines, a replica lightsaber hilt, a Magic d20 of Destiny, and a Pimp Daddy Destro action figure amongst other items. Then things get really geeky when the exercise is repeated with a blank check. Eat your heart out, Ty Pennington.

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(Nerd) Lunch Special: Porker Pounder

2011-10-23T17:38:00.002-05:00

I think it's safe to say that I'm not shy about sticking stuff in my pie hole that can only loosely be called "food," but despite this enjoyment of subpar foodstuffs, I have never really liked the McRib. As I have gotten older, I have noticed that my tastes have changed somewhat. Things I liked, I no longer enjoy as much, and things I use to not like, I find aren't so bad anymore.

So, that being said, I thought maybe it was worth trying the McRib again. I can't remember the last time I had one, but it's been a long while. But my plans almost changed when the McDonald's we went to was under construction and had a "buy one, get one" special on Quarter Pounders. A deal like that is hard to pass on. Fortunately, my wife jumped in on the QP deal and I decided to get a McRib and a Quarter Pounder and just pas on the fries.

(As an aside, this McDonald's was apparently staffed by people who lacked the ability to hear any high-pitched sounds as there was a constant stream of fry machine and other timer beeping alerts during our entire duration there.)

The moment of truth arrived and it was time for me to eat my McRib. I took one bite and it was about as good as I remembered it. That is to say, I didn't really dig it. I did like the sauce, but the "meat" itself was meh. I imagine this is what replicated food tastes like on the Enterprise.

Two bites in, and I was glad I saved the Quarter Pounder for last. But then I got the idea to do one of my favorite things and craft a Frankenstein creature out of these two sandwiches.

Introducing, the Porker Pounder. Not really an apt name perhaps, but what I dub it nonetheless. And it was...well, it was something.

Next time the McRib comes back, I won't be itching to go out and grab one. I guess that means more for Jeeg.

Nerd Lunch Podcast 7...Does It Live Up to the Hype?

2011-10-18T08:30:00.006-05:00

[Begin HYPE mode] Robert Zerbe joins the guys on what is assuredly the greatest podcast episode ever recorded! After Robert fills us in on his blog, “To The Escape Hatch!”, and how Bruce Campbell rolls, we catch up on a few of the most hyped movies and TV shows from the last 15 years. Can reality possibly match the buildup for Braveheart, The Wire, Mad Men, or The Walking Dead? Find out in the funniest and most insightful 71 minutes of audio on the ‘Net! [End HYPE mode]

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Space Ghost Gallery

2011-10-13T11:00:00.000-05:00

Back when we were doing the Nerd Lunch Reboot Challenge, I briefly toyed with the idea of making Space Ghost one of my reboot entries. I actually wrote some Space Ghost spec scripts years ago. I think the character has a ton of potential. However, he was rebooted a couple different times in recent years. In the late 90s, he became a comedic talk show host. Then, about 7 years ago, he got a DC Comics mini-series which explained his origin.

I have been collecting Space Ghost art off the internet for a few years now and figured maybe I could set up a little gallery here of some shots I already have and some recent ones I've found.

Bill Wiist

Spears

buddyPJ

Mike Penick

James Kenneth Woodward

"Female Space Ghost"

(artist unknown)

Alex Ross

Steve Rude

And here are a couple shots I found a few years back on an art blog. I can't find the link again and I didn't keep track of the artist's name. If anyone can help me track down the artist, I'd be very appreciative.

Nerd Lunch Podcast 6...Drill Down: Star Trek Generations & First Contact

2011-10-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

Nerd Lunch contributor Cordy Stepp sits in with Jeeg, Pax, and CT for an examination of the first two Star Trek: TNG movies, Generations and First Contact. Shocking revelations are disclosed when CT declares that he doesn’t like First Contact, Pax admits to playing Data’s "life forms" song on his computer keyboard, Jeeg defends Alfre Woodard, and Cordy questions why Data hasn't been "buttering everyone's popcorn" for years. Plus the question of who likes Generations is finally answered (Here’s a hint: none of us).

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Nerd Lunch Podcast 5...Give that guy some work!

2011-10-04T08:00:00.001-05:00

Ringleader of the Strange Kids Club, Rondal Scott, joins the Nerd Lunch table this week. After hearing about the happenings over at strangekidsclub.com, we play agent and casting director for some favorite actors that haven't been in the spotlight recently. Find out who we want to see more of, what would be a good comeback role for each, and what sort of show or movie could accommodate our motley crew of favorites. If web sites can get migraines, IMDb may have one after this episode.

Download now!

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(Maybe we just forget Zune...?)

208 Days

2011-10-03T11:00:00.002-05:00

For those who don't know, I am in grad school and have been since 2009. I am in my home stretch. If all goes according to plan, there are only...

I am long overdue for a re-reading of this modern classic tale and will make a point to read it again after graduating. This tale is so good that it is one of the reasons I stopped regularly reading comics. I mean, how can anything top this?! The cover for issue #3 contained every character who was ever a member of the JLA or the Avengers (208 total) as of the time of its release. Simply amazing.

(Nerd) Lunch Special: The Works Gyro

2011-10-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

Regular readers of this blog know that the gyro holds a special place in the hearts of the Nerd Lunch crew. Our favorite gyro place, Niro’s Gyros, was a regular stop when we all lived in the same city and is still a go-to spot for hossin’ on those rare times we all can get back together. When I left the Nerd Lunch ancestral home for Chicagoland, I expected it would be easy to find a gyro that matched the quality of Niro’s. While the gyro is on the menu of most mom and pop fast food places, none of the places in my area have lived up to what we had back in central Illinois.

Thanks to sites like GreaseFreak, I knew that gyro greatness could be found and had a list of candidates. So when business took me closer to the city I made time to visit one highly regarded gyro place: The Works. As a nondescript restaurant in a slightly run down strip mall, The Works looked the part and reminded me of our old haunt Niro’s. I read the service described as the "Cheezeborger, Cheezeborger, No Coke, Pepsi" skit from SNL (which I wrote about a few years back) and that was about right. There were three Greek gentlemen at the grill who took orders and made gyros, another guy taking cash at the register, and a patriarch at the end of the counter overseeing it all.

The gyro arrived wrapped in foil and accompanied by a pickle, which was a first for me. The onions and tomatoes were good, the gyro meat was very good, and the tzatziki sauce and pita were the best I’ve ever had. It was an excellent gyro that could stand shoulder to shoulder with our old friend Niro’s. The fries were mediocre at best, so in future visits I’ll stick with just the gyro or gyro plate. And I certainly hope there will be future visits.

The catch is that even though The Works is one of the more conveniently located all-star gyro places in Chicagoland for me, it’s still an hour or more from where I live. It is encouraging to find something praiseworthy, but it’s not an option for a quick lunch or pick-up after work. My great gyro hunt for a truly local option must continue.

We Used to Be Friends

2011-09-29T11:00:00.000-05:00

A few years ago, a new show came out called Veronica Mars. It was on the CW and I remember hearing about it, but mostly decided against watching it. I can't remember the exact reasons, but it was probably because I stopped watching new shows after Firefly was cancelled. Plus, Buffy was still fresh in my mind and a good show about a spunky young girl who fought bad guys just didn't seem like lightning that could strike twice.

Then I remember learning that Jeeg was watching the show. And again, I can't remember the exact reason why he was, but his recommendation of the show immediately meant it would go on my list of shows to check out on DVD. Eventually, I did watch it. And loved it. And I watched and purchased all three seasons.

There is sometimes some risk in purchasing a show on DVD. Watch it once, sure. But can it be rewatched and still retain the magic? Will it hold up or be worth viewing multiple times? Let me tell you that it can. If you have not watched Veronica Mars ever, or have not watched it recently, I suggest you put this on your Netflix (well, Qwikster, I guess) queue or track the discs down and rectify the situation immediately.

The show was not especially groundbreaking, but had a mixture of elements that made for enjoyable television, a show that I would easily place in my top ten list of television series of all time. For as fun as a show like Buffy was playing in the high school setting, Veronica Mars pulled it off even better. In my mind, Buffy's biggest fault was that the main character, though likable, was the least likable character on the show. In Veronica Mars, Veronica was the best character surrounded by a (for the most part) wonderful supporting and recurring cast.

I mentioned on the blog once before the idea of casting Kristen Bell as Amy Allen in an A-Team movie. It's not too late. This could still be done in the likely never-to-be-made sequel to the awesome A-Team movie. My suggestion is based off the fact that Veronica Mars is a spiritual successor to John "Hannibal" Smith. Long time followers of this blog know that is high praise coming from me. Veronica's sense of justice, strong moral code, and ability to concoct beautiful plans that come together make her Hannibal for a new generation. Kristen Bell plays the part beautifully with the right touches of humor, sass, and strength. If I was the kind of guy to write fan fiction, and I'm not, I would write a story featuring a team up between Veronica Mars and Hannibal Smith. (I would also include Gul Dukat in the story just for that one guy who searched for "Gul Dukat fan fiction" and found our blog for some reason.)

Second to Veronica, but not by much, is her father, Keith Mars. I remember being skeptical of the casting of Enrico Colantoni as a former sheriff turned P.I. Sure, I liked him in Galaxy Quest and on the occasions I'd catch Just Shoot Me, he was fine. I had no idea the screen presence he'd have. I could have watched a show all about him.

