Hot Nerd Girl

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  • For Veterans Day 11-11-11

    Can you identify all of these people?

    In my family Veterans Day is the most important day of the year, revered more than Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Whereas Memorial Day is marked by a certain degree of sadness, Veterans Day is about celebration.  It’s about giving thanks to those among us who have answered the calling to serve their country.  I often mention my military pedigree and that’s because it’s what I’m most proud of.  Coming from a military family is not easy.  Telling your 5 year old that Dad isn’t going to be home for your birthday or for Christmas is heartbreaking.  My Dad missed out on a lot when my brother and I were growing up but we appreciated him so much when he was home.  Now that he’s retired I look back and remember those years with a great deal of pride, both in my father and our family unit.

    For Veterans Day I thought it would be fun to look back at the military careers of some of the people who have contributed to the world of science fiction and fantasy.  I’ve got Veterans Day plans so most of the text is copied from Wikipedia and other websites.  Whenever possible I used pictures from their actual time in service.

    If you’re going out today and you see a Vet, take a second to thank them.  They’ll probably get embarrassed but do it anyway, they need to feel the love sometimes.

    –

    Don Adams – Get Smart

    USMC

    Adams enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1941 together with his twin-brother cousins, William and Robert Karvelas. The three were assigned to the Third Marines in Samoa until Adams was sent as a replacement to the Battle of Guadalcanal, where he was the only survivor of his platoon. His survival, despite his company’s near 90% fatality rate, was due to his contracting blackwater fever early in the campaign. He was evacuated and spent over a year in a Navy hospital in Wellington, New Zealand. After his recovery, he served as a Marine drill instructor in the United States.

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    Michael Caine – The Swarm, Batman

    British Army

    From 1952, when he was called up to do his National Service, until 1954, he served in the British Army’s Royal Fusiliers, first at the BAOR HQ in Iserlohn, Germany and then on active service during the Korean War.

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    Tony Curtis – Houdini

    US Navy

    Curtis enlisted in the United States Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor and war was declared. After being inspired by Cary Grant’s role in Destination Tokyo and Tyrone Power in Crash Dive (1943), he joined the Pacific submarine force. Curtis served aboard a submarine tender, the USS Proteus until the end of the Second World War. On September 2, 1945, Curtis witnessed the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay from his ship’s signal bridge about a mile away.

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    James Doohan – Star Trek

    Royal Canadian Artillery, RCAF

    At the beginning of the Second World War, Doohan joined the Royal Canadian Artillery. He was commissioned a lieutenant in the 13th Field Artillery Regiment of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. Doohan went to England in 1940 for training. His first combat was the invasion of Normandy at Juno Beach on D-Day. Shooting two snipers, Doohan led his men to higher ground through a field of anti-tank mines, where they took defensive positions for the night. Crossing between command posts at 11:30 that night, Doohan was hit by six rounds fired from a Bren gun by a nervous Canadian sentry: four in his leg, one in the chest, and one through his right middle finger. The bullet to his chest was stopped by a silver cigarette case. His right middle finger had to be amputated, something he would conceal during his career as an actor.

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    Robert Duvall – The Twilight Zone, Phenomenon

    US Army

    Duvall was born in San Diego, California, the son of Mildred Virginia (née Hart), an amateur actress and relative of American Civil War General Robert E. Lee, and William Howard Duvall, a Virginia-born U.S. Navy admiral.  Duvall grew up in a military family, moving frequently from military base to military base, living for a time in Annapolis, Maryland, near the United States Naval Academy.  He served in the United States Army from 19 August 1953 to 20 August 1954, leaving as Private First Class. He was stationed at Camp Gordon (now known as Fort Gordon) in Georgia.

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    Alec Guinness – Star Wars

    Royal Navy

    Guinness served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in World War II, serving first as a seaman in 1941 and being commissioned the following year. He commanded a landing craft taking part in the invasion of Sicily and Elba and later ferried supplies to the Yugoslav partisans. He operated a British Royal Navy landing craft on D Day.

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    Gene Hackman – Superman

    USMC

    At 16, Hackman left home to join the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served four-and-a-half years as a field radio operator.

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    Charlton Heston – Planet of the Apes, The Omega Man

    USAF

    In 1944, Heston enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces (what became the Air Force). He served for two years as a radio operator and aerial gunner aboard a B-25 Mitchell stationed in the Alaskan Aleutian Islands with the Eleventh Air Force. He reached the rank of Staff Sergeant. After his service and rise to fame, Heston was chosen as a narrator for highly classified Military and Department of Energy instructional films, particularly relating to nuclear weapons, and for six years Heston held the nation’s highest security clearance or Q clearance.

