I've Moved

I've moved over to Wordpress for any who are interested. I got frustrated with the way my photos were being published so I took action. I'm over here now!

A shift

   I'm finding that going all out about one nerd property feels silly.  I'd much sooner just talk about the great nerdy fun that I've had and have.  I feel like I'm pointing to myself and yelling "Look at me! I'm a huge nerd! Just look at all these different things I'm into, it's proof I'm a hardcore geek."  I don't want to feel like that. Minutiae and passions is what it's all about.  It's being unbelievably giddy that Rory punches Hitler in the face or having a good time picking on Shatner.  It's thinking up funny science or literary based pick-up lines to use at bars. Sure, some geeks are big picture people, but almost everyone gets caught up in "that one episode" or their favourite campaign they've ever played.

   With that said, I'll do a few more big, overarching posts for some big name geek properties.  The big ones in my book are Monty Python, D&D, and Disney. You may be wondering about Star Wars.  The thing about that is I've never actually seen any of the movies all the way through, if at all.  I know this is blasphemy, but I never saw it when I was a kid and never bothered as a teen.  It's one of those things that never really came up.  Please stop making that face, it'll stick like that forever if you keep gawking.  I'll watch it eventually, and there will be a great fanfare.  Besides this, I'm going to go for little moments and realizations.  They are just as important as the huge ideas.

The Temple of Fuck-All

   One of my favourite franchises is The Legend of Zelda.  I love these games.  These games are one of the few things my brother and I can bond over.  Unless I'm mistaken, my first experience with a gaming system was Ocarina of Time on N64.  It was either that or a friend's Sega.  I'm pretty sure I experienced the N64 first, though.  I'm going to be quite frank about this. I've never actually played the game.  My brother was always playing it and I'd always watch.  I knew the story and by the time I got my own system I had seen it about 3 or 4 times.  The same thing happened to Majora's Mask.  I watched while others played. I regret not stepping in and  asking for the chance to play on my own, but I was a little girl and siblings don't share. Ever. I still love the games even if I've never controlled Link.

   I'm pretty sure the thing that solidified my love for Zelda was the music.  I was a musician before I was anything else. Some of the best video game music is in the Zelda series.  I know tastes are highly debatable, but it's pretty hard to debate this.  I said a while back that my brother was playing a shit ton of Zelda songs on his guitar.  I felt like everything I was doing was pretty amazing.  His favourite is Song of Storms, and who could blame him? When I showed this to him he decided to take a break. 


  I like the design and loose story line.  That's not to say that the story is loose, but you don't need to do it immediately. Yes you have to do story bits in a general order, but there is also a slew of stuff you could do besides.  The side bits are usually pretty fun and useful if you don't want to do the story right away.  There is definitely a formula that the Zelda games have that just work for me and a few million other people.  I am aware of how silly that sounds.  I will never not say something because it sounds silly or cliche, because I'll  truly mean it despite the fact it's an obvious cliche.

Pardon my rant

   I'm not a special snowflake. I know this.  I'm one of the many, many geeky girls in the world.  I've been doing quite a bit of reading lately, and it seems like some girls want a reward or something because they play Halo or have watched a Batman movie.  I'm sorry, but if you want to be treated special because you have interests that are typically  male oriented, that's just absurd.  No one deserves an award for liking something.  That's not to say that people shouldn't enjoy their work or be praised if they are skillful at it.  It's more about the people that want a gold star because they know what the three pieces of the triforce represent.  Girls seem guilty of this most often.  Just be your badass, nerdy selves.  Wear your geek pride as a badge of honour, not as something that deserves praise.

   Also, being a girl who wants to be a special snowflake is not cool either.  My brother used to game with a bunch of guys and this one girl.  She insisted that no other girl could play with them because she wanted to be the only one.  Talk about silly.  I'm not saying that this is every girl, but this mentality seems more common than it should be.

   I'd like to say that I'm not being a hypocrite before anyone attacks me.  I'm not looking for a prize or validation.  I'm here because geek girls who love what they are like to see others like them.  I'm not here to impress anyone, nor trying to put anyone down for not being a nerdy person.  I'm just putting myself out there and if we agree, fantastic.   I do feel silly just talking about girls throughout the whole post, because I know that guys can be guilty of the same thing.  It's just not as common to find guys that want a gold star because they like Star Trek or D&D. 

