Part of being a socially responsible nerd is giving back to the community. I’m big on helping people, whether it’s defending someone who’s being picked on or giving food to the less fortunate. This is, of course, a recurring theme in my favorite sci-fi franchise, Star Trek…working towards the betterment of mankind.
While we’re not to the point of getting rid of currency quite yet, there are many ways that we can help out our fellow homo sapiens.
I’ve mentioned in the past that I come from a long line of military personnel, dating all the way back to the Civil War. I’m extremely proud of this. My brother and cousin are currently active in the US military and have both been deployed overseas. Looking for ways to do my part, about 4 years ago I became involved in an amazing organization called Operation Gratitude. We pack care packages and mail them around the world to those Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marine’s that are in harm’s way. It’s a small but powerful way to say Thank You for risking your lives to protect ours. For many of these men and women it will be the only package or piece of mail they receive. The thank you letters we get back from them will break your heart.
With founder Carolyn after packing # 350,000Collecting and donating old electronics
A few years ago I was lucky enough to pack the 350,000th package. This past weekend we packed our 600,000th. That is no small feat my fellow nerds and nerdettes. Every single item in every package is donated and every volunteer works for free so every single penny raised goes towards shipping costs. When I started volunteering the cost to ship a package was $10, today it costs $15.
600,000th care package!
So, in the spirit of the holiday season, I’m opening the donation page back up for anyone who would like to donate to Operation Gratitude. It will stay up at the top of the blog indefinitely. All of it will go directly to the organization. If you don’t have money but you still want to help, there are many ways to do so. I also crochet scarves that go into every package. Collecting those old beanie babies everyone had but no longer wants is great too. Hand written letters are always needed. Or you could come and stare at my boobs the whole time like the guy in the Marvel Comics t-shirt did. Veteran’s need love too, so there are various ways to help them out as well. Go to the “Get Involved” section of the Operation Gratitude website for a ton of great ideas.
You can also buy products from those who donate a percentage of their profits to Operation Gratitude. There is a list of them here.
My favorite of which is my friend Hayden’s company, Active Country (you’ve seen Hayden on here a few times, he’s kick ass). He donates 5% of all his profits to Operation Gratitude and presented them with a check this past Saturday. You can find his company here.
Hot Nerd Girl with Hayden and his Grandma
If Operation Gratitude isn’t your thing, find some other way to give back. Something you feel passionate about. Pay it forward!
Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox now 🙂
Here are some pictures from this past Saturday:
I don't let gimpy-ness get in the way of do-goodingH-Dogg packing heating padsThe assembly line. I packed toe warmers and chapstick.Over 2000 volunteers showed up, a new record!Superheroes were on hand to helpTall people come in handy
There is nothing quite like seeing a hot chick in a hot outfit kicking some alien ass. Maybe it’s the funky hairdos, or the skin tight outfits, or the technobabble being spoken by a pair of ruby red lips. I don’t know, but can you honestly tell me that there’s anything greater? Honestly.
Honestly.
I didn’t think so.
So in honor of these bodacious, bad ass, and brilliant babes (cause brains are important too), here’s my list of the top 10 hottest babes in Sci-Fi.
You’re welcome.
10. Nichelle Nichols
She wasn’t the first sci-fi babe but she’s the earliest one on the list and she has the distinction of having broken down several racial barriers as Uhura. Not only was she a main character on a television show who was black (and a female), but she participated in the first ever inter-racial kiss on television in the Star Trek episode “Plato’s Stepchildren.” Of course, they had to make the kiss forced by aliens to get it past the censors but it was a step in the right direction. When the pressure became too much and she was tempted to quit, none other than Martin Luther King Jr himself convinced her to stay on the show. On a personal note, I’ve met her and she’s AWESOME.
9. Carrie-Anne Moss
She wears skin tight leather while kicking some serious ass. Having worn skin tight leather I can tell you exactly how difficult that is. Her main claim to sci-fi fame is the Matrix trilogy (we’ll stick with the first one, shall we?) It’s a movie that revolutionized film making, CGI, story telling, you name it. Some people dig Neo, I dig Trinity. I even dig her slicked back hair which is not something I usually go for (*cough* Jamie Lee Curtis *cough* True Lies *cough) I can think of a couple of trinities involving Carrie-Anne that I wouldn’t mind being a part of.
8. Linda Hamilton
Holy craparoni Batman, talk about ripped. The then Mrs. Cameron worked out like a maniac to prep for her role in Terminator 2: Judgment Day showing a grit and self-discipline totally befitting her character. Any woman who can break out of a maximum security facility with a broom stick and a hypodermic needle deserves kudos in my book. And a giant underground storage bunker full of weapons? Yes please! Very few women look hot with a cigarette hanging out of their mouths. Linda Hamilton is one of them.
7. Sigourney Weaver
From ripped to Ripley, Sigourney is another bad ass chick with a chip on her shoulder. She may fight aliens instead of robots but, like Sarah Connor, Ellen Ripley keeps coming back for more. She’s also managed to solidify her place in sci-fi history with a couple of other franchises in the form of Ghostbusters and Avatar (personally my favorite character in the movie). After all of that, how could she possibly endear herself to me even more? Oh, I dunno, maybe by starring in one of my very favorite movies ever, GALAXY QUEST. Never give up, never surrender Sigourney. We need you.