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    James Earl Jones – Star Wars, Dr. Strangelove, Conan the Barbarian

    US Army

    With the war intensifying in Korea, Jones supposed he would be shipped off to the war as soon as he received his officer’s commission. Instead, he went home. As he waited for his orders to active duty, he found a part-time stage crew job at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan, where he had performed before. By the end of summer 1953, Jones was commissioned as a second lieutenant, and was soon off to Fort Benning to attend Basic Infantry Officers School. While there, Jones went through Ranger School, graduated, and received his Ranger Tab (although he stated during an interview on the BBC’s The One Show screened on November 11, 2009 that he “washed out” of Ranger training). His first duty station was supposed to be at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, but his orders changed, and his unit was instead sent to Colorado where the Army planned to establish a cold weather training command at the old Camp Hale near Leadville, Colorado. His regiment was established as a training unit, to train in the bitter cold weather and the rugged terrain of the Rocky Mountains. Jones eventually earned the rank of First Lieutenant.

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    Harvey Keitel – From Dusk Till Dawn

    USMC

    At the age of sixteen, he decided to join the United States Marine Corps, a decision that took him to Lebanon, during Operation Blue Bat.

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    Gene Roddenberry – Star Trek

    USAF

    Roddenberry developed an interest in aeronautical engineering and subsequently obtained a pilot’s license. In 1941, he joined the United States Army Air Corps, which in the same year became the United States Army Air Forces. He began training at Goodfellow Field (now Goodfellow Air Force Base) in San Angelo, Texas and graduated training in 1942, Class G. He flew combat missions in the Pacific Theatre with the “Bomber Barons” of the 394th Bomb Squadron, 5th Bombardment Wing of the Thirteenth Air Force and on August 2, 1943, Roddenberry was piloting a B-17E Flying Fortress named the “Yankee Doodle” from Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides when mechanical failure caused it to crash on take-off. In total, he flew eighty-nine missions for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal before leaving the Army Air Forces in 1945.

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    George C. Scott – The Changeling, Dr. Strangelove

    USMC

    Scott joined the US Marines, serving from 1945 until 1949, and was assigned to the prestigious 8th and I Barracks in Washington, D.C. In that capacity, he served as a guard at Arlington National Cemetery and taught English literature and radio speaking/writing at the Marine Corps Institute.

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    Robert Stack – Unsolved Mysteries

    US Navy

    During World War II, Stack served as a gunnery officer and instructor in the United States Navy for more than three years.

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    Harry Dean Stanton – Alien

    US Navy

    Stanton served in the Navy in World War II and was in the Battle of Okinawa.

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    Jimmy Stewart – Rear Window, Vertigo

    USAF

    Stewart had a noted military career and was a World War II and Vietnam War veteran, who rose to the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Air Force Reserve. The Stewart family had deep military roots as both grandfathers had fought in the Civil War, and his father had served during both the Spanish-American War and World War I. Stewart considered his father to be the biggest influence on his life, so it was not surprising that, when another war eventually came, he too was eager to serve. Members of his family had previously been in the infantry, but Stewart chose to become a military flyer. in 1940, Stewart was drafted into the United States Army but was rejected for failing to meet height and weight requirements for new recruits—Stewart was five pounds (2.3 kg) under the standard. To get up to 148 pounds, he sought out the help of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s muscle man and trainer Don Loomis, who was noted for his ability to add or subtract pounds in his studio gymnasium. Stewart subsequently attempted to enlist in the Army Air Corps, but still came in under the weight requirement, although he persuaded the AAC enlistment officer to run new tests, this time passing the weigh-in, with the result that Stewart enlisted in the Army in March 1941. He became the first major American movie star to wear a military uniform in World War II. Stewart continued to play a role in the United States Air Force Reserve after the war, achieving the rank of Brigadier General on July 23, 1959. Stewart did not often talk of his wartime service, perhaps due to his desire to be seen as a regular soldier doing his duty instead of as a celebrity.

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    Oliver Stone – Conan the Barbarian (writer)

    US Army

    In September 1967, Stone enlisted in the United States Army, requesting combat duty in Vietnam. He fought with the 25th Infantry Division, then with the First Cavalry Division, earning a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart with an Oak Leaf Cluster before his discharge in 1968 after 15 months.

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    JRR Tolkien – The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion

    British Expeditionary Force

    Tolkien joined the British Army in July 1915. He was then commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers. He trained with the 13th (Reserve) Battalion on Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, for eleven months. Tolkien was then transferred to the 11th (Service) Battalion with the British Expeditionary Force, arriving in France on 4 June 1916. Tolkien served as a signals officer at the Somme, participating in the Battle of Thiepval Ridge and the subsequent assault on the Schwaben Redoubt.

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    James D. – Best Dad ever

    US Navy

    There are a lot of Veterans in my family going all the way back to the Civil War including my Grandfather, my Uncle and my Stepdad but the one who has made the most impact on me is my father.  Quite simply, he is my hero and that gives him celebrity status in my book.  He served during Vietnam and the Gulf War and was gone for large chunks of my childhood.  He always brought back gifts from exotic places that I’ll probably never travel to.  It was hard back then with no email and no skype.  Getting mail to and from a ship in the middle of the ocean means that you experience quite a bit of delay. I will never forget putting stickers on the calendar each day, counting down the days until he came back from Westpac.  My Dad is an incredible man and I’m extremely proud to be his daughter.  Happy Veterans Day Daddy 🙂

    Navy brats at your service!