   Hopefully, I'll return before the week is out and you'll get a proper post. Perhaps a Legend of Zelda post.  My brother learned a good portion of songs and has been playing them all morning, so I'm in a Zelda mood. Maybe I'll post some pictures if I feel ambitious. You'll get to see my nerdy stuff, how exciting!

I'm a blogger, not a doctor

   Ever since I was a kid I've watched Star Trek. What I mean by kid I mean 1-2 years old.  The only reason I know this is because whenever the television is on in the old home movies I can hear the Star Trek: Next Generation music and/or actors talking in the background.  My mother doesn't remember this, but I doubt anyone has doctored my home movies. I was pretty stunned when I found out, especially since TNG rubs me the wrong way now.  I much prefer the original run of the show.  The Original Series just does it for me. I will always prefer the original to a reboot and the 1960s production just can't be beat.  Okay, realistically, yes it can.  The absurd makeshift sets and the ideas about the future were hilarious.  Those weird clay-like food blobs? Amazing.  The dynamic on TOS was unbeatable, too.  All the main characters seemed to bond more naturally even when at each other's throats. That's just the kind of thing that makes something believable, not sets. I may not have been exposed enough, but The Next Generation just seems too antiseptic. I really can't speak to the other two series, but I imagine that they wouldn't impress me either.
  
   I need to say this. Kirk was never my favourite.  It's not that I dislike him, I think he's effective in his own way.  I've just always preferred the brainy men, McCoy and Spock.  I jump between the two as being my favourite; I guess it depends on the episode.  I always felt bad for McCoy because he seemed the most neglected of the group.  It's like saying George is your favourite Beatle.  Lennon and McCartney are fought over and Ringo has his own charm that people remember, but George is often forgotten until someone says "And who's that other one?" If you're interested, Paul and George are my tied favourites.  This might say something about me. I've gotten sidetracked now. I love McCoy.  He's brilliant on his own and is nice and snarky.  I'd love to have a drink with him.  I like Spock for all the same reasons everyone likes Spock.  He's clever, quick, and still flawed the way everyone else is.  It doesn't hurt that the actors were DeForest Kelly and Leonard Nimoy. 

   I really can't speak to the movies because I either haven't seen them in a long time, or haven't seen them at all.  I know, I know shame on me.  Some things are just more important to me.  I'd sooner watch the telly show than a movie.  The most recent take on the TV show was pretty good. I have some issues with it, it was enjoyable overall.  I'd like to go in-depth but I think I'll save it when I look at all the other movies. 

   Now that you know where I stand on most things, the only thing left to address is the ever debated Kirk or Picard.  They were both effective captains and there are definitely some instances where if they swapped places then they might not have survived.  I still think that Picard had better commanding skills.  He thought things out a bit more and had better judgement calls from what I've seen. Kirk got things done, but he was a little reckless.  They both fit into their respective series perfectly, but Picard did a better job. 

   I wish I had the patience to look at every episode.  Maybe I'll choose a favourite or two and look at those. I'd like to stop now, but I have the urge to be just like everyone else and say "live long and prosper".  I'd like to think I'm above that.  I think I'll just be a good little girl and just stop.
  

They were just four lads from Liverpool

   So,  my first gaming experience of my second wave was Resident Evil 5. Not the best, but not bad either.  The game I played in tandem with it was The Beatles Rock Band.  I have the exclusive drum kit and Hofner bass controllers. If you know anything about me you know at least one of two things.  You know that I'm an enormous, obsessive Beatles fan and you know that I'm an enormous and obsessive Doctor Who fan.  Most people know the former and identify me as that one girl who knows all there is to know about Beatle lore.  I don't know everything, but it is scary how much I do know.  It comes as no surprise that I wanted the game.  I waited very patiently for that game.

