Yes, I was one of those people that thought Twilight was amazing. I read the books over Labor Day weekend 2008. Yes, I read all of them over 5 days. I didn't sleep much and I think I forgot to feed myself and my family at times over that weekend as well. I don't know, the whole weekend was hazy. Bella Swan was in my head. She was constantly rambling on about Edward and Jacob and about how she pretty much sucked. Which was true. She sucked really bad. In looking back at it, the whole series is a horrible example for young girls. It makes them think that if they are whiny babies and their guy doesn't put up with it, then it must not be love. It makes them think that if the guy isn't obsessive over them, then it isn't true love like Bella and Edward. Then throw in the friend Jacob who falls for a newborn...well that is just crazy. So yes in my opinion...Twilight killed a vampire. It killed the whole idea of vampires. Not even the scary ones in this series are scary. They are just mildly frightening. Mildly in the fact that their eyes are red instead of golden. I mean seriously...these vampires don't even have fangs! They just gnaw you to death I guess. There are way cooler vampires out there.
I stumbled upon I Am Number Four during an amazon search for young adult fiction that has a paranormal, supernatural, or sci-fi vibe to it. I had never heard of this series, but saw that a movie was coming out. My curiosity was in even more overdrive when I saw the book was released August 2010 and the movie is set to premiere February 2011. I thought to myself, "They must really think this series is the next big thing. I have to read it to see if they are all crackpots or if it is worth it."
Then, to make the book even more of a hook for me, I read about the author, Pittacus Lore. How cool is it that the series author is set up to be a an elder alien from the world of Lorien, where the people portrayed in the book are from. I thought that was pretty fucking cool. There are even interviews out there from this elder alien.
So curiosity got the best of me and I decided to purchase it to read. It was a pretty quick read and it was refreshing to read a first person narrative set from a male perspective. You can only read so many high school chicks fretting and talking to themselves about how awesome the otherworldly guy is they are swooning over.
There are nine children from the planet Lorien that were brought to Earth with their keepers ten years ago. These nine children were fleeing from the Mogadarians who conquered Lorien at the time of their departure. The Mogadarians have hunted the children across the universe and found them here on Earth. The children of the Loric race are not named, but numbered. They are Number 1 through 9. The Mogadarians can only kill the children in numerical order. Once one of them is killed, the others get a mark on their ankle representing that one. So, they know when it is getting close to being their turn to be hunted. The first three have been hunted and murdered, and now the Mogadarians are after Number Four. Hence where the story name comes from. Number Four has had several aliases over the years and now that he and Henry, his keeper, have moved to Paradise, Ohio, Number Four has chosen the name, John Smith.
Number Four, though an alien, is going through all the same annoying things every teenager does. He has his run-in with a bully, who happens to be the girl he has his eye on's ex. Some parts of the book are cliche in that sense. But, it is interesting nonetheless. It is is good to hear a guy go through the same things girls do in feeling unsure about a first kiss. But, to top it off for Number Four, he is also going through the transition in his life where he starts getting his powers.
So as Number Four gets his powers and falls in love, he is also being hunted by the Mogadarians. There are intense emotions throughout the book as Number Four is learning more about himself through all of the above listed circumstances. Through it all, his keeper, Henry, is one of the best parts of the story. Henry's character and love for Number Four even though he is not his biological son is inspiring. The emotion of the story grows until the huge battle that ensues at the end of the book. The fighting was well crafted and the description really drew me.
So, now I read the book and the movie comes out in a couple months. What do I have to say about it? I hope the movie does it justice. I am pretty excited about Alex Pettyfer playing Number Four in the movie. Also exciting about Diana Agron playing Number Four's love interest, Sarah. The cast they have chosen seems like it will be a good one, but that doesn't always make a movie. We will see how it goes. What I have to sugest to you is that you read the book before you see the movie. Especially since there is going to be a series of books. This is just the beginning and it looks like The Lorien Legacy is set to be awesome.
I was in a hole for a few years. I had this rock on top of me that was hiding me from the greatness that is "Big Bang Theory." Where the heck was I and why was this rock blocking me from watching this show? Oh, I remember, it is because I don't watch a lot of actual TV. Yes, I watch a lot of shows, but it is online. So, if I don't hear about it and know about it being out there via the internet, I don't watch it. But, thankfully some good friends of ours kept telling me, "Sarah, you guys need to watch this." So, I took them up on it since they didn't steer me wrong with the British show, "The IT Crowd."
Jim Parsons does an amazing job portraying, Dr. Sheldon Cooper. Who happens to be one of the best characters ever to grace the small screen, in my opinion. His idiosyncrasies and obsessiveness is endearing. I find myself having a crush on him. Which could be caused by the fact that he wears some pretty cool tee shirts. In fact in case you didn't know it, there is a website out there that has all of his tee shirts, where you can get them, and it even has Sheldon Cooper inspired shirts. It is called, Sheldon Shirts, and it is pretty funny.