There are a whole host of other characters, some regular cast and others bit parts that were recurring. I should mention Logan, the former friend, turned enemy, turned lover. The character was well-written and portrayed. I did feel his relationship with Veronica took away from Veronica as a character more than it added to it. But in some ways, he was her "Kryptonite" and the eventual outcome of that relationship could have been very satisfying. Also, a key role was Wallace, the "Watson" to Veronica's "Holmes," although, that's not incredibly apt. He was under-utilized in my opinion, especially by the end.

This list doesn't cover all the main or recurring cast members. It would be a shame not to mention Sherif Don Lamb, Weevil, Mac, Cliff, Vinny, Piz, or Dick.

In seasons 1 and 2, the show featured season-long mysteries with each episode providing clues towards solving that season's mystery, but also featuring an episodic-specific, small (usually school-related) mystery. Season 1 focused on the murder of Veronica's best friend Lilly. The resolution of this over-arcing mystery was satisfying, although I don't believe it was planned out from day one. That aside, season one is the strongest of the seasons, perhaps because of the freshness of the show and the strength of the minor mysteries.

Season 2's over-arcing mystery involved a bus crash that takes place in the first episode where some students and the driver are killed. It is quickly believed by Veronica and her dad that this crash was orchestrated. Season 2 is another incredibly strong, well-written season. It's weakness came in some of the supporting cast not being as strong. But the resolution of the season-long mystery was very well done and served to tie up loose ends from season 1 as well.

Season 3 took a departure from its predecessors. Instead of solving one, season-long mystery, there were three over-arcing storylines: (1) a series of rapes which was set actually set up in season 2, (2) the murder of the dean, and (3) a yet unformed plot dealing with a secret society at the college that likely would have carried over into season 4. Season 3 is still watchable and enjoyable, but not nearly as good as the two previous seasons. The loss of the one, season-long storyline hurt it as did the heightened smaller stories. More murders and less "find my dog."

The show was canceled and left a few unanswered questions, but things that don't desperately need to be answered. I imagine Jake Kane and his secret society would have taken a prominent role in 4. Also, the resolution of whether or not Keith Mars would retain his job as sheriff would have been answered. The romance drama would have continued on. Veronica would eventually have dumped Piz for Logan again only to dump Logan again later.

After the show was canceled, the producers put together a ten minute pilot that introduced the premise of an alternate take for Veronica Mars. In the pilot, it is four years later and Veronica is working for the FBI. It could have been interesting, but I don't think the show would have been quite as good.

Overall, an excellent show. I'm glad it came along. And I'm glad Jeeg turned me on to it. Not sure I would have jumped on this show without his valued opinion.

Nerd Lunch Podcast 4...Guilty Displeasures!

2011-09-27T09:00:00.004-05:00

Nicole Wakelin of TotalFanGirl.com joins the Nerds to expose some shocking revelations about nerdy franchises and icons that they feel they should like, but don’t. Star Trek Voyager, The Watchmen, Stargate, and Game of Thrones are all on the hit list of at least one of the panelists. Plus we chat about Dr. Manhattan’s “little doctor” for the first and hopefully last time.

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(Beginning to think we're not cool enough for Zune...)

Shaquille O'Walrus is Steel

2011-09-21T11:00:00.001-05:00

This post is long overdue. Which I guess is appropriate since the first post about this was exactly three years ago and was about a library.

In 1997, a movie came to the theater and Jeeg and I had every intention of going. It had two major things going for it: it was about a comic book hero and was written and directed by Kenneth Johnson. Unfortunately, or perhaps rather fortunately, it's tenure in the theater was only two weeks long and we never made it.

As a result, this movie had become one of the very few comic book movies that I had not seen. And the only one (sort of) based on a DC Comics character (until more recent ones I just haven't caught yet) that I have not seen.

The movie--STEEL.

Jeeg stuck his $1 copy of the Steel VHS tape in the mail and sent it my way. I should have jumped on it right then, but years have passed and I had to actually dig out my VCR and hook it back up to watch this. This movie has since made its way to DVD, although, you might read this post before jumping on that.

I'm not stupid. And I wasn't stupid in 1997. Well, I was a little stupid in 1997, but that's beside the point. The point is that, as just mentioned, this movie was written and directed by Kenneth Johnson. Say what you will about his pretentious approach to The Incredible Hulk, he gave us a pretty good show despite some off-the-mark, sappy stuff. But if that weren't enough, he gave us V and the Alien Nation TV series as well. So, I thought that maybe Steel would be better for that. And was it? Well, let's find out.

"Plot" Synopsis

I suppose I should say that there will be spoilers in this synopsis. John Henry Irons is in the army as a part of a team that develops specialized weapons. On this team is also "Sparks," played by Annabeth Gish, and some guy played by Judd Nelson. Apparently everyone on this team gave up the millions of dollars they would have made in corporate tech companies and joined the army to develop weapons. Because, I guess that's what the army does.

While testing a new sonic blaster gun for a government official, Judd Nelson sneakily turns the blaster up to 11 and causes an accident that kills the official and cripples Sparks. Nelson is dishonorably discharged, and Shaq is fed up and leaves as well. Surprisingly, they both end up going to LA. And even more surprisingly, LA has a population of about 12 people because it just so happens that Nelson winds up working for the company that is funding the gang that is trying to recruit Shaq's nephew.

Shaq is moving on with his life, leaving weapons development behind him. But he gets dragged back into it when he is riding with his police lady friend and she answers a call where the aforementioned gang is robbing a bank. And they're using super weapons! Shaq manages to chase one of the robbers down, but is then shot with a phaser blast that was set to stun, I guess.

So, Shaq decides he must fight fire with fire and calls in the help of his crippled former teammate Sparks and Shaft himself, Richard Roundtree. The three of them work around the clock to build the dumbest looking super hero outfit to ever appear on film. I think the costumes in that live action Justice League pilot looked better.

With this super outfit, Shaq can act just as poorly as he did when he wasn't covering half his face, deflect bullets, and shoot things with his hammer gun. He also has a grappling hook and a motorcycle.

After finishing construction of the suit, Shaq hits the town and stops a mugging and fends off some gang members. His adventures continue the next night when he attempts to stop another high-tech bank robbery. That goes awry and Shaq goes home injured.

Because there are only 12 people who live in LA and Steel is clearly the 7'1" black guy, everyone pretty much guesses that Steel and Shaq are the same guy and the cops eventually show up and arrest him.

Meanwhile, Judd Nelson has been doing stuff, too that I have been leaving out. Most importantly, he has been building weapons that he intends to sell to the highest bidder. As we'll find out, it takes very little time, effort, or resources to build these weapons. Judd can do it, and so can Team Shaq. If I lived in that movie, I can only assume I'd be able to build high-tech laser weapons with an old PC, a shoestring, and a cigarette lighter.

Shaq breaks out of jail and he and Shaft head towards the auction event for the final showdown. Of course, Judd has kidnapped Sparks so she can be there for the fun as well and use her weaponized wheelchair. Final battle, blah, blah, blah. Steel wins. The end.

Story
There is nothing original here and it might be one of these worst movies I've seen in a long, long time. I didn't really have high hopes for this, but I had secretly wished that Kenneth Johnson would surprise me. And he did. But in the bad way.

Presentation

The cast was very earnest and I have to give props to Annabeth Gish. I can't imagine she was proud of accepting that role, but she gave it her all and actually seemed like she was having fun. She must have been a huge fan of the NBA. Costume was bad. Special effects were bad. The whole thing seemed like it was directed with a TV mentality. Not surprising since Johnson was really only experienced with TV. But V and Alien Nation seemed more cinematic than this did.

Speaking of Alien Nation, there were little homages to that show including Tenctonese graffiti and appearances by Eric Pierpoint and Gary Graham. Nice, but it reeked of Johnson trying to rest on his laurels and not make something new. There were also horrible winks throughout including references to Richard Roundtree designing the "shaft" of the hammer gun, and Shaq's inability to make free throws.

FOR YOU BLOG! I DID THIS FOR YOU!

STORY
0
PRESENTATION
(that's solely for Annabeth Gish)
REWATCHABLE

Nerd Lunch Podcast 3...Dude, Where's My Fast Food Mascot?

2011-09-20T08:00:00.004-05:00

In this week's episode, Paxton, Jeeg and CT are joined by Nick, the genius behind DudeFoods.com. Nick explains the origins of DudeFoods, what it's like to go viral, his unique method for conducting a taste test, and more. Later in the show, these four fast food fanatics discuss some of the best, worst and creepiest fast food mascots and marketing campaigns.

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Netflix Notes: Stallone Again, Naturally

2011-09-17T10:00:00.002-05:00

For a recent episode of The Atomic Geeks, I was forced to pick a horrible movie from Netflix's selection of "Showbiz Musicals" and watch it for the show. I chose Staying Alive only because it was directed by Sylvester Stallone. I have been continually impressed with Sly's acting, writing, and directing abilities. I don't love him, but I guess I have such low expectations that I am constantly surprised at what he delivers. Staying Alive, in some ways, was no different. It wasn't a great movie, nor was it my cup of tea. But I do give Stallone credit for delivering on a couple of well-written scenes and being a competent and technically good director.

With my Netflix temporarily reactivated, I began seeking out some other movies to watch and settled on a Stallone double-feature.

First up was The Expendables. This was a fun movie, but one has to go in expecting very little. It could have been better and probably should have been. It delivered more in terms of coolness for seeing all the actors he corralled to be in it than it did actual plot. But the personalities of everyone were fun and the interaction was cool to seen.The Expendables 2 promises to be even more over the top. (Side note, in some ways this was a better G.I. Joe movie than G.I. Joe was.)

