Hot Nerd Girl

Month: March 2011

  • Evolution of a Hero, Vol. 1

    What? He’s a monster. Shut up. SAVE ME WES!

    If you’ve read my earlier post about Malcom Reynolds and Han Solo, you know that I have a spot in my heart for bad boys. Seriously, what girl doesn’t? But the thing is, with those characters you never get the full story of how they became such kings of badassery. OK, you get a little bit with Mal in “Serenity” (the episode, not the movie) and “that one episode with the ice planet friend that dies” but they really don’t tell you much about his journey to becoming a hero.

    Lucky for us though, Joss “Is Boss” Whedon did us a favor with his creation of a mousy little man, scared of his own shadow, trying to prove himself to those around him. But by the time his clock ran out he had proved himself a bigger bad ass than most. I’m talking of course, of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, played to perfection by Alexis Denisof. Let us begin.

    Hi. I'm an ass-hat.

    When he began, he came in as Faith’s (Elisa Dushku) Watcher. A sissier version of Giles, he was very keen to do as he was ordered. His tie was straight, he played by the rules, and the thought of getting his hands dirty made this classic fancy Englishman faint. He was a character of little note, just barely a plot point in my opinion, and at one point, just a side character for Cordelia to keep busy with. That is, of course, until he left for Angel.

    Getting warmer….

    In LA, he became a rogue demon hunter. A sheep in wolf’s clothing, it took a little while before he actually developed deeper levels. For me, it was when he finally got shot while working with Gunn that he seemed to achieve a certain amount of darkness and cool. There’s something to be said for men who get knocked down but keep pressing on because they know that what they are doing is the right thing.

    Well hello handsome…
    Why are all Wes's so hot?

    The point at which the hotness scale tipped for me was when Wolfram and Heart was invaded by robbers, led by Wesley’s father. (SPOILER ALERT) By this time Wesley, who was at one point cookie dough, had been carved out of wood. (Oooo, where did I pull that quote from?) When his Dad threatened to hurt Fred, the love of his life, he didn’t hesitate to use his weapon and drop his father. That’s just hot. He knew he was right, his Dad was wrong, and just shot. No begging, no pleading, his father had crossed a line and Wes just went for it.

    There is, of course, more to Wesley’s story, but I don’t want to ruin it for anyone that hasn’t watched Angel yet. Great hero’s are not born, they are made through fire and sacrifice. And Wesley, most definitely, is a hero.  At least in the television sense.

    Guys take note: this is what you should be. Ladies, take note: Wesley Wyndham-Price is the guy you want.

    Ok, so maybe not ALL Wes's are hot…

  • What is Science Fiction?

    Why was this never read to me as a child? (Borrowed form College Humor) http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1811404

    This past Friday, HNG fan James posed a seemingly simple and obvious question to me:

    Huh.

    That is an excellent questions James, and believe it or not, one I’ve never really thought about. Science fiction has been such a constant in my life since I was a small child that I never stopped to think about what my definition of science fiction is.

    When you think about it, it’s a pretty broad term that can be applied to just about any story. After all, most humans are cyborgs in one way or another. For example, everyone who wears glasses, has braces or uses a pace maker is technically a cyborg.

    So does that mean that every movie with a computer in it can claim to be science fiction?

    Merriam-Webster defines science fiction as such:

    science fiction (noun): fiction dealing principally with the impact of actual or imagined science on society or individuals or having a scientific factor as an essential orienting component.

    By this definition, a movie about a kid who mixes the wrong chemicals in chemistry class and accidentally blows up his classroom could be considered science fiction. After all, his mistake has impacted his society of classmates in a scientific way. Would I consider this science fiction? Probably not.

    Wikipedia’s definition is more to my liking:

    Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with the impact of imagined innovations in science or technology, often in a futuristic setting.

    Science fiction differs from fantasy in that it is based in reality. That may sound bizarre but it’s true. We take what we know to be real, say…the internet, and transplant it into an imaginative situation, such as The Matrix, to get a fictional story with some basis in truth.

    Computers were a relatively new concept when Gene Roddenberry came up with his idea for a “wagon train to the stars.” While he was in the process of fine tuning his concept for Star Trek, he consulted with every scientist he could get his hands on in order to find out what technology was feasible. 45 years later, cell phones, scanning devices and hyposprays are so integrated into our everyday lives that these so-called “devices of the future” seem antiquated in comparison.

    Science fiction can be subtle or glaringly obvious. Take the subject of clones, for example. One on hand, you have The Island, a futuristic clone farm where everyone is forced to wear white and cannot leave the confines of the compound for fear of deadly pathogens. When their organs are needed by their wealthy sponsors, the clones are told that they’ve won a lottery that will allow them to live the rest of their lives on an island free of the toxic air. The protagonists escape and fight for their freedom and right to exist.

    [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLPdg3BXiJk&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]

    At the other end of the spectrum is Never Let Me Go, about a group of cloned children growing up at a boarding school in England. They live relatively normal lives until a teacher lets it slip that they have been cloned for the purpose of organ donation. As adults they are allowed to come and go as they please but they are resigned to their fate. Only Tommy attempts to change his destiny and he does so by creating art. When that fails he accepts his lot in life and “completes” his purpose. These two movies essentially have the exact same concept but they treat the topic with completely different approaches. Are they both science fiction?

