It is universally known that I have the most adorable nephew on the planet. If you were not aware of this, then you need only meet him to realize that I am absolutely correct when I make this declaration.
Now that we’ve established his awesomeness, you can see why I would try to hang out with this little bundle of rad every opportunity I get.
So when my brother discovered that his local museum was doing a Star Trek “where science meets science fiction” exhibition, he immediately texted me and said that we had to go. I had a wedding and its various festivities on Friday night and Saturday so that left us with Sunday.
Brother + nephew + Star Trek = ftw!
Having been to The Experience in Las Vegas many, many, many times and The Tour that made its way around the country a couple years ago, I had high hopes for The Exhibition.
Meh. It was ok.
It turned out to be a small collection of stuff that I’ve already seen only this time it was poorly displayed and poorly labeled (poor Troi and Riker, their wedding picture was toppled over inside a plastic dome and no one could be bothered to fix it). The big draw was supposed to be never before seen items from the latest movie…of which I saw exactly 2 items. What made it fun was seeing Zeke react to it. Turns out the kid has a thing for phasers and women that take pictures of you surrounded by Tribbles. He shows true nerd potential and if I have anything to say about it he will grow up to be a nerd to be reckoned with.
I have no idea why the Enterprise is flying across the bridge
The major bummer? All photographs were banned except for the craptastic ones you had to pay $10 a pop for (see above). Whatever. I’m a rebel. I took some pictures with my iPhone on the sly. My brother; however, is the perfect Marine and refused to take pictures of me. Rules shmules Michael!
We got through the whole thing in about an hour and a half (and that’s with my brother reading every single caption).
If you’re in the Riverside area, this weekend is your last chance to see Star Trek: The Exhibition. A guy that had worked some kind of effects on Star Trek: TNG was there and said he was hoping to get some of the background actors to show up on Saturday. He didn’t seem too enthusiastic that any of them would actually show up though.
I say we all pool our money and get The Experience back open.
I’ve got a major hankering for a Klingon Encounter.
Depending on how long you’ve been following, you may or may not remember that we raised money to get me into a bikini like the one Princess Leia wore in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
The donations came in and the costume was purchased. It took a while to line up the photo shoot but it happened this past Sunday. Consider this a late Valentine’s Day Present from your favorite Hot Nerd Girl. A big thanks to my friend Jessica for doing my hair and taking the pictures and an even bigger thanks to everyone who donated!!
If you have any suggestions on what the next costume/photo shoot should be, let me know.
I’ve decided that I’m far too dependent on it and I will be controlled by no one and no thing.
So how’s that working out for me?
Well….today is the first day and I have decided that I’m going to figure out a way to pull my brain out of my head through my left eye socket and toss it in a blender because anything has got to feel better than the agony I’m in right now.
To be perfectly honest, I’m a little surprised I can form complete sentences at the moment.
Oh, Dr. Crusher, I need you and your magical little hypospray. A quick little scan with your medical tricorder and all would be well in the universe.
No seriously, shoot me up with something Beverly. I don’t care what it is as long as my head stops throbbing.
Captain Janeway feels my pain:
Captain Janeway: Coffee. Black. Neelix: Uh, sorry Captain but we’ve lost two more replicators this morni— Janeway: Listen to me carefully, Neelix, because I’m only going to say this once. Coffee. Black.
I’ll admit, coffee isn’t my thing. I like the smell but can’t stand the taste. My vice is brown pop. Coke, Pepsi, RC cola, whatever, I don’t care as long as it’s not diet and it can be pumped directly into my veins. I drink it every morning without fail. Red Bull and Rockstar got me through college. “What Professor, you need a 20 page paper about the burial practices of the Xinguanos tribe by Friday? Excuse me while I whip out my 40oz. can of Monster and I’ll be right on that.”
Captain Picard goes for Earl Grey tea (hot, in case you didn’t know). It’s a black tea and is therefore caffeinated albeit less so than coffee or Coke. I’ll drink it in a pinch but I gotta say that it tastes like ass (sorry Brits). I’ve gagged down two mugs of the stuff today in an attempt to lesson the effects of my caffeine hangover and so far it hasn’t helped a whole lot.