Second in my double feature was Demolition Man. Stallone did not write or direct this, but did star. This movie is actually quite bad, although it stems from an interesting concept. It's hard to take seriously now that we're in 2011. In the movie, Stallone is a cop who takes down Wesley Snipes' crazy character. But in a weird twist, Stallone is also sent to prison. Prison, in this near future, is cryogenic freezing. When Snipes is able to break out 30+ years later on an unsuspecting peaceful and oblivious world, they must reactivate Stallone. This was just full of nonsensical scenes and conveniences. Some of the tech they predicted has come true and was interesting to see, but the societal differences would have taken many more years than 30-40 to change. Just couldn't buy it.

A few days later, I wound up finally seeing the fourth installment of the Rambo series. I enjoyed the first three in spite of some cheesiness. This one was a weird amalgam of all three in some ways. Not the "Rocky Balboa" ending I would like to have seen. I guess a Rambo V is still possible though. My big problems with this were the horrific acts that were shown. Certainly based on real events in the world that need to be addressed, it was still disconcerting violence. Also, the movie is only 90 minutes and it takes almost half of that before we get any good Rambo action. I could have done without a fourth Rambo, but I give Stallone credit for at least not watering down this vintage series as other 80s franchises have done with their "20 years later" entries. (Side note, in some ways this also was a better G.I. Joe movie than G.I. Joe was.)

Nerd Lunch Podcast 2...Drill Down: Back to the Future

2011-09-14T07:15:00.003-05:00

Hey! We've doubled the amount of Nerd Lunch episodes available to you. In episode 2, the guys are joined by Shawn Robare from Branded in the 80s for an in-depth discussion of the Back to the Future franchise. Favorite movie? Favorite scene? Should there be a Part IV? Do the temporal mechanics make sense? Hang on to your flux capacitors, it’s going to be a nerdy ride.

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(We're still working on getting into Zune. Hold on just a bit longer Zune fans!)

Countdown to Avengers

2011-09-12T11:00:00.001-05:00

Shortly after the launch of this blog, news came out about the new approach that Marvel was taking with some of its movies. Four years ago, we were hopeful about the idea, but skeptical that it could come to pass. Following this project has been a delight and I for one marvel (pun intended) that they appear to have set themselves up for success in pulling off the greatest comic book movie epic saga of all time. Even though I have trepidations about how it may come out in the end, I have to stand up and applaud their journey thus far and the fact that it is all coming together. In anticipation of this epic movie, and with Thor due out on DVD and Blu-ray tomorrow, I took a trip down memory lane and did a "Countdown to The Avengers."

(NOTE: Spoilers for all these movies ahead.)

5. Iron Man

Surprisingly, one of the greatest comic book movies of all time. This story sets the stage for the fantastic things to come. From beginning until the closing credits, this movie is Iron Man's. Wisely, they made a sequence with Nick Fury introducing the "Avengers Initiative" the post-credit sequence. Not much is revealed other than there are other super heroes in the world and the name of the project Fury wants to talk to Stark about. It was a gamble to even include this because doing so committed to a long process of assembling parts from four properties into one.

4. Iron Man 2

Even though Hulk was next to be released, I watched this second since it winds up being second in the next step in the Avengers countdown. Iron Man 2 advances the Avengers Initiative plot the most of all the movies, perhaps to a fault because the Iron Man component suffered for it. Still, the movie holds up decently in the context of the larger story. Here we meet Black Widow, Agent Coulson is given some screen time to set up his story in Thor, and the stage is set for Tony Stark to show up in The Incredible Hulk. Cleverly, footage in the background of Stark's final scene with Fury shows scenes from Incredible Hulk. The post-credit sequence is a brief scene that will be further fleshed out in Thor.

3. Incredible Hulk

The most heart-breaking aspect of this whole thing has been that Ed Norton was really good in this movie and for some reason (the green monster known as money, probably), Norton will not be returning for The Avengers. Still, a good movie that brings in components from the super soldier project, and advances Tony Stark's progress through the overall plot as he approaches General Ross at the end of the movie. There is a rumor that Captain America is seen in the background of a deleted scene. I don't buy into it, but it will be interesting to see if that comes up in The Avengers.

2. Thor

Thor advances the Avengers story subtly and not in an overpowering way like Iron Man 2 did. Agent Coulson comes over from the Iron Man movies, references to Tony Stark and Hulk are made, and Hawkeye makes a throw away cameo. Things are left with Thor stuck in Asgard meaning that his return to Earth will have to be dealt with in The Avengers. The post-credit sequence gives us Nick Fury again and shows us the Cosmic Cube which plays a role in Captain America. But this does not seem to tie into Cap, but rather The Avengers. In fact, this post-credits sequence was directed by Joss Whedon.

1. Captain America: The First Avenger
Cap furthers the Avengers Countdown by backing up and going to the beginning. The start of the Super Soldier Serum program is shown when Steve Rogers is picked to become Captain America. Involved in that process is Howard Stark, father of Tony Stark. Also, as just mentioned, a major component of the movie was the Cosmic Cube which is lost and discovered again by Howard Stark. The movie stands on its own but the end sets the stage for further modern day Cap adventures and at the end of the movie, a teaser for Avengers is shown.

So, with all the pieces in place, we're left waiting to see how it all wraps up in The Avengers. And that's the key, that it wraps up. My biggest hope for this movie is that they don't leave anything hanging that needs to be resolved as a group. This is a magical thing they're pulling together that my little nerd brain can't even fathom. There may be multiple Avengers movies, but I hope this first one stands on its own.

Announcing the newest venture by Nerd Lunch...

2011-09-09T10:05:00.001-05:00

...a podcast!

That's right, we're taking the discussions we've made infamous one step further and having them in auditory form. Jeeg and I will be joined by our good friend Paxton Holley from the Cavalcade of Awesome to hash out nerdy and foodie topics. And on occasion, we'll be joined by other special guests as well.

We are happy to be the first podcast to be released under the banner of The Atomic Geeks Podcasting Network. A couple of podcasts today, tomorrow the world.

In episode one, CT, Jeeg, and Paxton get to know one another a little better by taking some Internet personality tests. Find out which nerd is C-3PO, which is Chuck Norris, and who could survive the longest if chained to a velociraptor. Plus one of the nerds reveals an impressive and somewhat frightening knowledge of the Care Bears.

If you want to play along at home, you can check out the quizzes we took here:

Check out the first episode and let us know what you think.

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(Nerd) Lunch Special: Novelty Pop-Tarts

2011-09-05T11:00:00.001-05:00

When it comes to Pop-Tarts, I'm probably the exception to the rule. My favorites are the unfrosted strawberry flavor. Toast those up and spread a little…okay, a lot of butter on the top, and that's tasty treat. Especially when you get a run of Pop-Tarts that have a bit extra strawberry flavoring in them.

That's not to say I don't enjoy these "novelty" flavors every so often. There was a sale recently and my wife picked up a couple flavors that were new to me.

First up, Blueberry Muffin. I really didn't have high hopes for this one. I mean, I knew they would be edible, but I didn't think they'd be phenomenal. I was wrong. These were great. After their time in the toaster, it smelled like we had baked blueberry muffins. The filling was a creamy, icing flavor with natural-tasting blueberry bits throughout. Bravo! Recommended.

Second, Cookies & Cream. Anytime I have a chocolate Pop-Tart, it's almost seemed like a poor imitation for something that I actually want. The hot fudge sundae Pop-Tart, for example, is not hot fudge sundae. So I didn't go into this expecting much. Again, I was surprised at how good this turned out. The crust of the pastry is very Oreo-esque and the filling was much creamier than I had anticipated. I actually think this would be great if it were crumble up into a milkshake. Maybe someday. This flavor, also recommended.

What about you...what are your favorite Pop-Tart flavors?

I am a Muppet hipster.

2011-08-29T11:00:00.006-05:00

So enough people know of my love of the Muppets that I have consistently heard the following question or some sort of statement similar to it recently:

"Hey, did you know there's going to be a new Muppets movie?!"

This question is asked with an anticipation that I will be excited about the prospect of there being a new movie. My reaction kills the conversation. I am not excited about the new Muppet movie. I make no apologies. I am a Muppet hipster.

For me the Muppets begin and end with Jim Henson. After his death in 1990, the Muppets have never truly been the same. Enough residual original elements were still in place in the mid-90s that some of the post-Henson stuff was okay, but none of it compared to the truly creative stuff Henson was in charge of.

Henson was a creative pioneer. His early puppet work was experimental and genius. And he was able to grow that into magnificent stories and ways to tell those stories. He was always looking for the next, new thing. After working on Sesame Street, he wanted to do something else more geared for grown ups. That became The Muppet Show. At the height of its popularity, he walked away before it got stale and moved onto something completely different, Fraggle Rock. He never stopped telling new stories, even if he got dragged back into using older characters.

The simplicity of it all was genius as well. From the writing standpoint, a lot of credit is due to Jerry Juhl, but Juhl had Henson's sensibilities and shared the same vision. So much of the writing was sharp, quick, and even very subtle at times. And the characters had such charm and personality. They were a delight to see on the screen.

This new movie is nothing new. In fact, it already sounds like it will be a retread of The Muppet Movie. It almost seems reminiscent of Superman Returns which was a retread of Donner's Superman: The Movie. The charm and personality seems gone. In the trailer, the characters seem flat and not true to form. The Muppets have stopped being characters and have become simply a property. They're marketing tactics have dabbled in parody rather than true irreverent humor.

They are not my Muppets. They haven't been my Muppets for a long time. They have become something else with the same name and same faces (though different voices).