The whole premise of the series is based around two theoretical physicists, Leonard and Sheldon, who are also roommates. They have two other friends, another physicist and an engineer. The four of them are the epitome of nerd and cute as Hades for it. Sci-fi and all around geeks will enjoy the many cameos by some well known people. For instance, the many done by Wil Wheaton and Katie Sackhoff. There is also, Penny, a girl who lives across the hall from Sheldon and Leonard. She brings to the show a little bit of what most of the world considers normal. But, the only part that bothers me about the series is how they always portray girls as not liking action figures or that they would rather see a guy who does like geeky stuff. Not all girls are like that! Sure, most of the female population is, but not all of them. So, if anyone had been under a rock like I had been, have no fear, the past three seasons are available on DVD. :)
I am a few weeks late, but we just started watching The Walking Dead. If you have been under a rock and have heard nothing of this, please watch the video below as well. This series is amazing. It feeds into one of my biggest geek loves....ZOMBIES. I love anything to do with zombies. Plus, I love dystopian stories as well. Ever since I was a kid, photos or scenes like the one above struck a chord with me. I told my husband as we were watching this, that that shot right there, is THE shot. It gives me chills and warm fuzzies. Morbid? Maybe. But, everytime I see the shot of the abandoned city, chaos left behind, i get warm fuzzies. The empty city, with traces of what man used to be ads to the fuzzies as well. But enough of my fuzzies, back to the show. The Walking Dead has already been confirmed for a second season. The story line is a good one and I am thinking it is going to just get better.
I was super excited to see Lennie James on this series as well. I certainly hope we see more of him. For those of you who missed an awesome show called Jericho that aired for about 1.5 seasons beginning in 2006, you missed out on a great piece of television. I was so upset when it ended and Lennie James' character on the series, Robert Hawkins, was awesome.
Another actor in The Walking Dead, that can be seen in a little movie called Love Actually, is Andrew Lincoln. He was one of my favorite characters in Love Actually, by the way. Yes, I am still a girl and yes, I do still like some girlie movies too. :) Remember this little scene?
So it shows his diversity that he could go from being uber romantic in showing big cardboard signs to Keira Knightley to what you are about to see in the trailer below.
It is apparent that AMC has an awesome team working on this show. The special effects have been awesome, but the storyline has been awesome as well. I can't wait to see what they have in store for us next.
Do you ever wake up on a Sunday morning and the first thoughts on your mind are, "I miss Battlestar Galactica"? Yeah, not many people do. But I did this morning. I was thinking about what an awesome story it was. I was fracking excited to see that the entire series is up on Netflix Instant Queue though. Maybe I will have to watch it all again from the beginning.
For those of you who have been under a rock and not watched any of this series, you need to. You need to start from the beginning and continue until you finish it. If you watch this series all the way to the end you will not be disappointed. Unlike the Lost fiasco. Although for some odd reason there were a lot of people who actually liked the ending of that series. But, I digress, Battlestar Galactica was a series that everything any sci-fi geek would love. There was incredible depth to all the characters, many twists and turns in the storyline, and the special effects were amazing. I know for myself, I love special effects, but if there is not a storyline to go along with them, I get annoyed. You have to have an excellent story or all the effects are just eye candy. People don't sit back several years after seeing it and think, wow, I loved those effects. No, they think of the story and Battlestar Galactica had that. It has been almost two years since the series ended and I still get goosebumps when I think about it. The effects are an afterthought. The story is what grabs you. So, in so many words...WATCH IT!
I can't imagine many people have not watched it. But, I know there are still some. For instance, my husband's uncle. He puts on the sci-fi guy front, but he still to this day has not watched it. I try to lure him in with the hot chicks that are throughout it. Which by the way geek girls, if by some crazy chance you are with a guy who is not a geek, tell him about the hot chicks, that will get him to watch it with you. But, not only are they pretty, they kick major ass too. See, I told you it is an all around awesome show. It has everything!
With so many books about vampires lately it seems like the market is pretty saturated. But, there is always the one vampire series that goes back over a decade and that is the Anita Blake Series. I have been a fan of the Anita Blake series as well as the Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K Hamilton for years. I am currently reading Skin Trade. Skin Trade is the 17th book in the Anita Blake series and I am a little behind on my reading as book 18 and 19 were just released this year. I know many fans of Anita Blake grew frustrated at the increase in sex and the intensity of these scenes that started in book six of the series, The Killing Dance. As not being someone who has bothered by these scenes, but actually has enjoyed seeing the change in Anita, it has been a change in going back to the roots of the Anita Blake series in Skin Trade. I am currently in chapter fifteen and have yet to read one. This has been quite a change from the other recent books in the series.
The story line in Skin Trade begins with Anita receiving a severed head in the mail from that appears to be a Master Vampire, Vittorio that we had seen in a previous book in the series, Incubus Dreams. As usual, Laurell K Hamilton catches readers with her gruesome descriptions. I love the fact that she does not hold back in any of her details no matter how morbid. For instance Olaf or Otto, the crazed Serial Killer/US Marshall. Speaking of Olaf, readers will be excited to know that he and our other favorite US Marshall Ted Forrester is back in this book. For those of you who do not know Ted, he is the first Edward. Many lovers of Anita Blake like to say, "My Edward is a sociopath with a flamethrower." I agree.