The irony here? I’ve never had an actual hangover. It’s true. It’s my Super Power. I can get liquored up to my hearts content and feel fit as a fiddle come morning. But a day without caffeine and I want to shoot myself in the face.
Go figure.
So yeah, with the exception of a few Star Trek references, this isn’t exactly a nerdy post semicolon however coma it’s pretty much all I can think about at the moment so I’m going with it. I’ll let you know if I succeed or fail in my anti-caffeine mission.
I attended a friend’s birthday party over the weekend that had a 1930’s theme. Next thing I know, I’m in a room full of gorgeously dressed gorgeous people in authentic 1930’s formal attire.
Naturally that got me thinking about time travel.
Time travel via giant donut
Because, really, what nerd brain wouldn’t go straight to Captain Kirk in City on the Edge of Forever or Captain Picard on the holodeck in The Big Goodbye or Vic Fontaine crooning to the crew on any given episode of Deep Space Nine? It’s only natural.
Time travel is a common theme in science fiction. It’s a convenient story line that can take up an entire episode or movie and be self-contained or expanded into a multiple episode story arc. The possibilities are endless and the hardest part is making up some kind of space-time fluctuation to get our heroes to the time period needed.
Back when Gene Roddenberry first envisioned his “wagon train to the stars,” he got together with some of the greatest scientific minds of the time to hash out all things science-based on his show. He wanted to know exactly what could be done and how it could be done that was accurate and feasible. In other words, he asked these scientists to look into the future and dish the dirt.
The result has been the precursor to the cell phone, the hypospray, the modern computer, and so on and so forth. Their predictions were so accurate that NASA named one of its space shuttles Enterprise to acknowledge the fact that Roddenberry and his cohorts were far ahead of their time and deserved to be recognized for it. Every time I read an interview with an astronaut they claim to have been inspired by Star Trek.
Fake astronaut, meet real astronaut. Real astronaut, meet fake astronaut.
But what about their ideas on time travel? Some of the earliest evidence of exploration on the topic comes from the 700’s BCE with the Sanskrit Epic Mahabharata. In it, King Revaita travels to the heavens, meets God, and returns to discover that many years have gone by on Earth since he left and everyone he knows is long dead. The Japanese tale Urashima Taro and Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle contain the same basic storyline of a lone traveler leaving and returning to find themselves in the future. Even A Christmas Carol is a study of time travel.
Time travel in science fiction is often a paradox, a confusing mess of “what if’s.” If I step on a butterfly in the past, will I alter human life in the future? If I altered human life in the future, how could I have stepped on the butterfly in the past? It’s a classic chaos theory or “butterfly effect.” I’ve seen wormholes, time dilations, subspace temporal distortions, a transwarp corridor and a temporal casualty loop all used in the name of story telling. But is time travel real?
That'll do Scott Bakula, that'll do.
Time travel does exist, just not in a way that is convenient for us to go back and tell our 20-year-old selves not to get drunk and sleep with so-and-so. According to the theory of relativity, if I board a spaceship and start traveling away from Earth at a relativistic speed and then turn around and come back after a few years, more time would have passed on Earth than did for me on the spaceship. Therefore, technically, I would be traveling into the future. Einstein also theorized that it would be possible to travel into the past using specific types of motion in space. Folds in space time are another popular theory. If space folds in on itself, then why can’t we skip from one fold to another? One of my favorite books, The Last Legends of Earth by A.A. Attanasio goes into this in depth. Ancient magic has been the inspiration for many time travel stories as well. From Claire Randall going through ancient Druid standing stones in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, to Hermione’s Time Turner in Harry Potter, the possibilities are endless.
It's true.
Physicists all tend to have their own theories of what is and isn’t possible. Stephen Hawking has been one of the biggest naysayers of most time travel theories. Ironic, since science fiction writers like to use black holes as a time travel source and Hawking is the world’s leading expert on the phenomenon.