And that's okay. I realize it's not about me. I try to be conscious of that. I've gone down this road before. The Star Trek '09 movie, the DC Reboot, and even the commercial failure of The A-Team movie make me realize that I am no longer the target audience for anything. That's fair enough. I've got the old stuff or I can look for new things that are more my cup of tea now.

I'm not trying to be a hater. I'm not the only one who has these feelings. In fact, this thoroughly written article, brilliantly entitled "Weekend at Kermie's," spells it out much better than I ever could. I don't begrudge Disney for picking up the Muppets and trying to do something with them. More power to them. I hope the movie has tremendous success and a lot of people enjoy seeing it. I really do. It just won't be something that I'm going to get excited about.

More important than anything I've written thus far, I hope this movie finally prompts Disney to release seasons 4 and 5 of The Muppet Show on DVD. Season 1 was finally released on DVD on August 9, 2005, over six years ago (with a few cut scenes at that...grumble-grumble). Season 2 followed almost a year later and season 3 a little less than a year after that in May of 2008. It's now almost September of 2011 and we should have had season 4 and 5 by now and even could have moved onto Muppets Tonight or something else. I don't know what the hold up is, but it's time to light the lights on this and finish out the release of these DVDs. And they better not pull any stunts with a complete set that includes stuff the other individual releases didn't have. (Oh, and they could re-release the first two Muppet movies on Blu-ray as well while they're at it.)

CT's Road Trip, part 5: Hello, old friends...

2011-08-26T11:00:00.001-05:00

One of the greatest things about returning home is being able to visit all the restaurants you loved, but don't have around your new area. It's been six years, but I still long for several places in the Champaign-area, many of which are fortunately still around. But just as some places go, there are new places to try as well. Here's a rundown of the food I ate while in Illinois.

First up, I ate a few things that I had not had before. My parents are big fans of a Mexican restaurant called La Fiesta. Here I ordered the chimichangas. Very good and reminded me that I still have not found a truly excellent Mexican place in Tallahassee.

Next, my parents are friends with a party planner in the area who specializes in fancy cupcakes. We were able to obtain some S'Mores Cupcakes from Pirate & Princesses. Very good, and as you can see, I'm not the only one to think that.

Also, I got to try Panchero's, another Mexican place while we were there. This is reminiscent of a Q'doba or Moe's, but better. The tortillas are great and don't get stuck in my teeth like they do at Q'doba. The only good thing about Q'doba is that it sort of looks like a Klingon word.

That covers the places I had not tried. Now a rundown on the places I had visited before but had to have again while we were home.

We met up with my old friend Dawn and her husband at Curtis Orchard. They have a huge apple orchard and sell many apple-themed items including apple slushies and apple donuts. Dawn treated our kids to some slushies and we also picked up some donuts for breakfast. Dawn's husband was wearing his Bert shirt and I wore my "I appreciate the Muppets on a much deeper level than you" shirt.

We also swung by Hickory River Smokehouse where I got the beef brisket sandwich. Although Tallahassee's Piggy's BBQ is close, I have not ever had better beef brisket than what they serve at Hickory River.

We also had to stop at Culver's which serves a wide variety of food items including burgers, fries, and frozen custard. There is not a better fast food burger than what is served at Culver's. There is not one of these in Tallahassee and that's probably a good thing as I would eat here all the time. I got the burger basket and a caramel cashew sundae.

We also couldn't be that close to Chicago and not get some pizza. The best option in Champaign is probably Papa Del's. My wife loves it and I certainly will put some away.

Finally...

Since moving away from Illinois six years ago, I have not had the chance to really enjoy the company of fellow nerds like I did with Jeeg and PLee. No slight to those other nerds I have hung out with since moving here intended. We started this blog as a way to keep up with one another and have discussions and even invite others to the table to chime in. But that doesn't replace the real thing. Before this trip back, it had been a year and a half since I had seen PLee and three and half years since I had seen Jeeg. It had been more than three and half years since we had all been together. We were able to reunite during my time there. Jeeg and I met up for a viewing of Captain America (more on that in the future) and then all three of us gathered at Niro's Gyros.

I had a gyro, fries, and two Chicago-style hot dogs. Jeeg had the double gyro meal, and PLee had the chicken pita.

We followed up our trip to Niro's with a visit to Jarling's Custard Cup. Jarling's was, and for some still is, the frozen dessert place of choice in Champaign. I enjoy it mightily, but when Culver's came along and was less expensive, I stopped frequenting Jarling's. Since our return trips had mostly been around Christmas time when they are closed, we had not been there in over six years. It was good and tasted just like I remembered. Their cold fudge is absolutely amazing.

It was good seeing you Nerds again and I'm glad we've got something in the hopper to extend this blog out and keep in touch even more.

TO OOKLA THE MOK!

CT's Road Trip, part 4: A Stop in Metropolis

2011-08-24T11:00:00.039-05:00

While I haven't finished covering the trip, I wanted to sneak in a post about the trip back to Tallahassee before finishing this out on Friday when I talk about the food I ate and the meet up with Jeeg and PLee.

When traveling between Philo, IL and Tallahassee, FL, the route we use, takes us through a little town known as Metropolis, IL. My wife and I have been here before and I'd love to come back for a thorough review of the town someday. But until then, this quick little visit will have to do.

Metropolis, IL is actually a town of less than 6,500 people. This really is not some booming city, but they take their name seriously. They are home to a large museum full of Superman memorabilia. It is impressive and I will get back in there some day...for the blog. They also have a few fun little spots for tourists to come through and get their picture taken.

Most prominently is the giant Superman statue. It towers over everyone, especially children. As a side note, it's things like this for why DC shouldn't change Superman's costume. This is iconic. There's no need to change it to Kryptonian space armor or whatever. This is the Superman costume. This is what people make statues of.

There are also classic cutouts for kids of all ages to pose with and appear as though they are Superman or Supergirl.

There is a giant mural of several of the actors who have portrayed Superman and some guy named Brandon Routh.

There's quite a bit of other decor in this little area near the museum and statue. And Pepsi must have sponsored this because there is even a Mountain Dew bench. Mountain Dew and Superman...two of my favorite things.

Since my wife and I visited there without kids, they have installed a Noel Neill statue just down the street from the Superman statue. Neill played Lois Lane in the Superman serials and the Adventures of Superman television series. It's a pretty good likeness and a very cool thing to have in Metropolis.

There is also a little place called Thor's Gym in town. Not sure how I feel about that.

As an aside, there is a trend of cardboard cutouts at state welcome stations. I managed to get three pictures of me with people I'd never meet in person:

Alright, that does it for the trip back, but come back on Friday for the last post in this series. Hossin'! And the gathering of the Nerds!!!

CT's Road Trip, part 3: The Freestyle

2011-08-22T11:00:00.002-05:00

While in Illinois, I learned that one of the Jimmy Johns locations in Urbana had a Freestyle Coke fountain. Upon learning more about this, I had to make a stop to try this before heading back to Florida. For all I know, every Jimmy Johns might have one of these things and it's not a big deal. But it's new to me and I think it's very cool, if a bit overwhelming. You might check out this article for a bit more info about it.

This thing is the future when it comes to restaurant sodas. Every restaurant should have one. Or two. In fact, I'd like one for my own home even though Mountain Dew would not be a part of this. It seems a bit complex, but it's rather simple actually. The hard part is making the choice. Especially when you know you'll be heading 900 miles away from this soon and want to make the most of it.

First, you are presented with a selection of 22 base flavors. This is a touch screen panel because touch screen panels are in style now. Your choices are: Powerade, Hi-C, Dasani, Dasani Sensations, Vault, Powerade Zero, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola, Coke Zero, Barqs, Diet Barqs, Fanta Zero, Fanta, Caffeine Free Diet Coke, Sprite, Sprite Zero, Diet Dr. Pepper, Dr. Pepper, Minute Maid Lemonade, Minute Maid Lemonade Light, Seagram's, and Water. Whew! (Note: This machine had Dr. Pepper but apparently other machines have Pibb Xtra and Pibb Zero instead of the Peppers.)

Pressing each screen then takes you to another screen of options. I did not take the time to give you the breakdown for each base flavor.

In this case, I selected Coca-Cola and several different options came up including Cherry Coke, Vanilla Coke, Lime Coke, regular coke, and the one I chose, Cherry Vanilla Coke.

Not every flavor had so many options. Coke and Coke Zero had eight different flavor options...

...where Vault only had five. I did get a Peach-flavored Vault refill which was quite tasty.

Now that we're back in Florida, I have been researching and discovered that there are two of these machines in the area. Further exploration of Tallahassee will be needed soon. I have downloaded an app for my iPhone that will take me to them and will allow me to play some sort of silly game but also gives me a breakdown of the types of drink choices to expect.

Today I covered the best drink experience during my trip, but on Friday I will recount a good portion of the hossin' I did on the trip including my in-person meet up with Jeeg and PLee. But check back on Wednesday for a post about the drive back to Florida.

CT's Road Trip, part 2: Escape from the Action Figure Armpit of America

2011-08-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

Some men like to fish. I've never understood it really. I've gone fishing before. Not my thing. Or maybe it is and I'm only now realizing it.

I have long enjoyed going out for toy runs. Hitting the Walmart, Target, and Toys R Us action figure aisles can be a blast. There's nothing quite like turning the corner and seeing that the aisle has been reset and there are new figures hanging from the pegs. Still, during my time in central Illinois all those years ago, I remember being incredibly frustrated knowing that new product had hit California or some other area, but it had not worked its way into the Midwest.