6. Famke Janssen
Genre-wise most people automatically think of X-Men when they think of Miss Famke and I know I’m walking a fine line here since technically X-Men is a comic book movie, not a sci-fi movie *semi-colon however comma* she’s got some sci-fi cred of her very own. Ok, yes, she is a Bond girl but I’m not referring to that either. Let’s go back about 18 years and remember a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode called “The Perfect Mate” in which Famke played Kamala, an alien that looks kind of like a Trill before we knew what Trill’s were. Kamala is biologically created to become the perfect mate for the person she bonds with. As in, loves football and beer and giving blowjobs. You name it, she’s on it. The perfect woman. For this role alone she deserves a place on this list.
5. Milla Jovovich
Another ass kicker. God I love a woman who can kick some ass. In The 5th Element, Leeloo wore little more than some first aid tape and a bright orange ‘do. It matched Bruce Willis’ bright orange spandex wife beater and I’m pretty sure he saw that as a sign of fate. I know I would. Resident Evil has zombies in it. I may have mentioned once or twice before that I don’t much care for zombies (stoopid nightmares). I’ve seen the first movie but none of the sequels. Anyone who kills zombies is a-ok with me.
4. Marina Sirtis (see also Gates McFadden, Terry Farrell, Nana Visitor, Jeri Ryan)
The Sexy Sirens of Star Trek television. There are many of them and they are all pertiful. However, we’re going to focus on the utterly divine Deanna Troi for the purposes of this list. Originally introduced wearing a traditional lady’s uniform complete with a short hemline (ala Uhura) it was decided after oh, about 2 episodes, that her best assets were a little higher up on her body. Therefore, she became the one and only Starfleet officer ever permitted to not only ditch the uniform but wear cleavage-tastic outfits in lieu of said uniform. Much as it would inspire the troops, I just can’t see the USMC permitting such a thing. Only for Troi was the rule book thrown out. Plus I’ve heard that she cusses like a sailor with her awesome British accent. LOVE her. On a personal note, my brother married a girl named Troi which automatically knocked him up a few notches in my book. Jealous much? You should be, cause she’s AWESOME.
3. Zoe Saldana
I danced for 15 years, and really, it’s how the “Hot” in “Hot Nerd Girl” got there. So I first fell in love with Miss Zoe when she was in the movie Center Stage about a ballet school in NYC. Since then she has become something of a sci-fi “It Girl” with her roles in the new Star Trek movie (soon to be franchise) and Avatar movie (soon to be franchise). An admitted sci-fi geek, she’s not afraid to challenge herself and take on larger than life roles. Oh, and she’s HAWT. She’s got that going for her.
2. Olivia Wilde
The sci-fi “It Girl” of the not so distant future. Here’s a girl who has yet to be seen on screen in a sci-fi film. All of that will change on December 17th when Tron: Legacy comes out. In a way she’s replacing Cindy Morgan’s Yori with her Quorra and that’s just fine with me. She gets to sport a normal (if slightly Mia Wallace-esque) hairdo instead of a day-glo bald cap which I’m sure she’s pretty dang stoked about. But that’s not all folks. In the works are Cowboys & Aliens with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford and Now with Amanda Seyfried and Cillian Murphy, both of which look extremely promising. Sci-fi “It Girl” of the future. You heard it here first.
1. Carrie Fisher
If I didn’t put Princess Leia at the top of the list I’m pretty sure there would be a nerd uprising and I would have my HNG status revoked. If there’s anyone on this planet that can pull off a bronze bikini better than Carrie Fisher circa 1983, I have yet to see them. Star Wars is an iconic film, one that I watched over and over and over again growing up. Part of it was the Ewoks (soooo cute!) and part of it was the fact that I would have given my left pinkie toe to be Princess Leia, cinnabon hairdo and all.
And here’s how you can make it happen! A basic Princess Leia costume goes for about $50. If I can get enough people to donate up to that amount, I’ll do a photo shoot and post it on the site! So donate below and let’s get this photo shoot happening!
My Sarah Connor impression…uh…if she were to wear heels…which she would never do…meh.
I’m going to be blunt because, well, I’m in one of those moods.
CGI suit? errrr…..
The new Green Lantern does not look promising. In fact, it looks terrible. Normally I would reserve judgment until a movie comes out but after seeing the trailer before Harry Potter, I’ve pretty much seen the whole movie. Ryan Reynolds was not my first choice to play Deadpool in Wolverine Origins but, in the end, I thought he did ok. When I found out he’d been cast as Green Lantern I was disappointed. Pick a comic book character and stick with it, don’t be all jumping from franchise to franchise turning beloved characters into lame ass versions of yourself. I know you think you’re riding some kind of pop culture wave and it’s so cool and macho to play superheroes and I’m sure all of your agents and managers are just thrilled to death at the prospect of sequels but COME ON. Have a little self respect. You’re married to Scarlett Johansen for Christ’s sake.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hTiRnqnvDs&fs=1&hl=en_US] Nathan Fillion as the Green Lantern? Yes please.
Too make our incredibly hot superheroes and supervillians look even hotter. To give them freedom of movement while in battle. To be a form of identity so that villains and victims alike know exactly who’s rescuing and/or pummeling them with just a glance at the color of their tights.
CGI is not to the point yet where it can replace spandex mmmmkay?
Despite the rehashing (which, honestly, I can deal with to a certain degree) the one thing that bothers me most about the Green Lantern is the CGI costume. It is the fakest looking, most distracting part and sadly, it takes center stage during huge chunks of the movie. And this is the origin movie. When the quickly and poorly put together sequel inevitably comes out this ridiculous and garish costume will play an even larger role.
*le sigh*
I hope that when June 11th roles around I will be proved wrong and have to shove my foot in my mouth. But, somehow, I doubt I’ll be tasting sock lint anytime soon.
On another note, I was so NOT excited about the new Green Hornet movie and after seeing a trailer for it I’m actually slightly enthusiastic.