If I could go back in time and attempt to change something, I’m not sure that I would. I would love to have prevented some deaths I feel were unnecessary, but who am I to make that decision and change the course of history ala Quantum Leap? Is it even possible to change it? Maybe it would simply result in fate finding a way like in Final Destination. Given the choice, I would much rather travel to the future. I would love to see what the human race is able to accomplish 100, 200, 300 years from now.
So my friend Hayden is slightly (and when I say slightly I mean majorly) obsessed with Ghostbusters.
Ecto-1 ftw!
We once drove all the way downtown to a tech convention just to see Ecto-1 parked outside. We stayed just long enough to take pictures and chat with the owner and then left.
Then we got up early and headed to Costco to meet Dan Aykroyd and buy bottles of his Crystal Head vodka a while back.
So when Hayden found out that there would be a special showing of the film at Arclight Theatre with Ernie Hudson and William Atherton showing up for a Q&A session, it was pretty much mandatory that we attend. Events like this are one of the few perks of living in Los Angeles. You’d think there would be more perks, but nope, this town pretty much sucks.
It also happens to be Hayden’s birthday so it was a total score for me since it’s quite possibly the easiest birthday present ever.
Hayden and HNG at it again
I showed up before Hayden did and just happened to run into William Atherton in the Arclight gift shop. This was not my first time meeting Bill (we’re on a first name basis now). I had met him once before in 2005 at the Whole Foods Market in Woodland Hills. We were both grocery shopping and our eyes met. We introduced ourselves, chatted for minute and then parted ways. It was a moment, surrounded by organic, cage-free brown eggs, that I will never forget. Hayden showed up a minute later and we took pictures with him and scored autographs. I had Bill sign my crystal skull which he found highly amusing. Amusing enough to write his note to Dan Aykroyd instead of to me. A note that Danny (we’re on a first name basis now) will probably never, ever see. But whatever. Bill’s an awesome guy and not nearly as dickless as Venkman would have you think.
A girl and two pecks
Watching the movie on the big screen was epic. Let’s just say that I was not old enough to watch it when it was originally on the big screen *ahem* so this was a real, if slightly fuzzy, treat.
Then came the moment we were all waiting for: the Q&A with Ernie Hudson (Winston), William Atherton (Peck), Joe Medjuck (Producer), Steve Johnson (Slimer, Visual Effects Artist), and Billy Bryan (Stay Puft Marshmallow Man). Oh, but wait, Ernie Hudson decided not to show. Or even call to say that he wasn’t going to show.
WTF ERNIE HUDSON???
Ernie, you are dead to me
I know you’re so busy with your thriving acting career and all but really? You didn’t even have the manners to call and say that you were so sorry that you couldn’t grace us with your presence?
Ugh. Whatever. My crystal skull didn’t want your signature on it anyways.
The Q&A sans Ernie went smashingly with one exception: the host decided that his questions were far more important than fan questions and only left enough time for TWO questions from the audience. Douche. As my friend Kate would say “That’s soooooooooooo LA…”
All in all it was a great night. And although the kid next to me made a strange clicking noise when he yawned EVERY 30 SECONDS, I had a great time hanging out with the people behind the magic. If they ever do one of these for Star Trek I might just have a joygasm.
I'm a nerd…in case you didn't know
Some fun facts learned:
Exploded Stay Puft was actually shaving cream. Bill found out they were planning on dumping 100 lbs of the stuff on him and insisted they do a test run. The test run knocked the stunt guy flat. Oh, and they accidentally used mentholated shaving cream instead of regular. Ouch. Needless to say, all was rectified for Bill’s shot.
They filmed at all hours of the night and really pissed off the New Yorkers living in the neighborhood. At one point Isaac Asimov came running out. Dan Aykroyd got all excited and ran up to him and started telling him how huge a fan he was. Asimov just stared and him and yelled “Are you the one responsible for all this???”
Francis Ford Coppola was filming The Cotton Club around the same time so when people got upset about the lights and noise the Ghostbusters crew started blaming it on Coppola.
They sometimes filmed without permits. In the montage where they are running around New York catching ghosts, they are, at one point, really running away from a pissed off security guard.