When we moved to Tallahassee, I was in the middle of my brief time where I had given up collecting action figures, but that didn't ever stop me from looking. Once I began collecting again, my toy runs returned, and I was disappointed to discover that things had not improved for me. Upon returning to Illinois for this visit, I wanted to go on toy runs again and found that Tallahassee is quite possibly the worst area an action figure collector could live. There are waves of G.I. Joe figures that our stores have never received that were warming the pegs in multitudes at the various stores in Champaign-Urbana. I don't really get why action figure distribution is so broken. I want to be able to buy these things at reasonable prices within my own area. Sadly, that might be too much to ask and contributed to my leaving the collecting scene before and may eventually do so again.

That aside, I figured I'd share my loot. I was able to pick up two G.I. Joes that I had not seen and did not have. First was a Cobra Shock Trooper. I almost picked up two of these guys and in retrospect, kind of wish I did. He comes with a tremendous amount of gear, enough that you could probably pick up several and make them all look somewhat different.

I also picked up Shadow Tracker who is a new character for this line. I haven't been getting too many newer characters, focusing mainly on the characters from my childhood. However, this guy is very reminiscent of the Predator and came in a wave that was very much inspired by that movie. Of course, Predator is the greatest G.I. Joe movie ever made. If the G.I. Joe movie had been half as good as just the stuff with those guys, then it would have been a really good movie. I'd like to think that Predator and G.I. Joe each owe a bit of inspiration to each other, but that may be fanboy wishful thinking.

I wasn't the only one to get some new action figures. We have been picking up these stylized super hero action figures for my son. He recently lost his Superman and has been asking for a Wonder Woman. While on the trip, we saw the new wave that contained a two pack with Superman and Wonder Woman. Also picked up a Batman and Deathstroke.

He has quite a collection of these guys now including several of the Marvel versions. It does look like Marvel is changing their figures from this line. We saw the new ones while in Illinois as well.

Also, for the first time, I saw several DC action figures. This line is very cool and appeals to me because of its homage to the Super Powers line, but at $16+ per figure, I am not going to collect.

I am thinking about picking up the Young Justice line though. The smaller figures are priced at $10 or so and each figure comes with a piece of a "Hall of Justice" backdrop. I would love this backdrop and would sell the figures themselves and keep the Hall pieces. This is a project for a later time as only 4 of the 12 figures are out and there is no telling when all will be out.

I also revisited the closet in my old bedroom and brought back a majority of the pieces from my G.I. Joe Headquarters. This thing is very cool and the newer style Joes fit in it just fine. I hope I just forgot the missing pieces and can one day fully assemble this again.

Finally, while there, I was given a handful of vintage Joe and Star Wars toys that had once belonged to someone I knew a few years back that has since passed away. At some point, I plan to clean these up and figure out a way to sell them. Then I'll donate the money to a diabetes organization of some kind since that was the ultimate cause of this guy's death. If anyone has interest in these vehicles, let me know. I'd love to avoid selling them on ebay since they take such a huge cut of the profit.

All in all, a very fun trip for the toy hunt. I even saw a fellow collector that I knew out doing his own toy hunt. I might have to give him a list of things I'm looking for since I know he's in a better place as far as action figures are concerned.

On Monday, I'll be talking about one specific aspect of my trip...my soda from Jimmy Johns.

CT's Road Trip, part 1: Readin' in the Car

2011-08-17T11:00:00.003-05:00

Followers of the blog may be aware that I, CT, currently reside in Tallahassee, Florida. But this wasn't always the case. In fact, Nerd Lunch began as a gathering of the regular bloggers here back when we all lived in the Champaign, Illinois area. Recently, I took a trip back home and some nerdy and lunchy things happened along the way. Today I begin the five-part saga recounting the journey there and back again.

The trip from Tallahassee to Philo, Illinois is 900 miles. This long trek was going to require some reading material. So, my wife was gracious enough to pick out a random assortment of trade paperbacks from the LeRoy Collins Leon County Library that I could bring along on the trip. She did great and picked out five books that I have never read.

Daredevil: Born Again
I own several issues of Daredevil and perhaps even issues from this run, but I had never taken the time to read this entire story. I was familiar with some of the major story elements due to later Daredevil stories making reference to this pivotal saga. The Frank Miller/David Mazzucchelli team holds up to its legendary status here. This tale paves new ground for the characters and changes the dynamics forever. The story is more about character, but builds character through solid plot and pacing. Several characters are used to advance the singular story. The most frustrating part about this is that Born Again would make an excellent film. It could have been a wonderful second or third film in a Daredevil movie franchise. If they get it going again, hopefully they avoid the mistakes of the first one and don't throw in every "cool" Daredevil story into the first movie.

Justice League of America: The Lightning Saga
This was the second collection from the Brad Meltzer run on Justice League of America. In this book, the JLA and JSA team up to track down some members of the Legion of Super Heroes who have come to the 21st Century for a mysterious mission. This was a bit of a mess due to the amount of characters and a convoluted continuity. And, having been out of comic reading for awhile, I was having some trouble piecing together what was going on. This apparently was setting the stage for the return of Barry Allen, but why the Legion cared about that was not adequately explained. Also, there were some weird scenes with Aquaman and Martian Manhunter spying on the League for some odd reason. This story was so self-referential and did not blaze new territory as I would hope a newly relaunched book would. There were some interesting things set up, particularly with Vixen, but as a whole, it read a lot like fan fiction.

Superman/Batman: Supergirl
This is volume two of the Superman/Batman series and makes a few references to the previous volume. Even though I had not read that, I had seen the Public Enemies movie adaptation which was fairly faithful from my understanding. As explained in the supplementary material in the book, this story was done to simplify Supergirl. It is a modern retelling of her original appearance from the 60s. Although, in a (yet again) fanfic sort of way, Batman and Wonder Woman are thrown into the mix. The story is packed with coincidences and "wouldn't it be cool if's." I've long considered Jeph Loeb to be a man with about six story ideas and everything he writes is an extrapolation of one of those ideas. This is really no different. However, in spite of its faults, the story is told in a very dramatic way that probably translates well to the screen. I have not seen the animated adaptation, but I imagine it is very entertaining, if lacking real substance.

Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E., vol 1 & 2
Warren Ellis can be hit or miss with me, but I think I've managed to read more things I consider hits than misses. He definitely has an easy reading style though it can be mired in ridiculously genius continuity. This book is about five obscure Marvel characters becoming a rogue super hero team and fighting monsters. My lack of Marvel knowledge meant that I was only familiar with two of the characters and had heard of a third. My only issue with this book is that is starts out serious, but takes a parody sort of twist and becomes a bit more like Venture Bros than I'd like. The resolution also seemed rush. Overall, I'd say this is a hit, but certainly no Planetary. Also worth noting that Stuart Immonen's art style is rather different in this book than I'm used to. Much more dynamic, but I did miss his curvy, solid style. Still, I'm glad to see him growing as an artist.

Check back on Friday and I'll talk about my "toy hunt" exploits while in Illinois and share the loot I brought back with me.

Nerd Lunch: The Web Series - Final Episode Commentary

2011-08-15T11:00:00.009-05:00

Wrapping up our commentary series with the final episode of Nerd Lunch: The Web Series. Yes, you read that right. The final episode.

I loved making this series and wish it were in the cards to do more. I had more ideas and regret not being able to share them in this venue at this time. Sadly, there are too many real life things that have gotten in the way so we have decided to wrap.

Thank you to everyone who watched, followed along and encouraged us to do more. Thanks to our hosts and guests over the course of the three short episodes. Thank you to Scott Holstein for your camera skills and expertise. And thank you Savannah for jumping in, coming along for this crazy ride and making this show what it was.

This is not the end though. The blog continues on but there are already talks about another new project on the way. More on that very soon...

Nerd Lunch: The Web Series - Episode 3 (commentary) from Carlin Trammel on Vimeo.

Nerd Lunch: The Web Series - Episode Two Commentary

2011-08-08T11:00:00.001-05:00

Today we re-present the second episode of Nerd Lunch: The Web Series, once again with a commentary track by Savannah and myself.

Nerd Lunch: The Web Series - Episode 2 (commentary) on Vimeo.

Zarana The Enemy!

2011-08-04T11:00:00.001-05:00

Last year I was able to obtain the SDCC exclusive Sgt. Slaughter action figure through a Twitter pal. This year, that same pal tried and was unable to retrieve this year's exclusive. (Thanks for trying, buddy! I appreciate the effort!) Never fear, ebay came to the rescue and I have continued to keep up with getting all the exclusives I want thus far, save one (Dial Tone...grumble...grumble).

I want to post a few pics of Zarana and showoff this new acquisition, but allow me the chance to gripe a bit here about these exclusive. I hate them. Hate. Them. I don't hate Sarge or Zarana, but I hate the hoops that I have to put people through or go through to get them. It seems like such a backwards way of doing these things to reward fans. Attention all fans of this toy line! Thanks for collecting our figures. Our way of thanking you is by making a small number of high demand figures and selling them at one location hundreds of miles away from most of you.

ARGH!

Seriously? Whatever happened to the days of mail in figures? Collect six proofs of purchase and send in some money for shipping and get a cool figure. I loved mail-in figures as a kid. That's how I got Sarge in the first place. I've purchased way more of these G.I. Joes than I had intended. Surely I've picked up enough proofs of purchase for something to be stuck in the mail and sent my way as a thanks for my undying love of G.I. Joe.

Or...you know what...don't thank me. Don't do mail ins, but don't do exclusives either. Just keep making toys I'd like to buy and figure out ways to get them into stores so I can buy them. Easy. Well, it sounds easy. Maybe it's not.

