Paxton

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Nerd Lunch Episode 42: Scheduling the ultimate nerd weekend

Posted in podcast, roadtrip with tags movies, Nerd Lunch Podcast, podcast, podcasts, roadtrip, video games on June 19, 2012 by Paxton

Welcome to Episode 42 of the Nerd Lunch podcast. This week the three of us ride with an empty fourth chair.

Gameworks

The topic this week is “Nerd Weekend”. The three of us have a discussion about what we would do if the three of us met up for the weekend. We talk about places to go, games to play, movies to watch and of course, copious amounts of hossin’ to hoss. Want to know what a Nerd Lunch Weekend would entail? Then you’ve come to the right place.

Download this episode from iTunes or listen to it on Feedburner. And yes, we are still on the Zune Marketplace.

Or, you can listen to the episode right here:

http://player.wizzard.tv/player/o/i/x/134006790026/config/k-28fb6c171299270f/uuid/null/episode/k-7bf3f0de1d843a2a

New Feature: Bionic Review

Posted in Bionic Man, nostalgia, pop culture, Six Million Dollar Man, TV shows with tags Bionic Review, nostalgia, pop culture, reviews, TV shows on June 14, 2012 by Paxton

I’m going to start up another feature on this blog. Thanks to CT over at Nerd Lunch I was able to acquire a very cheap set of The Six Million Dollar Man Complete Series DVD collection from Time Life.

I’ve been a huge bionic fan since I watched the show in reruns while I was growing up. I have VHS copies of some of the more famous episodes like the original Bigfoot episodes, the original Bionic Woman episodes and The Seven Million Dollar Man episode. But ever since Time Life released this set, I wanted it. The asking price was a little out of my price range though, but I maintained hope that it would go on sale at some point. Then CT spotted a coupon code on Facebook for the set that gave me over $80 off the price so I pulled the trigger and got the entire set with free shipping for a price that fell smack dab in the middle of my desired price range. YES.

So now I have the full set at home. It’s awesome, it comes in this collectible box with a lenticular image of Steve Austin on top that actually runs when you move the top up and down. Also, when you open the top, you hear Oscar Goldman say, “Steve Austin. A man barely alive…” Like I said, AWESOME. My son loves that the box talks when you open it and he also likes looking at the Steve Austin lenticular “run”. Maybe sometime he’ll watch these episodes with me.

So now I want to start watching the episodes of the show.

Cyborg IV

At the same time I’ve been trying to get this DVD set, I’ve also sort of quietly started collecting the novels that are based on the show. There are four novels written by Martin Caidin who created Steve Austin in his first novel, Cyborg. There are also a bunch of novels that adapt episodes of the show. I got the original Cyborg novel as well as it’s two sequels; Operation Nuke and High Crystal. But it was taking me for-f**king-ever to find the final Caidin book, Cyborg IV. Then I finally worked a deal with a guy online and acquired pretty much the entire run of Six Million Dollar Man novels as well as the two Bionic Woman novels. So now I have those to read.

Since I plan on consuming all of this pop culture bionic awesomeness, I figure I’ll chart my progress here on the blog in much the same way I’m doing my Oz books read through. I’ll start reviewing the books, then I’ll start reviewing the TV episodes. I haven’t figured out how the episode reviews will work. I probably won’t put up an article for every single episode. I’ll probably group episodes together in twos or threes and leave the big two parters and the more significant episodes (Bigfoot, Bionic Woman, Death Probe) with their own articles. We’ll see how I do that when I get there.

Currently, right this very moment, I’ve read the first two Caidin novels and watched the first two Six Million Dollar Man pilot movies (there were three movies in 1973 before the series began in January 1974). I’ll slowly start to post these reviews without any type of regularity at first. The Oz read through stuff will take priority right now. But I’m looking forward to starting and sharing this journey with everyone. It should be fun.

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Nerd Lunch Episode 41 – Would You Rather?

Posted in podcast with tags Back to the Future, Batman, Muppets, Nerd Lunch Podcast, podcast, podcasts, pop culture on June 12, 2012 by Paxton

Check yourself. Episode 41 of the Nerd Lunch Podcast is now LIVE. This week we are joined by Andrew Bloom of The Atomic Geeks.

Delorean Batmobile

Andrew breezes in on his Atomic Geek motor scooter and subjects CT, Jeeg and Pax to a series of Would You Rather? questions. Will CT kill Kermit the Frog or the Star Trek franchise? Will Jeeg die at the hands of Snuffy the Snuffalupagus or Big Bird? Will Pax erase the existence of the Star Wars prequels from everyone’s memory or just his own? These questions and more await you in episode 41 of the Nerd Lunch podcast.

Download this episode from iTunes or listen to it on Feedburner. And yes, we are still on the Zune Marketplace.

Or listen right here:

http://player.wizzard.tv/player/o/i/x/133946375268/config/k-28fb6c171299270f/uuid/null/episode/k-5c8be9c9dad0fcd8

Review of Oz Book 5: The Road to Oz (1909)

Posted in books, Classic literature, pop culture, Wizard of Oz with tags Book Report, book review, books, movies, Oz books readthru, Wizard of Oz on June 11, 2012 by Paxton

One year after Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, Baum released the fourth Oz sequel; The Road to Oz: In Which Is Related How Dorothy Gale of Kansas, The Shaggy Man, Button Bright, and Polychrome the Rainbow’s Daughter Met on an Enchanted Road and Followed it All the Way to the Marvelous Land of Oz. Yes, that is the “official” title.

