Tag / Nerdist

by admin

Vacation Recap: Los Angeles

dodgerstadium

We left off yesterday with me in a rental car leaving San Diego behind and heading towards the city of Angels.  The plan was to stop at Dodger Stadium on the way to my hotel and take in an afternoon matchup between the Dodgers and the Giants.  I’d given myself 3 hours to make the 2 hour drive so I would have time to get to the stadium and acclimate myself before the game started.  Trip Issue #3!  Things were smooth sailing until I got closer to LA, when traffic started to swell.  All told, the 2 hour drive ended up taking closer to 4, and I arrived in my seat during the 4th inning, by which time the Dodgers had fallen far behind.  One Dodger Dog later and many Giant home runs later, the game was over and I found my way to Glendale and the local Hilton, which would be my home for the next 4 days.

Saturday night, in search of a nice dinner, I headed out for a drive and decided to just wing it.  Somehow I ended up driving through Griffith Park and seeing some of the sights, but I didn’t find anything interesting as far as food went.  Eventually I ended up back at the hotel, where I caught the end of the Wisconsin loss in the NCAA tournament along with a tasty hamburger at the hotel bar.

muppet_starsSunday was the only day I didn’t have anything specific planned, so, after a morning walk to the local Starbucks for a nice breakfast, I headed down to Hollywood to check out the Walk of Fame and to get a good look at the famous Hollywood sign.  To be honest, the Walk of Fame was mostly creepy, other than the block or so around Hollywood and Highland, where Jimmy Kimmel’s theater is located.  I tracked down all of the Muppet-related stars and a few others of interest, including Ricardo Montalban, Mister Rogers, and George Takei. Continue reading →

by jim

The Doctor’s 50th

1239465_716134781733885_1562432521_n_zpsb5ce47a850 years ago today, while the US was reeling from the assassination of President Kennedy, a new science fiction show debuted on the BBC in Great Britain.  Today, Doctor Who is bigger than ever, both in the UK and here in the US.

Up until last year, Doctor Who was one of the holes in my nerdom.  Growing up, I had never watched the classic episodes when they would air on PBS, nor did I catch on to the new series when it came over to the states in 2006.  Over the years, though, the show slowly started to pull me to it, thanks to the boys on the Nerdist podcast and the parody version of Inspector Spacetime in Community.  Last September, while I was in Belfast, I finally took the plunge and watched my first episode, on the BBC no less.

Back at home, I ended up watching the next 2 episodes on BBC America, leading up to the end of the first half of season 7 and the death of the Ponds.  Just about a year ago, during the week of Thanksgiving, I decided to start at the beginning, at least of the current series, and worked through the 7 seasons, finally catching up early this year in time for the second half of season 7.  Tonight brings the 50th anniversary special, picking up from the season 7 finale and featuring the first team-up between David Tennant’s 10th Doctor and Matt Smith’s 11th.  This will then lead in to the Christmas special, where Smith will hang up his sonic screwdriver and turn the role over to Peter Capaldi.

by admin

Things I Love

In honor of Valentine’s Day, here are some things I love.

Community has been off the air for a few months now, and I still miss it every Thursday night when it isn’t on.  I understand that people have a problem following a sitcom that doesn’t follow the normal tropes of the genre, but that doesn’t make it any easier to take when NBC continues to air the likes of Whitney, the silly Chelsea Handler show, and Grimm.  The cast is phenomenal, especially Donald Glover, Danny Pudi, and Alison Brie.  Speaking of whom…

 

Aside from her role on Community, Alison Brie also appears on Mad Men and made a big screen appearance last year in Scream 4.  Continue reading →

by admin

Book 8 (of 52) – The Inner Circle

The Inner Circle - Brad Meltzer

Brad Meltzer returns with another tale of an ordinary guy who gets swept up into an extraordinary situation.  This time, the guy is a archivist for the National Archives and the situation involves a girl from his past, the President, the secret cabal of insiders protecting his secrets, and the other secret cabal protecting the nation’s secrets.

For a 450 page book, this was a quick and exciting read.  Meltzer certainly has a formula, but it is one he uses to great effect.  The ending certainly seems to leave things open for a follow-up, which, according to Meltzer’s appearance on the Nerdist podcast, we have to wait at least 2 years for.  Personally, I think it is worth the wait.

Taking an overall look at the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge, I have once again fallen considerably behind.  But, I have already tied last year’s mark of 8 books, so I am far ahead of the pace.  I think I’ll end up somewhere around 20, which isn’t great, but better than the 1-3 books per year I’d been reading before the challenge.