Anyway, this Zarana figure is nifty and I'm glad Cobra has another gal on the shelf. (I guess that's my full review.)

Nerd Lunch: The Web Series - Episode One Commentary

2011-08-01T11:00:00.002-05:00

First, happy birthday to Savannah, my "Nerd Lunch: The Web Series" co-host. I hope it's a great day and that no one forces you to watch some guy eat a bunch of hot dogs.

Second, I have to say a special thanks to Will "The Thrill" Viharo for an incredible review of "Nerd Lunch: The Web Series." He did a quite in-depth review of episode 2 and I'm very flattered.

Now, we do have a special treat for you in this post today. While it's not another episode, it's perhaps the next best thing especially if you are at all the type of person who likes to listen to commentary tracks on DVDs. Savannah and I recently sat down together to record commentary tracks for each of the three episodes of Nerd Lunch: The Web Series. For the next couple weeks, we will post the videos again, this time with commentary.

Here is episode 1:

Nerd Lunch: The Web Series - Episode 1 (commentary) on Vimeo.

CUT TO: Twenty Years Later...

2011-07-28T11:00:00.008-05:00

Twenty years ago yesterday, a 14 year old boy went on his first date with a girl. They went to see Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves starring Kevin Costner then they walked to the local mall and ate at Hardee's. Seven years later, that boy and girl would get married. And thirteen years after that, that boy would decide to write a blog post about it. My wife and I decided to relive our first date as best we could while balancing schedules and kids. First up was a trip to Hardee's. Then later in the evening, we decided to watch Robin Hood for the first time in 20 years.

Hardee's

I grew up enjoying Hardee's. In fact, I recently referenced getting a few novelty cups from there. When I talk about enjoying Hardee's, I'm talking the old Hardee's with the orange and brown color scheme. I liked their burgers, including the specialty ones they offered. And I enjoyed their breakfast and thought it superior to McDonald's fast food breakfast. By the early 90s, they seemed to begin straying from what I liked about them by offering fried chicken. Then, it all went downhill when Carl's Jr. came along and bought them out.

On paper, Hardee's seems like a place I should like. The commercials, promotional photos, and offerings seem right up my alley. Big, thick hamburgers including a "Monster Burger" with 8 strips of bacon. But of all fast food places, Hardee's may be the biggest offender of showing you this awesome picture and then delivering disappointment on a bun. My one experience with a Monster Burger is a testament to that. There were barely four strips of bacon on what they slapped together. I'm willing to overlook single experiences at one location, but since the conversion, every time I have gone, I would have been better served going to Barth's Burgery. (Yes, you heard that.)

Six years ago, my wife and I had a particularly bad experience that caused us to enact a personal boycott of Hardee's that we held true to until last night. For nostalgia (although not really since this isn't the Hardee's that we remember), we lifted the ban and took a trip to Hardee's. We replicated what we remembered our order to be 20 years ago. My wife got a hot ham and cheese and I ordered a burger. We paid nearly twice the price we paid 20 years ago and got food that I would say was only half as good. A ham and cheese sandwich that looked to be piled high with ham in the menu picture cost $3.50 and when it came out on the tray, it was like a bad joke.

Add to that a horrible, squeaking grinding noise coming from the back that never stopped the entire time we were there, we felt fine reenacting our ban on Hardee's and let this blog be a testament to never toying with the idea of lifting it again. If we're going to spend that much money on fast food, we'd be better off going to Chick-fil-A or Whataburger.

Robin Hood

Story
I hadn't watched this movie in 20 years. I remember it being hugely popular in 1991, but remembered little else. This is a weak telling of the Robin Hood story. It makes an attempt to be an epic telling of the origin, but lacks the grandness needed. I admire their attempt to begin well before the interesting action started, but in showing how Robin Hood got where he did, they failed to deliver on the true heart of the story. They would have been better served to begin in the middle and try to establish a few things with expository dialogue or flashbacks. The story didn't always progress in a believable way and things sometimes happened simply because they needed to happen.

Presentation
The direction was weak. Shots they chose were trite and uninspired. The fight scenes lacked the flair that Robin Hood deserved. The cast had some good actors, but no one was given exceptional dialogue. Alan Rickman forced a decent performance, but even he seemed to be overacting. The best actor they had might have been Brian Blessed who was criminally underused in the story. Kevin Costner himself seemed to have gotten acting lessons from a high school thespian. Maybe 1991 couldn't have delivered a better Robin Hood movie than this, but I had hoped for better.

STORY

PRESENTATION

REWATCHABLE
Maybe in another 20 years...

Maybe it seems silly to celebrate this milestone anniversary with a lousy meal and a mediocre movie. Or maybe it's oddly appropriate. Throughout life, we're presented with situations we don't necessarily like. I know that in the past 20 years, we've had our share of them and will continue to. And sure, I've complained about things and wondered why certain things had to happen the way they did. But through it all, for 20 years, I've had someone by my side that has made it all worth living and helped me get through it. It really doesn't matter where we went, it matters that we went together and what we made of it.

Okay...now no one share this blog post with my daughter. She doesn't need to know her parents dated so young.

Shadowmasters: Rebooted

2011-07-25T07:52:00.007-05:00

We've been winding down our series of Reboot articles, but I just saw Captain America: The First Avenger over the weekend. Soooo good. For the longtime Marvel fan, one of the real treats was seeing the Howling Commandos on the big screen. Lots of the details were changed --- most notably, taking Sgt. Fury out entirely and making the Howlers Captain America's squad --- but the spirit of the group was preserved: a multiethnic (and later multinational) team of grunts, with one boot in "Band of Brothers" territory and the other kicking Nazi supervillain butt, Lee / Kirby - style. They made a big impact in just a few scenes, and I hope they return for a sequel.

One interesting change was the inclusion of Jim Morita as a Howler. I just happened to have the old Sgt. Fury comic where Morita made one of his very few appearances --- not as a full-fledged Howler, but as a young Japanese-American solider overcame prejudice within the ranks and joined an all-Nisei Ranger squad, also commanded by Howlers C.O. Captain "Happy Sam" Sawyer. Unlike the Howlers, who had enough adventures to fill every day of the war, the Nisei Squad's missions have gone largely undocumented.

My reboot idea? Same thing, more ninjas. I'm borrowing the name "Shadowmasters" from an equally obscure Marvel miniseries from the late 1980s, about a family of ninjas in Japan from WWII onward. Truthfully, it was a pretty weak comic, but there was an early scene of a white-clad ninja with a demon mask taking out enemy soldiers that has stayed with me all this time.

So the rebooted Nisei Squad were recruited because the OSS had secured the services of a genuine ninja grandmaster, who moved to America after a falling out with Imperial Japan. Ezaki-San is a cranky, bigoted old killing machine (a la Chuin from the Remo Williams franchise), but he has developed a certain fondness for the Andrews Sisters and Gene Kelly, and he really hates Nazis.

Despite all being Japanese-American (maybe with an Okinawan thrown in for flavor), the recruits are a diverse bunch, with combat specialties ranging from ancient kenjitsu to state-of-the-art SAS close-combat training. Ezaki made them ninjas, Sawyer made them Rangers, and the Nazis never knew what hit them.

As a bonus, this reboot leaves the door open to develop Marvel's secret 70 year history of American ninja special forces. It writes itself, people.

Smurf your whole day long

2011-07-23T08:23:00.000-05:00

As a child of the 80s, I was fortunate to grow up in a time of Saturday morning cartoons. And there were some great ones. But the downside to having a younger sister is that I sometimes had to share the television and watch something she wanted to watch. Smurfs was one of those shows that I initially watched begrudgingly. I can't recall now what I wanted to watch instead, but I do know we watched Smurfs for several years. And, despite my initial opposition to it, I eventually came to like the Smurfs enough. At least enough to keep up with who the characters were and get a few laughs. And looking back now, it certainly earns a spot in the 1980s Pantheon of Properties.

Cut to several years later. The children of the 80s are making marketing decisions at toy companies. Properties that boys and girls my age loved have been continually returning in a parade of nostalgia. They've remade tons of other cartoons from our youth into movies. It was only a matter of time that another property from our childhood returned in movie form, too.

Except, the Smurfs aren't really from the 80s anymore than Spider-Man is from the 80s since he was in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. The Smurfs have roots that go back much farther than the 1982 cartoon and it's a history that I was not all that intimately familiar with. I recently discovered the Retroist podcast and have been devouring these episodes including ones focused on properties that are not in my usual wheelhouse. The Smurfs episode of the Retroist enlightened me about some details I was not really aware of. I had no idea that the Smurfs appeared 24 years before I first watched them on some unsuspecting Saturday morning. And somehow knowing that makes them instantly cooler.

So, when I was presented with the opportunity to review The World of SMURFS by Matt. Murray, I said, "yes!" But our friend Smurfwreck over at Branded in the 80s as well as the aforementioned Retroist blog have already both reviewed the book and done great jobs with those reviews. My seven-year-old daughter has begun showing an interest in the Smurfs due to a resurgence in marketing thanks to the upcoming Smurfs movie. In wondering what could I do differently with this review, I decided to sit down with her one evening and look at the book with her.

The book begins with a thorough look at Peyo, the artist who created the Smurfs and covers the history from their early comic appearances, to their toys, to the cartoon, and where they've been since 1990. It is a well designed book offering several extras in the form of foldout posters, sticker sheets, and excerpts from the original comics. The folks at Abrams put together a very impressive package that not only satisfied my desire to learn a bit more about these characters formerly known as Les Schtroumpfs, but opened up my daughter's eyes to the expansive world of the Smurfs.