   Now, I've played games like this before, and I wasn't bad.  I'm still not really good at the guitar, and my drums kind of suck, but it was the vocals I was looking forward to.  I was a singer for many years and stopped schooling for it, but that didn't mean I couldn't belt out these songs.  I went immediately to expert mode for vocals. I had this in the bag.  There's a snag, there's always a snag.  As accurate as they get, everything is still a bit off.  When John sings off key, as he did with moderate frequency, I learned to parrot it expertly.  The game was not as true to life as I would have hoped.  The designers decided to be logical and have it hit the proper next note.  I quickly found out if I sing it the way I usually did I would get a poor score. So much for not having to look at the screen.

   I beat that game pretty quick.  I'm still not aces at the guitar or drums, but I have an excuse to sing the songs.  I actually haven't played in a long time.  I keep promising myself that I will, but it just doesn't happen. I should bring myself to playing because as long as I'm listening to the records, I may as well be playing the game and seeing the funny little animations.  I kind of adore the silly things. They seem so obscenely cheerful and I kind of like that, espically since towards the end they were really not so delighted to see each other.  We all need that little suspension of disbelief once in a while. 

Allons-y

   If you haven't already guessed, I am a huge fan of the long running television show Doctor Who.  If you know me you are sick of hearing this.  I'm sorry but this is necessary.  I discovered it on my own, sort of.  My parents were casual watchers when it was still on its first run.  My father's favourite was always Tom Baker, no surprise here.  I'm actually jealous that they got to watch those episodes when they were new. Oh, well. David Tennant was my first Doctor and must be my favourite, it's the law.  Your first Doctor is more often than not your favourite Doctor.  I'm sorry, where are my manners? For those of you who are not familiar with the show, it's pretty simple.  An alien that looks human uses his spaceship called a TARDIS to fly around time and space.  This man is called the Doctor and is a timelord.  The timelords regenerate their bodies to get around death and the actors leaving the show at any given time.  The Doctor picks up companions from everywhere/everywhen and takes then with for adventures.  So far there has been 11 Doctors and boatloads of companions.  If you want to know the nitty-gritty, ask or use the search engine of your choice.

   Anyway, my first and favourite Doctor is the 10th.  My very first episode was School Reunion.  This is interesting because that episode features a companion from both the 3rd and 4th Doctors' runs, Sarah Jane Smith.  The story isn't the best of the season, aliens taking over an elementary school to use the creativity of a child's mind to hack the universe, but it was enough to catch my attention.  When I like something I usually jump in with both feet and go with it.  Yes this has gotten me in a bit of trouble a few times, but it usually makes me a lifelong fan of whatever I choose.  So, I watched episodes, learned quotes, learned trivia, and knitted my tremendous scarf.  I try not to half-ass my love for the media of my choosing.  Just wait until I post the not-nerdy-but-the-way-I-approach-it-is-pretty-nerdy epic of my love for The Beatles.  I've frightened off people because of my prattling.

   I keep getting sidetracked, sorry.  My Doctor is the 10th.  He's insane and delightful, a bit moody though.  The latest Doctor has some big shoes to fill, but I think he's been doing a splendid job.  I like him because I can.  He's pleasantly quirky and not too heavy handed.  I can't wait for the new season to start in a few weeks.  It should be a blast.  Some things seem a little bizarre, but I'm not going to count it out just yet.  I'm really looking forward to the episode written by Neil Gaiman.  He's pretty fantastic as a writer and a human, or at least to my understanding he's a good person.  He certainly has a sense of humour.

   I wanted my Significant Otter to watch the show, I knew it was up his alley.  I started him with the the 9th Doctor.  I figured he should see everything, not just my favourite.  Of course, this meant that his favourite would not match up with mine.  The only trial I had was getting past the first episode.  It's so silly to be attacked by mannequins.  The whole episode was not on par with the rest of the series.  Once we got through that it was smooth sailing. Now we giggle with mad delight together over little references and nuances.  It's good fun, really.

  I wanted to get this post up before April 23 because that's when the new episodes are going to start airing.  I would like to give my opinions of them after seeing them.  I'm sure there will be spoilers.  I just wanted to make sure that everyone understood the gravity of my love before I started to look at individual episodes.