Field Manual

Obviously, I don't need this book. This information is tattooed on my mitochondria. But some of you might be interested.

In fact, I'm kinda disappointed there's not a book that goes the other way: A Guy's Guide to Dating a Geek. Because there are differences, you know. Girl geeks don't smell bad, for one. Er, that's it, actually. Hmmm. Well, thanks anyway, ThinkGeek.

Twelve times bitten, er, thirteen times shy?

I'm torn. Really, I am.

SquareEnix released a long-awaited RPG for Xbox 360: Infinite Undiscovery. Now, to be honest, when I first came across the trailers for the game, I mistook it for a Final Fantasy sequel. It has a very similar graphic sensibility, tons and tons of characters, you get the idea.

So I was a little disappointed. I love SquareEnix with the heat of a thousand suns, and they produced some of my favorite games ever (well, Squaresoft did). However, I am not a fan of Final Fantasy.

This may surprise you, given my propensity to love all RPGs. But it's true. I gave up on Final Fantasy after I put away my SNES. I mean, I gave it another chance when I got the PS2, and bought XII. I think. Is that the one with all the singing? I get 'em mixed up. Anyway, I only played for a couple of levels before I gave up. It was unbearable. For one thing, the singing-as-special-skill idea is ridiculous. Also, it was plagued by the same problems I've always had with FF: way too many characters, overly melodramatic storyline (seriously, it's a friggin' soap opera, right?), overly complicated gameplay. Give me Dragon Quest any day.

Anyway, because of this, I pretty much wrote off Infinite Undiscovery. But then I found out it is not, in fact, a FF game. So I poked around a bit on Kotaku, and found out that maybe it's worth trying. The gameplay is apparently pretty intuitive, especially in the battles. And I watched a better trailer, which made me a little more interested in the world they created:

Infinite Undiscovery 'Story' trailer

So, again, I'm torn. Pros: great graphics, interesting concept. Cons: corny shouting-out-special-attack combat, kind of silly voice on the main villain. But still, definitely worth a rental, right? I just can't bring myself to buy it at this point, at least not until I get an idea of the melodrama quotient. What do you guys think?

When wood burning kits go wrong...

Okay, I'll admit. I think this is pretty cool. Ultra dorky? Yes. Borderline creepy, greasy-haired-stereotypical-pagan? You betcha. But what can I say? IT'S GOT RUNES ON IT. I must have a set.

Elder Futhark Runes Set.



You win again, Etsy, with your array of geekery. You win again.

Nerd Demographics: Chick Gamers

Description: Chick gamers are a rare and wonderful breed. Gaming is an overwhelmingly male pastime, so my dude friends assure me that finding a female to play video games with (or against) is pretty special. The sign of a true chick gamer is that she plays for herself and by herself, not just to impress guys. If you're not sure, look for these clues:

• More than one platform in the house.
• Upgraded hardware (nicer controller, bigger hard drive, etc.).
• Turn on the console (or PC). Dedicated profiles are a must.

Lucky for you, I happen to have some experience in this arena, so I prepared this chart illustrating the female gaming continuum:

How to make friends: Ask to borrow their copy of Bioshock (or Katamari Damacy, or Soulcalibur IV... you get the picture.)

How to get them in bed: Challenge them to a game. You don't have to let them win; chances are they'll kick your ass regardless. The excess adrenaline will work to your advantage, believe me. (Note: chick gamers are ALWAYS good in bed, so this is a worthy endeavor.)

How to make enemies: "Oh, is this your ex-boyfriend's copy of Gears of War?"

Confession: I get bosons and fermions mixed up.

Okay everyone, gird your loins. Tomorrow's the day they turn on the Large Hadron Collector. And you know what that means! The Higgs boson! Micro black holes! Possible other dimensions! Strangelets!

Or, you know, nothing. Meaning, nothing you or I can understand anyway. But still, my heart trembles at the prospect of getting closer to figuring out the Standard Model. Even though I don't know, um, what it means, exactly.

Mmmm... physics. Can't you just smell it in the air?*

*No.

Artsy!

I think it behooves me to use this space to celebrate the art of our geek brethren. There are a lot of creative types out there who have taken a break from rolling twelves and paused their fights with the big boss to create some truly incredible art.

So, to kick off my series, here's some works by Nemo Gould, brought to my attention by the good folks at io9:





He makes each piece out of recycled materials. The pictures are a little deceiving; the toad is about 8" high, whereas the squid is over 6' tall. Just to give you a little perspective.

Pretty cool, eh?

Brain... filling with... politics....

Okay okay okay. Enough! Let's all take a nice break from looking at coverage of the RNC (finally over, yay!) and watch these trailers from one of my favorite indie scifi flicks, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. Politics will still be there in two minutes.

Yet another reason to move to England.

Because seriously, this is just cool. BBC is reporting that this 50-ton mechanical spider, currently hanging from the side of a building in Liverpool, will come to life on Friday and start moving around the city. It is fully articulated and will apparently climb down the wall.

But why? you may well ask. In the good ol' US of A, this would almost certainly be part of an expensive promo for a blockbuster movie or a new TV show. But, no. The Brits are doing it just because it's cool, and there's an arts festival going on.

I don't even have the words for how cool this is.

Image courtesy of news.bbc.co.uk

Must have!

I need this set of posters. And so do you.

Blue Sun Travel Posters.

Thanks, ThinkGeek! You always have the best stuff.

R.I.P.

Sad news. Don LaFontaine has passed away. Trailers just won't be the same without him. We will never be transported by the magical phrase "in a world" again.

Sigh.