She thoroughly enjoyed looking at the book and getting the backstory on Smurfette, seeing pictures of the old and new toys, and learning about the various characters. Her favorite chapter was "Who the Smurf?!" which gave bios on several characters. Although second to that was a chapter about the upcoming movie which showed stills and promo art. One excellent piece of art was a guide to the Smurf characters who will be in the movie.

Many properties have come along over the years creating characters based solely on personality traits or emotions. But the Smurfs had to have been among the first. In doing so, they tell a story about a community that almost resembles the internal struggles that just one person goes through. The Smurfs will continue to be around for a long time and I imagine a day when my daughter will be sharing the Smurfs with her children and will be able to share with them that the Smurfs were around long before even their grandparents were born.

The World of SMURFS is available at Amazon and directly from Abrams website.

Nerd Cavalcade of Lunch Awesome, part 2

2011-07-21T11:00:00.000-05:00

Between Paxton Holley over at The Cavalcade of Awesome and myself, it's possible we've written more about our visit to the Tallahassee Antique Auto Museum than any visitors have ever written before. I could be wrong though. On Monday, Paxton gave a thorough review of the cars in the museum. I followed up on Tuesday with a general overview of the entire museum. Then yesterday, Paxton returned with some thoughts about the non-auto stuff in the museum. Since my overview was less detailed, I thought I would follow up today with just a few photos that didn't make the cut for Tuesday's article.

"Uh oh, I hope I have insurance," thought Paxton.

The Walmart edition of the giant Arthur doll was on display.

The museum held the hearse that allegedly carried Lincoln to his tomb.

The museum was home to several guns including this U.S. Post Office sidearm.

I feel better knowing that NASA gives these knives to their astronauts. I assume in case of alien attacks and whatnot.

There were a lot, and I mean hundreds (or more) knives in this museu. This was the closest thing to a Klingon knife in the place. Disappointing.

This made me nostalgic for KayBee toys, the only reason I ever really liked going to the mall.

For NightMan, Jr.

I don't know what this was, but it was nice and steampunkish.

I'd be more inclined to mow my lawn more often if I owned this lawnmower.

Tomorrow, Paxton wraps up the series where he talks about his "Showdown with the Double Down." And, look for a Facebook and/or Google+ album of these photos and more soon.

Nerd Cavalcade of Lunch Awesome

2011-07-19T11:00:00.001-05:00

Awesome.

That's the word that I would use to describe my Saturday, July 9. And it's an appropriate word to use since I got to hang out with Paxton Holley from the Cavalcade of Awesome blog. I've referenced Paxton before. We were awarded a "Versatile Blogger Award" from him last September.

Followers of this blog or Nerd Lunch: The Web Series are probably aware that I live in Tallahassee, Florida. Paxton is located just a couple hours away in Jacksonville, FL. For a few months now, we've been talking about setting up an epic blog crossover. In the style of Marvel Team-up, this finally happened. Actually, it wasn't really in the style of Marvel Team-Up. Most of those issues began with the heroes fighting followed by them uniting against a common foe. We had the common foes, but not so much the initial fighting. I guess we did it wrong.

For this adventure, Paxton visited me in my city. As host, I felt it appropriate that we do both nerdin' and hossin' as to hit the two key components of "Nerd Lunch."

One of the main attractions in Tallahassee, though overshadowed by the Capitol and FSU football, is the Tallahassee Antique Auto Museum. It's owned by a local eccentric who has collected a plethora of items. The focus of the museum is the autos, but there is much, much more in this place. Some of it has merit, some of it…maybe not so much. I've been in Tallahassee for six years and had never been to the museum. I really had no excuse because for about two years of my time here, I lived just down the street from it. With Paxton coming to visit, I saw this as an opportunity to rectify a six-year-old mistake. And since this museum houses three Batmobiles, it immediately gains status as "nerd" location.

The Museum has been around for years, but moved into its current facility in 2008. It is a rather large facility, although, in spite of that it can seem like it's awfully cramped. That speaks to the amount of items featured in the museum, but also to the organization of it. Or maybe lack thereof. While it is often referred to as just the "Auto Museum" by Tallahassee natives, this contains much, much…much more.

And I'll be honest, I've never been much of a car guy so that works against me right off the bat. I don't already know the history of the individual cars and what engines they have and what their competitors were, and so on. While lacking that knowledge took away from the enjoyment some, what that building houses was not completely lost on me. I still respect the history and beauty of what was crafted in days of old. I can tell that these cars from the 50s were finely crafted with their heft and chrome.

From my standpoint, I had hoped for more cars from film and television. Three Batmobiles is cool. Seeing a Delorean--also cool. When my next auto that I'm glomming onto is a 1997 Plymouth Prowler because it was in NightMan, you could say that I might have been coming at this with the wrong mindset. I wanted to see the General Lee, K.I.T.T., or the car that Jim Rockford drove. For that, I went to the wrong museum.

That's alright though. As a collector of things, I can admire the collection, whatever it is. The sheer number of cars alone is impressive. Add to that the eclectic mix of other items and the sheer quantities of those things, it was actually a bit overwhelming.
The museum contained thousands of knives, hundreds of golf clubs, dozens of boat motors, and countless dolls, comic books, and other trinkets. Unfortunately, these things were just peppered throughout with no real explanation or order. And some items, such as teddy bears and dolls, were placed all over the museum, even on or in cars. To me, this took away from the cars, and I suppose the teddy bears as well. Don't misunderstand, I like teddy bears, but I'd like to admire a 100-year-old car without the distraction of one.

As a whole, I'd recommend a one-time visit if you have any interest in seeing old things. The admission price seemed steep and I got a substantial student discount. I can't see going back on my own, but I can see my dad enjoying it so maybe I'll go with him someday. I definitely recommend going with someone. The trip was much more enjoyable having a buddy to chat with.

Once we left, it was time for hossin'. Paxton made the request to chow down on Double Downs at KFC. I've covered them before, but I was up for one again. Although I suggested that we replicate the hot dog tour from episode 1 of "Nerd Lunch: The Web Series" should he ever return.

I thoroughly enjoyed my day with Paxton and I'm looking forward to our next "Marvel Team-Up."

Paxton and I are both making this an entire week of posts. Check out his very thorough post about the autos from the museum yesterday. He'll return tomorrow with more about the other odds and ends in the museum. I will be posting some additional pics on Thursday, and on Friday, Paxton will be talking about his lunch. It's going to be a great week.

Thundarr, The Barbarian: Rebooted

2011-07-15T11:00:00.000-05:00

When PLee threw down the challenge, one of the first shows I thought of was Thundarr and how it needs to be brought back. The fact is, when thinking about a reboot, I personally wouldn't change much. The Alex Toth designs for the three main characters are perfect. I like the general style of animation they used and wouldn't want to deviate too much from that (like the 2002 He-Man did from it's 1982 predecessor).

With the reboot, I would want to fully explore the origins of the story and better trace how Earth got the way it was between the time of the meteor and the time of Thundarr. Some back story for the original series was written and a prequel movie was at one time rumored to be in the works. This never happened, but some story details were released. In essence, Thundarr and Ookla were prisoners and Princess Ariel gave up her status to rescue them. It seems like it would be a relatively simple story to set things up.

An element I would add is that this trio is not only wandering the devastated world to find humans and aid them against mutants, monsters and magicians, but they are on the run from a recurring villain who rules over much of what was once know as North America. Other villains from the original series would show up as well, including the only villain to appear more than once, Gemini.

It seems like there should be some goal in mind. Humans are oppressed and no longer rule the world. What caused the fall of humans? Where did magic come from? How can they ever defeat these powerful beings? Perhaps there is a "source" of all magic powers. Before the meteor, this source was sealed off from humans and only certain people in the history of time could access it. When the meteor devastated the world, the source was opened and tainted. During the series, Thundarr learns of the source and makes it his quest to seal it once again. This causes conflict between him and Ariel as she feels that she has proven that not all magicians are evil. As they grow closer to the source, Ariel's power grows, and so does her inclination for evil.

The finale sees Thundarr face off against Ariel. The final battle culminates in Thundarr using his Sun Sword to seal off the source (say that ten times fast). Along the way, the humans they have liberated began banding together and declare Thundarr their king. He turns it down and the three adventurers go riding off into the distance looking for more adventures.

From a behind the scenes perspective, I'd get Phil Noto on board to do some character designs. He's done some nice Thundarr drawings and seems to have an affinity for the character.

Doc Savage: Rebooted

2011-07-13T11:00:00.000-05:00

Any nerd worth the name has at least a passing familiarity with Doc Savage --- proto-superhero (right down to the Fortress of Solitude and the first name "Clark"), pulp crusader of the 30s and 40s, and reprint paperback superstar of the 70s. I've previously suggested bronze giant Dwayne Johnson as the star of a big-budget movie franchise, and I stand by that suggestion. In fact, DC just did a run of Doc comics set in a modern day pulp world --- cell phones and zeppelins --- which would be a great starting point for that franchise.

But this is my other Doc Savage pitch . . . the Smallville version. A live action TV series, sort of a portrait of the superhero as a young man. Doc Savage doesn't have the same kind of pop culture ubiquity as Superman, obviously, nor the same sort of well-developed universe to draw from (only one recurring baddy, and he only appeared twice, and in general little attention to continuity from one novel to the next), so this show wouldn't rely so much on riffing on the established universe (i.e., let's do a red kryptonite episode) like "Smallville" seems to do.

