Irrelevant But Awesome

So tell me the difference between these two outfits? Which looks more ridiculous? I'll give you a guess, it's the one with the shiny bright blue spandex pants with matching blue boots. I was concerned for the new Wonder Woman tv show when they announced the basic premise. I was even more concerned when the original costume idea first appeared a couple weeks back. It seemed like no one involved had any clue what to do with Diana Prince/Wonder Woman. Three distinct personalities, high-heel blue boots, what else could they throw in there? But now I think it might be getting better. This new costume, while still problematic, is a step up from both the original tv costume and her original bathing suit-inspired costume as well. I still have no idea how she can run with such little breast support, but at least she has some pants on now. If Xena: Warrior Princess could use some straps, her Amazonian sister Wonder Woman could too. I'm just saying. And her shoes are the r...

I am currently very confused by the most recent developments with the new David E. Kelly version of the Wonder Woman TV show. I can only hope Kelly knows exactly what he's doing. Earlier today, cementing the fact that this is actually happening, the lead actress was cast. Personally, she looks way too young to be a corporate executive. But then, such is Hollywood. However, in the mix of that news, stranger news was also announced. It seems that it won't just be Diana Price and Wonder Woman. Someone named Diana Themyscria is also around. In my quest to understand this very confusing plot point I may have found some answers which ease my concerns a bit. Initially I was concerned Kelly would turn Diana Price/Wonder Woman into an antisocial workaholic who spend all her time working or fighting evil. Workaholic women with no time for a family or meaningful male companionship is a tired trope and it's not like Ally McBeal and its hallucinogenic dancing baby did anything ...

I can't decide if this is super awesome or super terrifying. Perhaps if the Daleks weren't shouting their catch-phrase of genocide and abject subjugation in contrast to adorable children? I mean, do these Daleks even speak or was that just for dramatic effects? Because I would find genocidal shouting to be a bit disconcerting on my street and around small children. If there wasn't any sound it would be okay. I'd totally want that if I was a kid (who was familiar with Doctor Who). I do like the theme music they use in this commercial. It reminds me of the Craig Ferguson tribute. And you all know my ridiculous love for that.

I was going through Nexflix's sci-fi/fantasy television show streaming today and thought I'd go and write up a list of shows I like and have seen, that other people may like. That and it's kinda fun to try to condense a whole series into a few short words. I'm sure some will disagree with the brief descriptions I've made. If it helps most of these shows are more light-hearted than deep brooding dramas (with the exceptions of Angel , bits of Buffy , bits of Farscape , and season 3 of Torchwood ). List of Netflix streaming shows worth checking out: For the time-travel fan: Doctor Who For the Captain Jack Harkness/sexy fan: Torchwood For the military vs evil aliens fan: Stargate: SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis For the escaped prisoners running from corrupt, intergalactic law, etc./puppet fan: Farscape For the supernatural girl-power and metaphor for life in the 90s fan: Buffy the Vampire Slayer For the supernatural moody vampire detective/Greek tragedy fan: Angel For the...

I've wanted to write a post about Patrick Stewart for a while now. But I've been putting it off since it always ends up a bit fan-girl. But I do adore the man very much. My first introduction to Patrick Stewart was as Professor Charles Xavier from the X-Men movies. I was aware of his past in Star Trek, but as a non-nerd at the time, it was just a passing knowledge. Perhaps it was because Professor X was such a dramatically-rich and likable character, but I really liked Patrick Stewart. The next two sequels diminished in quality, proving him to be a superb actor despite a poor script. But then came Star Trek. Though it has taken me far longer than it should to finally get into Star Trek: The Next Generation , I am finally among its fans. I began watching through periodic TV re-runs in the past few years, catching a few episodes here and there. And my appreciation for the man grew. Luckily Syfy and BBC America have been recently fond of marathons. But it wasn't unti...

Well...those of us still in college are gearing up for a new semester. T-3 days until homework and reading and class discussions and papers and tests. We're buying books and returning books and realizing we ordered two copies of one and no copies of another. Or at least that's what I'm doing. I'm breaking out the post-its and returning to life among the dorm. I'm already taping things to the side of my dresser. I'm hoping for an Awesome semester. I'm hoping for a few rest-of-my-life epiphanies. I'm hoping that Michele Foucault becomes easier to understand as I read my first homework of the semester. Most of what I'm studying had little to do with nerdy pursuits but that won't stop me. I've got a few ideas in the work. The next four months are going to be interesting. Who knows what awesome, irrelevant, nerdy things will happen.

I realize it won't be 2011 for a few more hours, but I'm impatient. Happy New Year! May 2011 be both irrelevant and awesome and all of the other words we say to each other as the Ball or Acorn or whatever drops tonight. And as I look back on this past decade, it weaves together so much that I can't even remember it all. Age 11-21 is such a time to recall. I did not know then what lay ahead of me at age 11. I did not know what people I would meet and what was in store in my life. I could not even fathom it. I imagine who I ended up would be a shock to younger me. I certainly am a lot better writer than she was. I certainly have more confidence to be what I am. I'm glad to be done with my troubling adolescence, and to be able to move on with my life from that. In those 10 years I did so much, and met some many people. I learned new ideas and concepts and learned to define myself my own way. I became a nerd and a feminist, and I can't remember life be...