The part of Venkman was originally written for John Belushi. When John Belushi Graduated they brought in Bill Murray to replace him. They had already created Slimer but completely revamped him as an homage to Belushi in Animal House.
Stay Puft is missing his tie in the scene where he explodes. Billy Bryan realized this in the middle of the night after shooting and woke up in a panic. Since no one in the screenings ever noticed, they left it as is.
Stay Puft is the only aspect of the original script that survived.
5. Hollywood can’t get enough of him, but he’s not a snob about it
As I mentioned in my previous post Top 10 Campy Horror Films, there have been over 80 film adaptations of King Stephen’s work. That doesn’t just include literal adaptations like Carrie or The Shining, but less obvious ones like Stand By Me and Shawshank Redeption (a personal favorite) both based on short stories. He pops up in pop culture when he feels like it and on his own terms and isn’t afraid to criticize or make fun of himself. He relishes in cameos and guest appearances that have significance for him like The Simpsons and Fever Pitch (he’s a die hard Red Sox fan – I’m looking at you Troi) while rooting for the up and comers in his “Pop of King” column in Entertainment Weekly. And it’s not just film and television that has a hard on for Stephen, Marvel Comics took The Dark Tower and ran with it.
Pop quiz, bitches: Who is Stephen King’s favorite Superhero?
For my sister-in-law Troi, also a die hard
4. He takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’
Everyone knows that Stephen got hit by a car while walking down a rural road near his house back in 1999. I’m sure we all had a vision or daydream (or 10) of his wife Tabitha going all Misery on him. It’s pretty much miraculous that he can walk. While recovering, he wrote my favorite of his novels, Dreamcatcher. He also felt thankful that he was rich and wouldn’t have to worry about his medical bills. Then he realized that a lot of other writers aren’t rich so he created the Haven Foundation, an organization that helps freelancers who can’t pay for their medical bills. I’m always happy to see nerds helping people so I gladly tip my hat to Mr. King for that one.
Pop quiz, bitches: What kind of accident did Stephen King witness as a child that many believe served as inspiration for his novels?
3. Fuck yeah he’ll write a 1500 page, 19 lbs. book and I dare you to tell him he can’t
He has an ability to make grown ups want to sleep with the lights on (if they can even sleep at all) and worry about their pets going all Cujo on them. I can understand why people would think twice about crossing him. Remember that guy that hit him with his van? Yeah, he died on Stephen King’s birthday. So when a book publisher gets word that an author is writing a behemoth of a book, he’s probably going to freak out a little. Unless that author is Stephen King and people have a tendency to DIE ON HIS BIRTHDAY. Following in the footsteps of War and Peace and Sacajawea, Sir Stephen wrote a book of epic proportions with Under the Dome. Oh the tangled webs we weave but none weaveth like the Kingeth. For a complicated web of characters and plots, Under the Dome was surprisingly easy to read and a TV mini-series produced by Steven Spielberg is already in the works.
Pop quiz, bitches: Where did Stephen King get the name for the character Jim Rennie in Under the Dome?
2. He says what’s on his mind and all others be damned
Stephen King just doesn’t give a damn about what other people think of him. He does what he wants and he makes no apologies for it. He has never been secretive about his past with addiction and even admitted basing the character of Jack Torrance in The Shining on himself at his alcoholic worst.
His view on people is such: “I think that we’re all mentally ill. Those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little better – and maybe not all that much better after all.”
He has insulted the writing ability of Stephenie Meyer, questioned the literacy of the US Army and been very outspoken against the war in Iraq, all without fear of those who would challenge him. He has a quick wit and a mass of minions who are ready and willing to heed his command to tell opponents to shut up. I might not always agree with him but he’s got balls and that I respect.
Pop quiz, bitches: What was the name of Stephen King’s student newspaper column at the University of Maine?
No. You can't have him. He's mine.
