My Blog 1.0

This morning is the first day ever I will Blog. Please bear with me as it is two in the morning and this first time (heh heh) is as much a test for me as for anyone trying to follow my train of thought.

The purpose for this near-daily internet journal is to define, as best I can, what it is to be a geek. I choose the term "geek" over "nerd" because I feel the latter tends to have more negative connotations. "Nerd" to me still feels like a high-school/college taunt that doesn't help define who you are when all the "Nerds" get together. "Geek", to me, is a more preferable term because geeks tend to focus on non-human interactions (ie Internet surfing or playing Xbox) but not to the point of being social outcasts. Geeks are very useful to have around for the MacGyver quality of the know-it-all and can-do-it-all attitude even if they have a hard time with the social interaction part. Anyway, I like the term "Geek" so I'm sticking with it. I am a geek and so can you with this guide.

The part of this definition of "geek" I'm interested in is the knowledge base (hence the site name). What do you have to know to be a geek? Anyone can be social inept, but it's a lot harder to fail at social etiquette and have a vast data-base of cult movies, pop culture, and computer code on top of a scientific background that would shame Alex Trebec. As I wrote a friend of mine this week, geeks have a responsibility to know a lot of real world tech and pop culture trivia, "field strip" a PC and actually know what "PC load letter" means, and can argue Kirk vs. Picard with conviction.

Part of this Blog will be about my day-to-day adventures being a geek as I review a movie, play a game, or whatever occurs to me. The other part of these postings will be about different things that geeks have to know to be called geeks. There is an immense amount of knowledge you need to have to be a geek, and I intend to break these areas of expertise down into different parts, so even a non-geek can get an idea what makes someone like me tick. Usually a geek has a core focus or two or three that they are masters of (and will share everything at a moments notice), but still has a peripheral knowledge of other areas that have a nominal connection to his/her interests. (An Anime fan may only watch Japanese stuff but at least have heard of Animaniacs, Exo-Squad, Power Puff Girls, and Samurai Jack.) Maybe I'll take the Jeff Foxworthy approach (You know you're a geek if...) or I might delve into the esoterics of Star Wars and The Matrix. Pop Culture knowledge is important, usually with a sci-fi/fantasy/horror bent, and I want to discuss what makes a particular movie, TV show, video game, book, magazine, website, graphic novel, anime, manga, technology, or person important to the cause. Yes, I may even discuss Star Trek at length and, for those that might not stomach heavy comparisons of The Enterpise circa 2265 vs. The Enterprise circa 2270, I will warn ahead of time this Blog contains Star Trek.

My current video game obsession is the Xbox 360. I have a goal to obtain a Gamerscore (GS) of at least 15,000 by years end. Saturday was a good day as I racked up a total of 560 points across three (3) games. The majority of them came from Gun which I wish was a larger game, but has a compelling story that drew me in enough to want to see the game to conclusion. A sequal fully designed for the next-gen systems would be nice, as well as a movie. I have also been playing Half-Life 2 on The Orange Box. For those that don't know, The Orange Box contains five (5) games, the first three (3) being Half-Life 2, HL2 Episode 1, and HL2 Episode 2. I just finished HL2 and have moved on to Episode 1. This series is incredible and I'm ecstatic to see it on a console as I am not a PC gamer. Sorry, I will probably not be reviewing PC games, but I will talk about the history of PC gaming when the topic is relevant. I even played a little Sonic The Hedgehog, available from XBLA. I used to be a master of this "back in the day" but I suck at it now. Decent set of achievements, makes me wonder how I played anything without a GS. BTW, I don't own a PS3 and I might not get for a while, but I love the new Ratchet & Clank commercial and I'm beginning to desire BluRay. Maybe in 2k8 I'll relent.

WARNING, Star Trek. As a huge fan of Star Trek, you can rely on me to drop most things, except maybe Half-Life 2, and watch an episode I've seen a thousand times. However, the "peoples" responsible for making new Trek on a weekly basis aren't making new weekly Trek, but for the 40th Anniversary of TOS they are making Remastered Episodes with cleaned up film and new, I repeat "New", special effects. I initially balked at the idea until I saw "Balance Of Terror", and even the sound was fantastic. The whole thing is done in 5.1. It's like watching a new episode every week. So, I watched "Galileo Seven." An all-time favorite, but now with special effects you get an even better look at what the hell was going on in space. It was good before, but now you see the "quasar" and the planet Spock and crew are lost on and, the best part, Spock's plasma-burn, thrust-maneuver which is awe inspiring. I actually felt more for the crew when you can see FX in HD. This episode still shows the "hand" closing the door and I love the crewman who gets stabbed with a giant spear. The Red Shirts of the episode weren't stupid and stayed behind to let everyone else die. Of note: after the crash landing one crewman is bleeding out the nose and obviously hurt, but Bones ignores the crewman to help the only female crew they brought, and she's perfectly fine. Way to go Bones.

I will attempt to post things every couple days or so. Once I figure out how to put links in the text these musings will become more exciting. See you next broadcast.