Whenever I think of the Necronomicon I think of Evil Dead, more specifically Evil Dead: The Musical. However, the Book of the Dead, is not just related to that franchise. The horror genre seems to be full of necronomicons. And one such mythos is Lovecraft. I got a copy of The Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H. P. Lovecraft as part of a Secret Santa exchange the blog and a number of our friends did earlier in December. It's a fairly large book, 37 stories of varying length. I've been reading it on and off since then. I've never read Lovecraft before. I am, as most nerds are, aware of Cthulhu mythos. Cthulhu love is pretty hard to miss among the nerds. Enough that I took the effort to wikipedia it a few years back to understand. And I had the fortune to read "A Study in Emerald" by Neil Gaiman which is a strange, wonderful mix between Sherlock Holmes and Lovecraftian mythology in a collection of his short fiction. (Here is a link to the story on G...

Merry Christmas Eve! I justed wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays for today and tomorrow. Fingers crossed for those of us in North Carolina. There's a chance of flurries tomorrow...the first white Christmas most of us have seen. I hope everyone gets some fabulous nerdy presents from their families and friends. I hope everyone's had the chance to give some fabulous nerdy presents to their families and friends. As the only nerd in a non-nerd family Christmas is an interesting time. Having to explain the significance of a t-shirt or other nerdy item can be difficult. Especially when it's a gift they bought me. I got a Doctor Who shirt from Mom and Dad last year. Mom didn't have a clue and Dad only had a vague idea what it meant. But I think it's nice that even though they don't understand, they're still willing to get me what I want. At the moment Mom is giving me a funny look for still watching Syfy's Christmas Eve Next Generation marathon. ...

I didn't plan to update for a few more days, but this has to be shared with other people. http://tattuinardoelasaga.wordpress.com/category/introductory-material/ Did you know that George Lucas based his Star Wars story almost entirely on an mostly-forgotten Old Norse saga? This guy is going through and translating what scholars have of the saga into modern English. :-)

You should have been expecting this one. It was only a matter of time before I'd bring out racial problems in nerd culture. More specifically this is about the lack of racial diversity in comics and comic movies and how we are failing to fix that problem. Donald Glover of Community and Derrick Comedy fame started an internet campaign to be the new Spiderman a number of months back. Donald Glover is a black man. The role eventually went to an up-and-comer Brit who is white. Here is a lost opportunity for racial diversity in the superhero movie genre. I want to start with this. First, asking for a white character to become another race for the sake of racial diversity is not racist. The other way around, making a non-white character white, is racist. BECAUSE ALL THE OTHER CHARACTERS WILL BE WHITE. This is a non-issue now people. And the flimsiest of excuses I have heard. The race-bending fiasco of the Airbender movie is only one example of a non-western-inspired cultu...

This is a few weeks old, but given we are 12 days (of Christmas) away from the Doctor Who Christmas Special I felt it was appropriate. And this is the first year we in America can actually watch it (legally) the way we're supposed to. So I'm super excited! Best Christmas present ever! I mean, really, if Craig Ferguson is going to this trouble, it has to be awesome. "It's all about the triumphs of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism." That really should be on a shirt or something. (See I said it would be something happy.)

Please forgive the late-night, post-getting-home-and-being-bored inspiration that is this post. Also forgive that I have yet to discover how to put a page break in. This is too long and too serious to take up the whole page. Sorry. It's no surprise to anyone that the stereotype of the nerd/geek is male. More specifically a male who is so completely incapable of functioning in society they can't get laid by 'chicks' or make friends with 'normal' people. They thus live with their parents in a state of man-child existence alone with their games/comics/collectibles/porn collection/etc. They spend their lives alone or surrounded by other rejects bullied by the 'functioning' members of the society. Their failure to 'grow up' and attract 'chicks' and their failure to interact with other men is emasculation. They cease to be men if they ever were to begin with. I can see how fighting that stereotype would cause someone to have a chip...

Today in the internet is Support Star Wars and Geek Pride for Katie day. Katie, as we all know by now, is the adorable little nerd girl who was bullied for liking Star Wars and has since received a huge outpouring of support from the Star Wars internet fanbase. But the heart the situation I feel is being ignored. Katie wasn't bullied for being a 'dork' or a 'loser' by the more 'popular' kids. She was being bullied by other nerd boys . Boys who resented her breaking into their unofficial 'boys club' of Star Wars appreciation. Nerds are bullied too. Katie isn't the first girl to get this treatment. Plenty of girls have pursued different hobbies and interests when the boys made it clear they couldn't play. And the question is posed by well-meaning people, why girls aren't nerds. Nerd culture needs to finally accept women and girls as legitimate nerds. Women are making strides everyday for acceptance. More women feel comfortabl...

As we slowly get the introductions out of the way, I'm Claire. I'm mostly interested in the Movie/TV aspects of nerd/geek culture. I'm a big fan of a number of franchises and consider myself a member of a number of fandoms. At the moment I'm watching alot of Star Trek: The Next Generation and getting involved in the mythology of that series. Of the series currently on air, I'm adore Doctor Who. I'm just dripping my toes into comics/graphic novels to try and keep my literacy up. Neil Gaiman's Sandman series is a good introduction to comics for anyone looking to try. As my fellow Awesome-ites know I'm also a very interested in the social and cultural politics of being girl nerd/geeks and geek/nerds of marginal status. I tend to interject feminist analysis in everything I do, especially in a culture still so dominated by traditionally male concepts and ideas. With that said. Here is the most awesome gingerbread "house" to be m...