I remember wondering in a previous book, "How does she know what an eyeball being squished in its socket sound like?" I am anxious to finish Skin Trade just as I am everyone one of Hamilton's books. I realized when I started the book how much I have missed Anita. She is a great character and Hamilton has written of all her characters as her friends. I must say that her characters become friends to her readers as well. Watching Anita evolve through the books has been an awesome ride. I will write a more detailed review of the book when I complete it.
Homefront game is a new game coming out next March that I cannot wait to play. I saw the video on Xbox 360 the other day and yelled to my husband, "Holy Crap! You have to come check out this game!"
As you may have noticed, I love video games. RPGs are the games I love to play on a normal daily basis, but when it comes to LANs well, FPS are my love. As soon as I saw the video I had to google search it and check out its LAN capabilities. Thankfully I found this in my search:
Frank De Lise, executive producer at Digital Extremes, has promised exclusive enhancements for the PC version, "PC players will be able to set up and host Homefront game dedicated servers and enjoy additional community features including clan support. We believe the core PC first-person-shooter fan will really appreciate these features, which are becoming increasingly rare."
So, this little Geek Chick got super excited when I read that and had to immediately post it on my Facebook to make sure all my gaming friends knew about it.
What is so awesome about this game? Watch the video on the games official site or check it out below to see why. It is set in a dystopian future where Americans fight on the streets for their freedom. How effing cool is that?
Let me know what you think about the upcoming Homefront video game.I will post more as soon as new information is released.
Yes, this game came out last year, and I am way behind in reviewing it...
That said, this game is amazing! For those of you that love RPGs you need to check this game out. I have been a fan of other games by BioWare, but this one takes the cake. I have been playing it on Xbox 360 which is not my normal platform. I prefer PC games.
Dragon Age: Origins is a single player game set in the land of Ferelden. You can choose between three races--Human, Elf, or Dwarf and three classes--Mage, Warrior, or Rogue and you may be male or female. The choices for your character as in most RPGs will decide your storyline. The interaction between your character with the supporting characters will also effect the gameplay. During the course of the game you will be acquiring various party members that will help you in your battle against the Darkspawn. The Darkspawn are an evil horde that comes once every hundred or so years and brings the Blight with it. This Blight is a threat to life in Ferelden as all know it. It threatens to wipe out all that is good in the land. Your job as a Grey Warden is to gather the support of the people of Ferelden to fight the Blight.
That is the general synopsis which at first read may seem very basic, but it is far from it. I have only finished gathering the support of the Elves and am in the process of getting the Dwarves to help me and I have played over forty hours of game time. I might note that I still have two other main places to visit to gather support. That means that this game easily has over 80 hours of game play. I have read in some places that there is 120 hours of game time in Dragon Age.
The one thing in this game that seems to be drawing a lot of attention in the geek area is the interaction between your character and party members, just check out some of the youtube videos. Party Members have an approval rating of you. The more they approve...the more you can uh...do with them. This is an interesting part of the game that breaks up all the killing with a little "love."
With the amazing story line and the awesome game interaction, I give Dragon Age: Origin a 9 out of 10. Why do I only give it a nine? Well, if it had multiplayer capability it would be a perfect game. I don't know how many times my husband and I have said, while playing our own individual games, "I wish I could bring your character in to fight these guys with me. That would be awesome!"
One of the best television shows out now in my opinion is Stargate Universe. The premise of this series is that a group of individuals who were on a distant planet studying a new Stargate were attacked. While they were being attacked the only means of escape for several military personal and civilians was the Stargate they were studying. They had no idea where they were going when they went through the gate, but it was either that or death. When they arrived to the other side of the gate they found themselves on a spaceship created by the ancients. They also found themselves in a part of the space no one had ever visited yet. They also had no way to get back to Earth. So starts the story of Stargate Universe. A group of unlikely people who are strangers to each other, trapped on a ship millions of light years from home.
Actor David Blue, who portrays Eli
My favorite unlikely character is Eli. Eli is the video game nerd who cracked the hidden code in a game that the government had planted. This code was the code that unlocked the new kind of gate I was speaking of. So here is this guy who was a college drop out who loved to game and he is now on a distant planet unlocking a stargate. They get attacked he, along with everyone else, goes through the gate and arrives on Destiny.
SPOILER ALERT! Stargate Universe is in its second season and it has just dropped a huge bomb on viewers as to what the ship Destiny was created to do. It was created to travel to the ends of the universe because the ancients had found a signal that they believe to be THE signal. The FIRST signal that was created at the moment of creation. They are on their way to find where everything began. Instead of now being stuck on this ship and trying to get home, those who are living aboard Destiny will be accepting their own fate and not seeing it as a demise, but their own destiny. I am eager to see where this goes. The writers and creators of this series have truly stepped it up. I think I understand now why Stargate Atlantis ended so suddenly and with such a crappy ending at that. The writers had Stargate Universe in their back pocket and wanted to get it out for our viewing pleasure as soon as possible.
