As you may have heard via the Modern Geek podcast, after the recent GWC meetup we experienced a significant multiple-item gear failure in the GWC studio. It disappoints us, of course, but we can’t complain. Some of the gear we’ve been using to produce the network’s podcasts is over 10 years old, and we’ve been using the living crap out of it for six years now.
What you may not have heard, though, is that we’re currently affected by lot of other issues as well. I’ve had to take on some additional work to meet past financial obligations, leading to some very long hours. Audra is pushing through the end of a semester in which she’s working multiple high-work-load committees as well as her normally-huge grading tasks. And on the positive side: I graduate from college soon (having just finished up a hellacious honors thesis) and Sean will shortly welcome a new baby girl into the family. In the past we’ve cruised right through issues similar to these. But with them all stacked on top of each other like some perfect storm of podcast-life-sucking difficulty, we decided that taking a short break would prove smarter (and better for GWC) than just blindly soldiering on. So we’re going to pause production for a couple of months. You’ll probably continue to see a podcast here and there, especially Modern Geek. (Hey, Juan and I get antsy if we don’t get our fix.) But rest assured that we’re not going anywhere. We’re just hunkering down to take care of some important stuff, then catching our breath briefly to come back stronger, with working equipment, and a better plan of attack for providing the content we love.
The forum and other GWC activities will remain active throughout, and we’ll be around. You’re as important to us as we are to you, and your support (both direct and indirect) is greatly appreciated. Obviously we hope you’ll stick around, because we’re excited to have an opportunity to finally take care of some technical and organizational needs that have always come second to pushing out the ‘cast weekly. And we’re excited for what they mean for the future of GWC.
I’d say “see you on the other side,” but honestly we’ll still all be here, just a bit busier than normal and maybe a little tired. So: see you on the forums, FB, Twitter, hangouts, and everywhere else GWC lives and breathes.
Chuck
credit: Lionsgate
I am going to kickoff a series of articles that explore and challenge this phenomena focusing each week on something that was universally passed over. I don’t want this to be one-sided tho, I want your thoughts, your feedback and even your posts if you have something you want to present. Going to play with the format some and I expect this to evolve over time. Let me know what you think! I am going to challenge myself to consume something that has a stank on it. On trial this week: 2012’s Dredd. Continue reading »
“This looks familiar, vaguely familiar, almost unreal, yet, it’s too soon to feel yet. Close to my soul, and yet so far away. I’m going to go back there someday”
– Gonzo, “I’m Going to go Back There Someday” – The Muppet Movie
Ever since childhood that song has always resonated with me but I could never quite put my finger on why. I realize now I didn’t have anything in my life outside my family that actually matched that sentiment. I do now.
I have an hour commute everyday which affords me the luxery of being able to consume a great deal of podcasts and movies. I received from Netflix a slew of movies I had been looking forward to seeing but never got to see in the theater. The Dark Knight Rises. Total Recall. Chronicle. Battleship. Underworld Awakenings. Men in Black 3.
My original intent for writing this was to defend Total Recall and Battleship but as I began to research I noticed something very interesting: according to Boxofficemojo the top five grossing movies in 2012 are geek fodder. 1. Avengers 2. Dark Knight Rises 3. Hunger Games 4. Skyfall 5. Twilight. Close behind those are the Hobbit, Spiderman, MIB3, Prometheus. Do you notice a trend? If you add up the gross of the top 5 movies it adds up to over 2 billion dollars.
Guess what guys? We won. Continue reading »
Thanks to Pimp Scooter for the sweet image of Rodimus
An Open Letter to Michael Bay and Mark Wahlberg:
Dear sirs, I want to make you aware of the tremendous opportunity that lays dormant right in front of you. As you break the script for the upcoming Transformers movie I hope you will give a moment of consideration to including the greatest Transformer ever (except Grimlock), Hot Rod.
As I am sure you are aware from your years of research into the subject matter Hot Rod is the perfect addition to the new and darker turn you are hoping to take this movie. He is brash, arrogant and sure to appeal to your target demographic. Sure, he is not as funny as chiwawas humping or as polarizing as having Mudflaps and Skids speak in poor Ebonics, but who are we to judge. Continue reading »
As they announced at the panel this year, Stan Lee’s new YouTube Channel, World of Heroes, will feature eight new shows. The panel included Stan Lee (the man is hilarious!), Mark Hamill (he did the Joker voice!), Peter David (The Hulk), Jace Hall (executive producer on the recent ABC remake of V), Adrianne Curry (America’s Next Top Model – or, as I know her — Peter Brady’s ex) and Bonnie Burton (The Star Wars Craft Book).
There was a lot of joking around amongst the panel members. We got to see trailers for each of the new shows, all of which got a good response from the audience (including me). I’ve already subscribed to the channel. Here’s a list of the shows with brief descriptions from the trailers:
I attended this panel on Friday, July 13th, with moderator Annalee Newitz (io9), Cyriaque Lamar (io9), Charlie Jane Anders (io9), Phil Plait (writer/scientist, Bad Astronomy), Deric A. Hughes (producer/writer, Warehouse 13), and Sarah Kuhn (writer, One Con Glory). There was another person onstage whose name I did not catch and who is not in the SDCC schedule.
The panel was very enthusiastic about their topic and kept the audience engaged for the hour. Phil Plait (a.k.a. the Bad Astronomer) was fun to see live rather than as only a podcast voice. I believe he discussed Redshirts. Ian McDonald’s works were mentioned, as well as Dash Shaw’s new graphic novel BodyWorld and Rick Moody’s dystopian-future novel The Four Fingers of Death.