Basic premise is that twenty-something Clark "Doc" Savage, Jr. is a young surgeon who has been leading a Spec Ops rescue team in Afghanistan for the past couple of years. When his dad, CEO and founder of the Hidalgo Corporation, dies under mysterious circumstances, Clark inherits a billion dollars and some change and a mission --- protect the world from threats that cannot be understood by conventional science or stopped by conventional law enforcement.

The core team assisting him are a couple of Army buddies --- sharp-dressed lawyer Theo "Ham" Brooks and slovenly roughneck chemist Andrew "Monk" Mayfair. Doc's three other assistants --- engineer Renny, archeologist Johnny, and technologist Long Tom --- could be recurring characters brought in on a case-by-case basis (as they were in the novels). All were originally portrayed as vaguely WASP, vaguely 40ish, and high-ranking officers in WWI . . . I would be all for mixing it up and making Renny a youngish Michael Clark Duncan and Long Tom a spunky little Korean gal.

Cousin Patricia from the novels would be a good addition, too --- she could be revamped as either a sharp MBA who manages Hidalgo and insists on tagging along on adventures, or a youngish socialite who starts devoting her fame and money to Clark's mission.

As a TV series, this would actually be trying to hit a spot somewhere between MacGyver (old-school 80s adventure with a smart hero who won't kill) and Alias (larger cast, more ongoing storylines, a few fantastic elements mixed in with Bondian pulp action espionage).

I'm casting Daniel Cudmore from the last couple of X-Men movies as Doc . . . he's about 6'9" and appears to eat a lot of meat, and that's a good start. Give him a tan and some gold contacts and you're good to go.

Black Jack: Rebooted

2011-07-11T11:00:00.002-05:00

Once again, we are visited by Christian Nielsen from The Atomic Geeks. He has answered the "Nerd Lunch Reboot Challenge." Let's see what he chose...

When Nerd Lunch proposed this reboot challenge, a lot of possibilities crossed my mind both from the big screen and the small screen. Small Wonder. Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins. Breaker High. Well maybe not the last one. But just for the heck of it I decided to type “old TV shows” into my Google search engine and see what would come up. I clicked on the first link and scanned a huge alphabetical list of television shows. I had just started looking when one title smacked me between the eyes.

100 Lives of Black Jack Savage

If that title doesn’t create interest I don’t know what will. The premise of the very short lived Stephen J. Cannell show from 1991 is this: Barry Tarberry is a Wall Street con artist who escapes government prosecution and flees to the Caribbean. In the Caribbean he meets up with a ghost pirate called Black Jack. They both discover that they are eternally damned to hell unless they save 100 souls to compensate for their evil ways. Also Barry drives a black spy speedboat around the islands to help fight crime. I know, totally awesome.

I think the basic premise of the show is fantastic. I like shows that have a specific goal and hint that the existence of the show is finite, so jump aboard and watch every episode! I do think that almost everything else needs to change. If anything I think this show needs to be a bit more street level and a whole lot darker. Here is what I propose.

First of all the title of the show would be changed from “100 Lives of Black Jack Savage” to just Black Jack. The new title would be named after the main character, Jack Smith a career criminal known on the streets of New York City as “Jack” or “Black Jack.” I see Jack as pretty much a carbon copy of Mel Gibson’s character Porter from the movie Payback. A badass criminal who generally doesn’t take no for an answer and has the hint of a heart of gold somewhere within his chest cavity.

The setting of the show will take place primarily in the dark under belly of New York City instead of the colourful Caribbean. Jack will be involved in some sort of “sacrilegious” criminal endeavour that evolves into a mysterious white light moment with commanding voices that will inform Jack of his situation regarding the saving of 100 souls and how he will be contacted by his partner in his quest for the salvation of his soul. Obviously Jack will initially dismiss this event as poppycock until he is contacted by his ethereal partner who will remove all doubt of his situation.

Now as much as I would love for Jack’s ghostly partner to be a pirate I don’t think that this modern take on the show would make sense. I see “The Ghost” as being more of a mysterious grifter type personality. A kind of sneaky Steve Buscemi character called Max or Gus or something. It’s not exactly clear what Gus (ok Gus it is.) has done in his previous life that needs redeeming but what is clear to Jack is that he knows much, much more about their situation that he is currently willing to reveal. Essentially Gus is to Jack much like Al was to Sam in the TV show Quantum Leap. Gus knows who they have to help but it’s up to Jack expedite the solution however he seems fit.

Essentially I see this show as the odd couple trying to save their own bacon one soul at a time. Gus the Ghost wants to get the ball rolling on the soul saving as quickly as possible while Jack wants to find out more about the mystery his situation while solving their problems in his own special way. Besides the fact he’s a career criminal suddenly trying to do the right thing while trying to maintain his street cred can be a bit difficult.

Obviously there should be a myriad of recurring characters that appear. Jack’s former business associates. The local law enforcement. The pretty female do-gooder would be obvious. More importantly the real theme of the show would be the relationship between Jack and Gus. Jack is trying to figure out what the real story behind Gus and their whole situation is while Gus just wants to save his behind. Many adventures abound that dwell in both the supernatural realm and the gritty streets of New York City. Sadly, without a black spy speedboat.

Quantum Leap: Rebooted

2011-07-07T11:00:00.000-05:00

The original concept for Quantum Leap is brilliant. Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime and pressured to prove his theory or lose funding, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the quantum accelerator and vanished.

Beckett successfully time travels, but finds that he is living the life of someone else in the past. Able to communicate through time via brainwaves, Beckett and his holographic companion Al determine that Beckett has been intercepted by an "unknown force to change history for the better."

In the reboot, these things are still in place, but Sam makes more of an effort to gain control over the leaps and in doing so, he is continually put in his place by the "unknown force." Initially wanting to make it back to his own time, Beckett accepts his mission to positively influence history with the hopes of meeting the entity sending him on these missions. The series would be episodic for the most part as was it's successor, but would have an over-arcing story showing Sam struggle with accepting his fate.

The original series introduced the concept of "evil leapers" and the reboot would eventually get around to that culminating in the big reveal that Sam's quantum leap experiment actually killed him and there is no returning home ever. He is, in essence, stuck between life and death being used as an agent of change for a good force combating agents of change operating on behalf of an evil force.

The original series focused on the 50s, 60s, and 70s with occasional visits to the 80s. Since Scott Bakula was born in the mid-50s, it made sense that his Beckett's lifetime would cover that era. For this show, I propose casting someone younger and setting the show in "the near future." Jon Hamm, born in 1971, would take the lead role giving the rebooted Dr. Beckett a lifetime that begins in the mid-70s. The time period would focus on the Gen X years rather than the Baby Boomer years (70s, 80s, 90s).

Again, Beckett is joined by an observer from his own time who is initially known only as "Al." In the original series, Al was an admiral in the Navy who somehow ends up working as a lackey for a civilian scientist. That doesn't make sense. In fact, I'm not sure how the Navy really has anything to do with this project so I'd drop that whole angle. I'd also want to do more with the "present day" stories and expand the operations of Project: Quantum Leap. In Dr. Beckett's absence, the government has sent someone in to take over. Al must continually keep the project from getting shut down. My castling choice for Al would be Benicio del Toro, although, that might be a tough guy to get.

The original show was rather pricey, not just because of special effects, but because of it being a period piece every week. I'd not want to lose any production value and would rather this reboot be done in shorter seasons with greater focus given to each episode.

MacGyver: Rebooted [A Mullet Shall Rise]

2011-07-05T13:30:00.000-05:00

Have you nerds watched "Human Target"? Oh, they messed up that show in the second season . . . but that's a topic for a different post. The first season was a throwback to the sort of action shows that made Stephen J. Cannell a bearded multi-billionaire space pope back in the 80s. Cool guy goes somewhere new every week and solves someone's problem. Different pretty girl every week. A little colorful sidekickery. Yep, to this day, that is how I try to live my life. And you just don't see much of this genre anymore.

And in particular, there just aren't any guys like MacGyver on TV right now. And the world needs him . . . a smart, socially conscious troubleshooter for the 21st century. So what are the main ingredients for the reboot?

1. Keep the Phoenix Foundation as good guys, for one. It would be easy to make them morally ambiguous and even black-opsy . . . it's some sort of vast think tank with unlimited resources and ties to U.S. intelligence, after all. Don't do it. Good guys.

2. Work some real-world social issues in there. MacGyver used to outwit Russian spies in one episode and then spend a week teaching kids to stay in school or fight pollution or whatnot. I don't think a modern audience requires that same sense of resolution you got at the end of the old shows. I mean, when MacGyver tackled illiteracy, by the end it seemed like everyone in the world could read now. But mix some current affairs in with the ticking timebombs.

3. Casting, as always, is key. One thing you'll notice on this blog is that when we get down to casting ideas, we tend to use genre veterans because, well, that's what we watch. [I don't know, maybe Jeeg watches "NCIS" and just doesn't advertise it.] So I'm open to suggestions. Has to be something nice for the ladies, but also believable as an action hero who can improvise.

And I'll admit, although I like the idea of Jack Dalton, recurring pilot buddy who drags Mac into trouble (on the weekends, I guess), I never liked the guy who played Jack.

4. What's the real advantage of MacGyver 2.0? DVD and Hulu and other opportunities to watch episodes over and over, or knock out a season over a lazy weekend. This lends itself more toward continuity rather than a strictly episodic approach. You can build the universe, play with the recurring characters, put some foreshadowing in there and let it pay off slowly.