Let me preface this by saying that some of what follows may reveal me to be an arrogant, elitist asshole and I may indirectly hurt your feelings. But I need to get this off my chest.

I just got back from Origins, a huge convention celebrating all aspects of geek gaming culture. There were board games, video games, LARPs, and role-playing games going on pretty much 24 hours a day. Seems like a geek paradise. I had never been to a convention of such magnitude, so this was my first exposure to such a dense concentration of geekdom.

It started off great. It was neat to wander around and see all the cool events, play games, and wander around the dealer’s room. But a few days into it, something started to shift for me. I felt disconnected from the people I supposedly had so many common interests with. I overheard debates about Firefly, 4th Edition D&D, various movies, etc. I had no interest in participating. This growing unease culminated in a sudden realization: “I don’t *like* these people.” And by “these people,” I meant geeks. [read more... ]

Just a heads up that I will be at the Origins game faire from Wednesday to Sunday. I will likely be offline while I am immersed in a massive sea of geekdom.

Hi there. This seems to be working. Hopefully I’ll stop acting so ridiculous.

xkcd brings the synchronicity yet again.

Time shifted again, moving in rings rippling out, catching things in its swirl. I think I stepped off the path to look at something, but, like in the hotel, I can’t see the way back. A darkness inks into the cracks and everything starts echoing. Every face is just a variation of 30 base faces, endlessly reused. The songs know the secret and the songs are telling everyone.

The feeling is like the feeling is like is like the wings just explode like a drag chute in the wind of time. Ironic that the wings are protection, something to slow me down because I am always flying. Slinky sine wave of senses spirals sideways vibrate stop collapse together like cymbals like symbols like something I think he’s in love with her.

Someone on the GeeksOn forum reminded me that I had watched CQ a few weeks ago. I failed to meticulously record it here. Anyone who enjoys watching Jeremy Davies do that Jeremy Davies thing should check out “CQ”. He does it for the *whole movie*! Go into it knowing nothing about the movie for maximum potency.

1. The Fountain
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Batman Begins
4. Ghostbusters
5. Barton Fink
6. Old Boy
7. CQ
8. Iron Man
9. The Fall
10. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Tarsem’s “The Cell” was a gorgeous but irreparably flawed film. I gave him a second chance with his latest work, “The Fall.” It evoked the delightful and self-aware storytelling of The Princess Bride and combined it with a palette of color and cinematography you might see in an Ang Lee film. The little girl seemed to have wandered in from a Guillermo del Toro movie and was awkwardly wonderful. Apparently, Lee Pace (Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies) is best suited to surreal projects and he really shone here. Now I will definitely have to go back and revisit Pushing Daisies.

1. The Fountain
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Batman Begins
4. Ghostbusters
5. Barton Fink
6. Old Boy
7. Iron Man
8. The Fall
9. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
10. District B-13