1. He writes for people with a sense of humor, not for snobby elitists
He once called himself “the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries.” An author who focuses on emotion rather than intellect even though his writing is very, very smart. He started out as a high school teacher and it is my belief that he writes for them as opposed to the book critics. He uses profanity with sophisticated relish, a talent that brings great joy to me and my love for a well placed f-bomb. He delights his most loyal readers by connecting people and places throughout his novels. Richard Tozier, for example, appears in Dreamcatcher, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Duma Key, and It. His loyalty lies with his fans and his fans are extremely loyal in return. I heart you Stephen King. I even heart your cell phone zombies.
Pop quiz, bitches: Who is the author that most influenced Stephen King?
***
“I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I’ll go for the gross-out. I’m not proud.”
So, it turns out that a lot of people dig Linda Hamilton. Either that or they just search for her a lot. Ms. Hamilton has consistently been one of the top searched for people on the Hot Nerd Girl Blog.
I’m not gonna lie, this perplexes me just a little.
Not because I don’t think she’s awesome, obviously I do as previously stated in my 10 Hottest Babes of Sci-Fi post. It’s just that it’s been a little while since she was a headlining actress in a major motion picture.
Our relationship is fine! We swear!
Maybe it’s because her ex-husband, James “Jimbo” Cameron has been in the news thanks to Avatar? He was competing with ex-wife #2, Kathryn Bigalow, during all of the awards ceremonies….so why shouldn’t ex-wife #3 Linda Hamilton come up?
However, I lean towards the notion that it’s because there’s more to this tough girl than meets the eye.
For example, did you know that Linda Hamilton auditioned for the role of Kathryn Janeway? Genevieve Bujold got the role and then infamously quit after one day of filming, handing over the part to Kate Mulgrew. Hamilton was also considered for the role of Dr. Chase Meridian in Batman Forever, a role that ended up going to a not-quite-uber-famous-yet Nicole Kidman.
Linda is somewhat of a sci-fi goddess and has been since the start of her acting career. In quick succession she went from Children of the Corn to The Terminator. James Cameron loved her so much that he changed Sarah Connor’s scripted age from 19 to 27 just for Linda. Her most famous TV role was opposite Ron Perlman (Can I just say how much I LOVE him??) in Beauty and the Beast. I totally remember watching that show as a kid and thinking she was the prettiest lady alive.
Mmmmmm…..codpieces…..
Of course, she then became the most bad ass lady alive when she went crazy training for Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the movie she is most famous for and arguably one of the greatest movies of all time.
So what is Linda up to these days? Besides lamenting her marriage to Cameron and discussing her bipolar disorder, that is.
She’s back in action as the mother of Chuck. A neglectful mother and CIA agent who is still kicking ass and taking names.
I know she's not dead. Just go with me on the theme, ok?
‘Tis the time of year for In Memoriams and there will be plenty of them. All of the awards shows and news organizations will have them. Heck, I even saw one last night on Turner Classic Movies (after watching the original 1968 version of Night of the Living Dead, of course).
My 95-year-old Danish Grandmother says that people don’t die, they Graduate. I don’t know what that has to do with her being Danish but I’ve always liked it and it’s a common saying in our family.
I know what you’re thinking…7 of 9 is a strange name for an In Memoriam post…but there’s a method to my madness. Out of all the folks who Graduated this year, I wanted to focus on the ones that are relevant to nerd culture. There were 7 that really stood out to me. I also lost several loved ones in the past year, 2 of which were huge nerds…7+2=9…7 of 9…get it? Well, it sounded cool to me 😉
So, here’s a post remembering 7 influential people in the Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror genres who Graduated this past year.
1. Corey Allen – Director, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
One of the latest surviving cast members of Rebel Without A Cause, Corey Allen got his start as an actor in the mid-1950’s. He switched to directing television in the 1960’s, eventually becoming a regular director on Star Trek: The Next Generation (including the first episode “Encounter at Farpoint”) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He Graduated from complications of Parkinson’s disease.
2. Peter Graves – Actor, Mission: Impossible
Best known for portraying Jim Phelps, leader of the IMF on Mission: Impossible, Peter Graves was in so many B science fiction films, like Killers From Space, that he ended up being an accidental regular on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Even though he was less than thrilled about the attention, it became such a running joke that he parodied himself in Men in Black: II. He Graduated from a heart attack after having brunch with his family.