(Via pixiepalace.com)

Like the other books in the series, this book is a “road trip” book. A bunch of characters start off walking and meet a bunch of other crazy characters before eventually arriving in Oz. And in this book, that summary is literally what happens. There’s really no villain in this book. No threat or conflict to resolve. The characters just journey from Point A to Point B and end up in Oz for a celebration. That’s it. So, the story is a tad thin. However, the illustrations by John Neill throughout the book are gorgeous and very detailed. In fact, in the front of the book, we are treated to a really nice illustrated map of the land of Oz and the surrounding magical countries that Baum keeps adding to the landscape in each successive book. And I’m sure this map will change as I get further into these books.

(Via Oz-central.com)

So, the story starts off with Dorothy back in Kansas. She’s out strolling around the Kansas plains with Toto (who returns for the first time since Book 1). Dorothy bumps into a wandering vagabond called The Shaggy Man. Obviously not fearing for her life that a disheveled hobo has shown interest in her, Dorothy begins giving him directions but stops because she believes this hobo to be stupid. Dorothy, again, in this book is kind of a dick. She corrects people’s grammar and, like just happened, she tells people they are too stupid to understand certain directions she is giving them. Anyway, the Shaggy Man is in possession of something called a “love magnet” (yeah, I know) that causes anyone that sees him to fall madly in love with him. Where he got it, he doesn’t say. Dorothy leads the Shaggy Man to a crossroads that should lead him where he wants to go, but as she turns to leave, the crossroads multiplies from 2 to 7 to 18 to infinity. Confused, the travelers decide to just pick a road and begin their journey to wherever the hell they are supposed to go. Along the roads they meet Button Bright, a child in a sailor suit who is anything but bright, and Polychrome, the rainbow’s daughter. It’s this group that will travel the fairy roads to Oz.

The first stop is in Foxville, home of a bunch of anthropomorphic foxes. The Fox King magically turns Button Bright’s head into a fox as a reward for being “clever” but doesn’t know how to turn it back when Button Bright objects. So the group leave and end up in Dunkiton, where a similar fate is bestowed upon Shaggy Man, except it’s a donkey head. The group is told that the only thing that will fix them is the Truth Pond, only found in Oz. So the adventurers head towards what they hope is Oz.

Continue reading →

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My top 10 movies featuring time travel

Posted in Back to the Future, Harry Potter, movies, pop culture, time travel with tags Back to the Future, Harry Potter, LEB, movies, pop culture, Star Trek, time travel, Time Travelogues on June 7, 2012 by Paxton

New League assignment this week. We apparently were off last week, but Brian has thrown a very good subject for this week. He wants us to create a list of 10 favorite movies. We can pick the category. There are so many ways to slice-and-dice a list of 10 movies. It took me a while to really think about it but I think I came up with an appropriate angle for me.

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know I’m an aficionado of time travel in pop culture. Some say I would be an “Internet authority” on said topic (I won’t argue that). I see the movies and TV shows, I read the books. I study it. I enjoy it. Check out the numerous time travel articles I’ve written on this blog as well as Episode 3 of the Nerd Lunch podcast in which we discussed time travel (and our third most downloaded episode, btw). You can see I have something invested in this subject. So, I thought I’d list out my 10 favorite movies that feature time travel.

I realize there are going to be ones you’ll want on, but I’m giving you my list of favorite time travel movies. I’ll also include some honorable mentions at the bottom.

So, let’s get started going back…..to the future….and past. Whatever. Oh, and I don’t normally do this, but I’m actually ranking these 10 – 1. Much like time itself, the order matters.

(Via jovisala47)
10. Galaxy Quest – Time travel is really only used in this movie as a small plot device at the very end, but it’s used very well. The Omega 13 is a nebulous and strange device, but it worked and both spoofed the original Star Trek’s version of time travel as well as created a fun version of time travel for the movie. Plus, I love the s**t out of this movie. The perfect spoof of classic Star Trek while simultaneously being a really good stand along sci-fi movie.
(Via Harry Potter Wikia)
9. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – This is another kind of a cheat. The movie doesn’t feature time travel, but uses it as a plot device towards the end. However, it’s used very well and the Time Turner itself is a fascinating little gadget. This third movie in the HP franchise is so good and having time travel at the end and also realizing Hermione has been using it from the beginning of the story, just makes it that much better.

(Via best-horror-movies.com)
8. Time Crimes – This is a pretty great little suspense movie that has a plot that not only features time travel, but revolves around it. It gets a little crazy at the end, and a little confusing as well, but I really enjoy the hell out of this movie. It’s about a guy named Hector who stumbles upon a time machine and gets himself into several hairy situations when he’s sent back 30min into the past.

(Via movieslist2010)
7. Groundhog Day – Not generally thought of by people as a time travel movie, but it is. Murray is trapped in what we call a “time loop” and has to live the last 24 hours over and over and over. Such a great movie even if the “time loop” is never really explained.