    [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXiRZhDEo8A]

    I have to say yes. Cloning is a reality but scientists haven’t reached the point (that we know of) of cloning humans which elevates both tales to the realm of science fiction.

    Science fiction doesn’t have to be set in the future but it sure helps.

    Firefly is essentially a Western, it just happens to be set in the future where spaceships are as common as horses. Take the spaceships away and it ceases to be science fiction. Take the spaceships and aliens out of Star Trek and you have NCIS.

    My best attempt at dressing like Malcolm Reynolds from "Firefly". Anyone think they can Photoshop me into a cooler background?

    You get the picture.

    So to answer your question James, my definition of science fiction is a story that takes a reality and manipulates it through science, technology and imagination to make something completely unique and exceptionally awesome.

    And I’ll take it over real life any day.

    Now here’s a question for you readers out there.  Is there a hard line between science fiction and fantasy? Would something like “Farscape” be considered sci-fi, fantasy or sci-fi/fantasy?

  • What Every Nerd Bar Needs

    You could copy Ten Forward, duplicate the bar on Tatooine or “cmd-c” any famous nerd bar but those would all just be facsimiles. And while they would be awesome, I thought it would be better if somehow a bar could be created that, while totally being a nerd bar, could just as easily pass as a normal bar. You can order beer, wine or a little Romulan Ale without beating people over the head with patrol Car 718’s night stick.

    So here are a few things that I feel would be excellent subtle replacements for items you find in bars all around the world.

    Sports Jersey: A lot of bars have jersey’s of famous players on their walls, right? So what kind of jersey would be in a nerd bar? Since we’re going for subtle I’m not sure how good it would be to have a Caprica Buccaneers jersey up there because it just seems too overt. I’m thinking we go with something reeeeeeally obscure. Like a Buck Bokai jersey perhaps? You can all name the episode of DS9 that it’s from right? Ok good 🙂

    Weapon Above Fireplace: To replace a normal sword, how about a bat’leth or lightsaber? A shot-gun gets replaced by a clumsy blaster or phaser rifle? Or maybe, to get super cool we go with Duncan McClouds katana! That’s right. I dug so deep I hit Adrian Paul.

    Drinks: As I said before, the alcohol would be important. Klingon Blood Wine maybe? Romulan ale? As long as they have Imperial Stormtrooper Stout on tap, I’m in.

    Games: Obviously, it being a nerd bar and all, games will be offered to keep busy nerds buried in RPG or sci-fi minutiae. But what games, you ask? Obviously, some good d20’s would be for sale. And much like darts, if you want to borrow the bars dice you gotta leave your license with the bartender. It should also have assorted classic games like Pacman, Load Runner or Joust available. And if you’re really lucky, maybe even Galaga.

    from http://inhabitat.com/pacman-dining-table/

    Posters: now we’re moving into less subtle territory. A Starship Troopers poster would be way too obvious. But the ‘Firefly’ one below as well as some classics, like ‘Soylent Green’ or ‘Plan 9 from Outer Space’ I feel we could pull off without making normal folk feel weirded out. Especially since the ‘Serenity’ one is in German. Sci-five!

     

     

     

     

  • How to tell the difference between Cally and Kaylee

    Yah, yah.

    I am aware of the fact that I’ve been writing an awful lot about Firefly and Battlestar Galactica lately.  There are two reasons for this:
     
    1. I recently purchased every season of BSG and am treating myself to a personal marathon.
     
    2. My Mom just had surgery and, as her weekend nurse I decided that, in my expert medical opinion, a Firefly marathon was necessary to her recovery.

    (I may aso be mourning the death of the Help Nathan Buy Firefly movement…so sad)
     
    This post stems from a conversation I had with my Mom over the weekend after we had watched a few episodes of FF.  I was trying to explain to her why BSG should be her next marathon and was giving her short descriptions of the characters.  Next thing I know she’s asking about Cally in the Firefly world.  I asked if she meant Kaylee.  She asked which one was the mechanic.  I said both of them.  She asked which one had been shot.  I said both of them.  She got very confused (the Vicodin may have contributed to that) and demanded to know who the heck was who and why they were so dang similar. 
     
    So I present to my Mom (and to you) Cally vs. Kaylee.

    ***

    CALLY

    Originally little more than a named extra, the producers liked Nicki Clyne so much that they decided to make Callandra Henderson (or Jane Cally, depending on where you’re at in the series) a full fledged character.  The poor girl just wanted to be honorably discharged from the decommissioned Battlestar Galactica and go off to be a dentist.  Instead she watched the vast majority of her civilization destroyed along with her dreams of oral hygiene.  The moment I knew I liked her was when she fought off a criminal would-be rapist by biting off his ear.  He shot her in the gut and that was supposed to be the end of Deckhand Cally. 