3. Irvin Kershner – Director, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
"This shot was shortly before the evening turned into a hot mess. I don't want to talk about it."
Irvin Kershner was a prolific musician and photographer when he joined the world of Cinema at USC. He was a quirky, independent film director when George Lucas approached him about directing the second installment of his epic trilogy. The exchange went something like this… Kershner: “Of all the younger guys around, all the hot-shots, why me?” Lucas: “Because you know everything a Hollywood director is supposed to know, but you’re not Hollywood.” He went on to direct Robocop 2 and several episodes of seaQuest DSV, but nothing has come close to matching the success he achieved with Empire. After a 3.5 year battle, lung cancer finally claimed him.
4. Grant McCune – Special Effects Designer, Star Wars, Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Trained in biology, Grant McCune was picked by Steven Spielberg to create the giant white shark for Jaws. He went on to win an Academy Award for Star Wars: A New Hope. His second Oscar nomination was for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. He created many aliens and creatures during his career, the most beloved of which has got to be the lovable robot R2D2. More recently he worked on Batman Forever, Red Planet and Spider-Man. He Graduated from pancreatic cancer.
5. Harvey Pekar – Underground Comic Book Writer, American Splendor
Harvey Pekar is most famous for his autobiographical graphic novel American Splendor which was eventually made into a hit feature film. His comics were not filled with Superheroes, but with everyday heroes and he took it upon himself to broaden the horizons of the comic book genre believing that they could do anything motion pictures could do. Often filled with pain and the trials of everyday life, his graphic novels were wax-poetic in their brutal honesty. He was often compared to Chekhov and Dostoevski by literary critics who don’t normally pay attention to the comic book genre. Having been diagnosed with cancer for the third time, he Graduated from an accidental overdose of medications.
6. Ingrid Pitt – Actress, The Vampire Lovers, Countess Dracula, The House That Dripped Blood, The Wicker Man
To my knowledge, Ingrid Pitt (aka Ingoushka Petrov) is the only person on this list who is a holocaust survivor. She married an American soldier and moved to America in the 1950’s. After a small role in Doctor Zhivago, she embarked on a career that would earn her the cult title of the Queen of Horror for her participation in several horror genre films in the 1960’s and 70’s. She Graduated two days after her 73rd birthday after collapsing in London.
7. Zelda Rubinstein – Actress, Poltergeist
At the age of 45 Zelda Rubinstein the medical lab technician decided that it was high time she started her acting career. She went on to portray many psychics, most notably in the Poltergeist series of films. She was also a passionate AIDS and human right activist, to the detriment of her acting career. She succumbed to kidney and lung failure in January.
***
Then there are the regular Joes. The nerds and geeks we know and love who aren’t famous or involved in the entertainment industry. They don’t get recognized during awards shows or in magazines but their loss is just as devastating and much more personal for us. The nerd world lost 2 wonderful souls this past year who deserve to be recognized for the incredible people they were.
My step-dad, Randall, collected many books in his 60 years and we shared a mutual love of Robert Service and CS Lewis. I’m pretty sure he owned every book Lewis ever wrote and every book ever written about Lewis. He was also a huge fan of Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke and other classic science fiction authors. He introduced me to Clarke and gave me my first Clarke novel, Against The Fall of Night. He was very supportive of my nerdiness, and would brave the screaming teenagers to go see the Twilight movies on opening night with me when no one else would. He even pretended that he liked them. Randall was a unique and wonderful human being and I miss him terribly. He Graduated from cancer this past October 3rd.
9. Kevin Workman – Super Trekkie, faithful friend
Every so often a person comes along who is a genuine joy and an inspiration to be around. Kevin was that person to his family, friends and colleagues. A die-hard Trekkie and computer genius, Kevin’s loved ones created an entire facebook page “get well card” after he fell ill inexplicably. A lot of people considered Kevin a good friend and there was a reason for that: he was a good man to the core and thought of others before he ever thought of himself. He Graduated just a few days ago at the much-too-young age of 40.