In the first week since we opened RSVPs and registration for the 2012 international meetup we’ve seen almost as many RSVPs as we had in all of last year. Clearly it’s gonna be a kick-ass time, as defined by the fact that some of the coolest people in the world (GWCers, natch) will be there. As always we’ve been receiving quite a few questions about the events, the locations, and general what-have-you surrounding the event.
To that end, Juan and I will be doing a live question and answer session this Tuesday (Feb. 7) starting at 8:00 p.m. It’ll be a live podcast, which means it’ll work just like an episode of Eff This Week. Juan and I will be on the mics at 8, and you can listen in via GWC’s live page either here (click the link at the top of the page) or over on UStream. If you’re going to be out somewhere (like at work) and want to listen in on the sly, you can tune in with your smartphone via UStream’s Android and/or iOS apps.
Just like during Eff This Week, there’ll also be a live chat running, which we’ll be watching interactively. We’ll answer/address questions asked there, so if you have concerns, feel free to share them. And hell, you might want to stop by just to listen. This is Juan and me, which means you never know what we’ll end up talking about in addition to the Q&A. Maybe we’ll share some tales of meetups past. Or take requests.
Anyway, hope to see you there, and we definitely hope to see you at the meetup.
A while back, I came across StarWarsUncut.com, a site that divided Star Wars (A New Hope) into 15-second segments and encouraged Star Wars fans to take one of the clips, shoot it however they deemed fit, and upload the sequence back to the site. The end result includes some pretty well-crafted shots and, well, some equally… interesting ones. Ultimately, the goal was to encourage people of all ages and cinematic aptitude to exercise their creative skills, recreate their favorite scene in the Star Wars, and show it off to the world.
Now the site has released “Star Wars Uncut: Director’s Cut,” an assembly of the wildly varying versions of each movie segment into a two-hour-long, full-length version of the original film. While this masterpiece of crowd-sourcing isn’t exactly screen-worthy, it’s a great display of the sheer volume and variety of creativity Internet crowd-sourcing taps. From live-action tinfoil renditions of C-3PO to action figures on the beach and even simple cardboard cutouts taped to straws these clips show just how much people love Star Wars. (My favorite so far is the purring cat-Jawa, by the way.)
I think it’s clear how much fun people had creating these clips, and it just goes to show how sites that encourage user-generated content are worth protecting. And hey, if you have time check out the full-length cut above.
Happy new year, everyone! I’m pretty excited about where GWC’s headed this year and thought I’d share a few bits of news and happenings.
First, we’re making some SERIOUS progress on our plans for the 2012 International Meetup. We announced the date (March 16-18, 2012) on the forum back in November, but it’s taken us a bit longer to work out the nitty gritty details. That said, we’re getting close to locking down the major happenings. In fact, we expect to have those out to you in the next week or two. A few things I can tell you already: We’re planning events starting at noon on Friday and all the way through Sunday evening. This year will definitely be more event-laden than previous years — not that there won’t be plenty of time to just eff off and hang out with friends (new and old). The process will be similar to previous years (don’t worry, we’ll announce it with the schedule), but you’ll definitely need to RSVP for a few of the events. It’s gonna be great.
Also, I wanted to thank those who’ve donated to GWC both on an ongoing basis and over the holidays. Like a lot of you, we found ourselves short of cash after the holidays, and that plus some unexpected personal expenses left us, well, the best way to say it is flat broke. Remember how I mentioned on the podcast that we generally operate the podcast as best we can on our own and save up for “oh s***” moments where we’re screwed? This was one of those. And you came through. Saved up donation money saved the day and kept GWC on the air when it would have gone dark yesterday. You rock. Thanks again. GWC means as much to me as it does to you, so I’m indebted.
Oh yeah, it’s Thor’s Day (as GWCer Keir reminded me this morning) which not only means it’s time to add additional upper body work to your gym day (you know, in honor of the recent movie), but also time for EFF THIS WEEK! We’ll be Effing live tonight at 9:00 p.m. CT (or “crappy time” as Juan calls it — that’s 7:00 p.m. “proper time”) and we’d love to see you at the party. You can join by clicking the Live link at the top of the page. If you’re at work or elsewhere, you can hear the live stream via the UStream app for iOS/Android.
We’re also scheduled (if all goes well) to record a Save Eureka tonight, so if you have any calls for the show, be sure to get ‘em in before 6:00 p.m. CT.
Have a good one.
When it comes to anime, I am more of a mech-style anime viewer. My favorite series is Robotech, followed closely by Starblazers, Voltron, and Transformers. Truth be told, I was not really a fan of the original Thundercats cartoon that aired in the 1980s — but the newly animated 2011 version of the Thundercats is simply some of the best cartoon storytelling I have ever been privileged to experience. The first nine episodes that aired earlier this year were riveting and wonderfully crafted, and they kept me acutely interested. This series has shown that in 2011 cartoons can indeed be for the entire family. The best part is, after a short hiatus, Thundercats resumes its Friday evening Cartoon Network run on November 4th. I highly suggest you “toon” in and catch this amazing series.
I was feeling a bit under the weather, and for once it was raining all weekend so I was stuck inside. When this occurs, a rather grumpy monster forms inside my brain that craves new media. Be it movie, anime, or game, I must consume something. I happened to have some Microsoft points gifted to me (as I tend to hoard all gift cards and points for explosive spending binges like this) so this seemed like a good time to spend them. After seeing an ad for Crysis on the Xbox 360′s feature link for instant download, I decided to take the plunge and see if it could amuse me for a while. There are no words for what I’ve been missing since 2007.
Most of you have prolly seen this hotness already. If so, please just shake your head at my slowness and move on. For the rest of you — check it, you’re gonna want to see this if you dig first-person shooter games with a story — you know, at all.
Continue reading »
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