    Instead she went on to murder a Cylon (who used to have sex with her boss), get beat up (by her boss), knocked up (not by her boss), hitched (to her boss), almost executed (by the big boss) and then murdered (by a Cylon). 

    Even though Cally turns out to be not so great a person, I have a soft spot for her.  I mean, seriously, the girl just wanted to be a dentist.

    KAYLEE

    A genius mechanic with no formal training, Kaywinnit Frye is the heart and soul of the Serenity crew.  She’s pretty much open and honest about everything and jumps on the opportunity to take the mechanic job away from a guy right after jumping his bones.  She accidentally gets shot in the gut by the most incompetent undercover cop ever and is saved by the soon-to-be ship’s doctor who bargains for safe passage with her life. 

    The poor girl somehow ends up being the brunt of the guy’s teasing, usually when she displays some behavior that proves she’s a woman under all that engine grease.  Fortunately, the ladies come to her defense, most often in the form of mad dogging the guys.  She develops a fat crush on the doc and even though he seems to like her too, he pretty much screws it up at every opportunity. 

    I liked Kaylee from the moment I saw her (how could you not??)  I mean, seriously, the girl just wants to fix things and wear a frilly pink dress.

    ***

    Ok, so let’s review here.  Both are mechanics, both have unrequited crushes on fellow crew members that are eventually requited, both get shot in the stomach and that’s about where the similarities end. 

    But it’s understandable how someone doped up on pain meds would get the two confused.

    Say yes. 

    Don’t make me mad dog you.

  • Battlestar Galacticawesome

    I’ll admit it.  I was a late bloomer to the Battlestar Galactica universe.  When it came out my time was otherwise occupied and by the time I had time it was so far in that I thought I would get lost if I started in the middle.

    Then I was given Season 1 on DVD by a friend a couple of years ago (shout out to Vetty Spaghetti) who thwacked me on the head, called me an idiot and practically threw the DVD set at me.

    She is a very wise woman.

    After getting scoffed at by a few more friends, some *gasp* not even nerds, I knew I was in trouble and rapidly losing my nerd cred.

    So I embarked on a mission to watch and absorb all things BSG.

    **Disclaimer: I wasn’t a total BSG virgin, I did see the introductory miniseries when it first came out in 2004.

    I watched 5 hours the first day and was addicted.  I watched 3 more hours the day after that.  And so on and so forth.  I threw money at Amazon.com in an attempt to get seasons 2-4 as fast as shippingly possible.

    I’m pretty sure that the moment I got hooked was when Starbuck shoved a slimy, half-biological, half-technological Cylon oxygen tube in her mouth without even flinching.  I thought, hot damn, now THAT’S a woman.  I’d like to think that I would do the same if I were stranded on a lifeless, alien moon.  I’m pretty bad ass.  I’m not sure I’m that bad ass but one never knows until they’re in that type of situation.

    Yes? No?

    And is it just me or does everyone think of Dr. Julian Bashir whenever Dr. Gaius Baltar walks onscreen??  They look like they were separated at birth.  Of course, as soon as Gaius opens his mouth (or looks over at the imaginary Cylon dry humping him) all similarities end abruptly.

    "My monogram is better than your monogram."

    As far as Dear Leaders go, ya’ll know I’m about as big a Trekkie as they come so I’m still partial to my Kirk’s, Picard’s and Sisko’s but EJO holds his own as Adama.  I could have done without the 80’s porn ‘stache he sported but other than that I have few complaints.  I do like that both he and his XO have some serious flaws.  I can hold my own in a drinking contest but drinking before work everyday?  It takes a man like Saul Tigh to pull that off.  My hat is off to you Sir!

    Back to the ladies, I may or may not have a slight girl crush on Cally.  Any girl who bites off a guy’s ear even though it means taking a bullet to the gut is a-ok in my book. Plus, she fixes things.  We have much in common.  Throw in some Dee and I might just change teams.

    I started out thinking that Lee was kind of a whiny little bitch BUUUT, he grew on me.  I definitely have no problem with him taking his shirt off.  No problem at all.  Ever.  Speaking of da boys, I have a soft spot for Chief Tyrol, having been raised by a Chief myself.  Plus, how funny and awesome is it that he got to boom boom with Boomer??

    I’m a big Mary McDonnell fan; she had alien attack cred already with Independence Day, a movie I love to this day (mock me if you must).  Her quiet strength while looking blitzed out of her mind both inspire me and crack me up.  She can pull off the bald look too.  That’s no easy feat for a chick my friends.

    And the Cylons…oh, the Cylons…I’m not going to address the end in case there are readers who haven’t seen it, but, in short, I can do without the guys but Tricia Helfer and Grace Park can feel free to stick around for as long as their little pseudo-Terminator hearts desire.  I’m pretty sure C6 is about as perfect a woman as God (or the gods) can create and if I was Dr. Baltar, I’d have constant fantasies about her too, day-glo spine and all.

    "Don't ask me where I found this, but be glad that I did."

    In short, yes, I was a dumbass for not watching the series while it was on TV but I don’t really regret it.  I got to sit back and watch them all without having to wait in anticipation for the next episode week after week.

    Winning!