***
Do you know a nerd who Graduated in 2010 who deserves to be recognized? Please leave a comment and let us know or post a picture and comment on the Hot Nerd Girl facebook page.
Other notable Graduates that didn’t make the full fledge 7 of 9:
Lisa Blount – Actress, Prince of Darkness, Starman
David Brown – Producer, Jaws
Art Clokey – Creator, Gumby
Robert Culp – Actor, I Spy
Tony Curtis – Actor, Houdini, Lobster Man from Mars, The Mummy Lives, Alien X Factor, Stargames
Dino De Laurentiis – Producer, King Kong
John Forsythe – Actor, Charlie’s Angels
James Gammon – Actor, The Iron Giant
Corey Haim – Actor, The Lost Boys
Dennis Hopper – Actor, Super Mario Brothers, Waterworld, Land of the Dead, The Twilight Zone
Andrew Koenig – Actor, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Batman: Dead End
Kevin McCarthy – Actor, Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Leslie Nielsen – Forbidden Planet, 2001: A Space Travesty, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Superhero Movie
Fess Parker – Actor, Davy Crockett
Meinhardt Raabe – Actor, The Wizard of Oz
Glenn Shadix –Actor, Beetlejuice, Nightmare Before Christmas
***
“Every life comes to an end when time demands it. Loss of life is to be mourned, but only if the life was wasted.“
Part of being a socially responsible nerd is giving back to the community. I’m big on helping people, whether it’s defending someone who’s being picked on or giving food to the less fortunate. This is, of course, a recurring theme in my favorite sci-fi franchise, Star Trek…working towards the betterment of mankind.
While we’re not to the point of getting rid of currency quite yet, there are many ways that we can help out our fellow homo sapiens.
I’ve mentioned in the past that I come from a long line of military personnel, dating all the way back to the Civil War. I’m extremely proud of this. My brother and cousin are currently active in the US military and have both been deployed overseas. Looking for ways to do my part, about 4 years ago I became involved in an amazing organization called Operation Gratitude. We pack care packages and mail them around the world to those Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marine’s that are in harm’s way. It’s a small but powerful way to say Thank You for risking your lives to protect ours. For many of these men and women it will be the only package or piece of mail they receive. The thank you letters we get back from them will break your heart.
With founder Carolyn after packing # 350,000Collecting and donating old electronics
A few years ago I was lucky enough to pack the 350,000th package. This past weekend we packed our 600,000th. That is no small feat my fellow nerds and nerdettes. Every single item in every package is donated and every volunteer works for free so every single penny raised goes towards shipping costs. When I started volunteering the cost to ship a package was $10, today it costs $15.
600,000th care package!
So, in the spirit of the holiday season, I’m opening the donation page back up for anyone who would like to donate to Operation Gratitude. It will stay up at the top of the blog indefinitely. All of it will go directly to the organization. If you don’t have money but you still want to help, there are many ways to do so. I also crochet scarves that go into every package. Collecting those old beanie babies everyone had but no longer wants is great too. Hand written letters are always needed. Or you could come and stare at my boobs the whole time like the guy in the Marvel Comics t-shirt did. Veteran’s need love too, so there are various ways to help them out as well. Go to the “Get Involved” section of the Operation Gratitude website for a ton of great ideas.
You can also buy products from those who donate a percentage of their profits to Operation Gratitude. There is a list of them here.
My favorite of which is my friend Hayden’s company, Active Country (you’ve seen Hayden on here a few times, he’s kick ass). He donates 5% of all his profits to Operation Gratitude and presented them with a check this past Saturday. You can find his company here.
Hot Nerd Girl with Hayden and his Grandma
If Operation Gratitude isn’t your thing, find some other way to give back. Something you feel passionate about. Pay it forward!
Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox now 🙂
Here are some pictures from this past Saturday:
I don't let gimpy-ness get in the way of do-goodingH-Dogg packing heating padsThe assembly line. I packed toe warmers and chapstick.Over 2000 volunteers showed up, a new record!Superheroes were on hand to helpTall people come in handy