  • Remembering the Great Bird of the Galaxy… (I miss you, Gene Roddenberry)

    October is a bittersweet month for me.  On one hand, there’s Halloween and all of the fun festivities that the holiday entails.  But October is the month when several of my loved ones have passed away so there’s also a lot of sadness.  Even though I never met him personally, the one anniversary of someone unrelated to me that I have written in my calendar is Gene Roddenberry’s.  Every October 24th I honor the life of one of my heroes, the man who created and nurtured the glory that is Star Trek.  This year in particular is notable in that it’s the 20th anniversary of his passing.  It’s uber hard to believe that it’s been 20 years already.  Even though I was a kid I have very vivid memories of the day he died.

    So in honor of Mr. Eugene Wesley Roddenberry, here are 16 Facts You Never Knew About Gene Roddenberry, for your nerdy enjoyment:

    1. Most people know that Gene was a pilot during WWII but are unaware that he was a civilian pilot for Pan Am after the war and before becoming a Los Angeles police officer.

    2. He was involved in at least two plane crashes.  The first while piloting a B-17 Flying Fortress during the war that crashed due to mechanical failure just after take off and killed two people on board.  The second was while a passenger on a commercial flight from Karachi to Istanbul that crashed in the middle of the Syrian desert in which he was one of only eight survivors.

    3. He was the speechwriter for LAPD police chief William H. Parker and modeled the character of Spock after him.

    4. He had affairs with Nichele Nichols and Majel Barrett in the 1960’s during his first marriage.  He and Majel Barrett had been lovers for years when he decided it was time to marry her and asked her to join him during a visit to Japan. Gene did not adhere to any particular religion and since they were in Japan they chose to have a Shinto-Buddhist wedding on 6 August 1969. They regarded this as their real wedding, but his divorce was not yet final and they made it legal with a civil ceremony on 29 December 1969.

    5. He tried to reboot Star Trek with the original cast in 1977.  The project was called Phase II.  The network abandoned the project just before filming was set to start.  The project was modified and turned into Star Trek: The Motion Picture thanks in large part to the success of Star Wars.

    6. The Next Generation character Wesley Crusher got his first name from Gene’s middle name.  His first name became the middle name of Voyager character Thomas Eugene Paris.

    7. In physics a “Roddenberry” marks the distance traveled at the speed of light during a “traveler year.”  Using the theory of relativity scientists have determined that a “traveler year” is 70.7 % of a normal earth year or .707 of a light year.

    8. Asteroid “4659 Roddenberry” is named after him.

    9. Random personal fun fact: I used to have to go to the Roddenberry building on the Paramount Lot for work all of the time.  The building is very boring and has nothing indicative of its namesake other than a nameplate.  I was very disappointed.

    10. He almost died in a house fire with the rest of his family when he was a toddler but the milkman came and woke them up in time.

    11. He is the first television writer to get star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  (Random personal fun fact: when I lived in Hollywood my apartment was just off of the section of the Walk of Fame that has most of the actors from the Original Series so I walked all over them every day)

    12. During WWII, Gene had a friend named Kim Noonien Singh; after the war Kim disappeared, and Gene used his name for some characters in the Star Trek series (Khan Noonien Singh from The Original Series and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and Noonien Soong from Star Trek: The Next Generation) hoping that Kim would contact him.

    13. During WWII, Gene wrote a song lyric “I Wanna Go Home” which became popular among the other troops.

    14. My favorite Gene Roddenberry quote: “Time is the fire in which we burn.”

    15. In 1992, a portion of Rodenberry’s ashes flew and returned to earth on the Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-52. On April 21, 1997, a Celestis spacecraft carrying a portion of the cremated remains of Roddenberry and 23 others were the first to be launched into Earth’s orbit aboard a Pegasus XL rocket from near the Canary Islands. On May 20, 2002, the spacecraft’s orbit deteriorated and it disintegrated in the atmosphere. Another flight to launch more of his ashes into deep space along with those of Majel Barret Roddenberry is planned for launch in 2012.

    16. For Star Trek‘s 25th anniversary, two months before his death, Roddenberry gave TV Guide a list of his top ten favorite episodes:

    Gene Roddenberry created the greatest science fiction franchise of all time.  He didn’t set out to create a phenomenon or to inspire generations of scientists but his “wagon train to the stars” literally changed the world.  As a man he was far from perfect, but as a visionary he is unparalelled.  Countless inventions and advancements are a reality because he inspired people to “make it so.”

    I heart you Gene Roddenberry.  I heart you so much.

    Now where's my goddamn transporter??

  • Hello Sweetie! 25 Take Aways from Doctor Who

    A girl can dream…

    If you follow the facebook page then you know that I’ve been more than a little obsessed with Doctor Who lately.  I tend to do that.  Get obsessed with something and then turn around and get obsessed with something else.  Thankfully I have AMAZING taste in obsessions.

    Two months ago I was a Doctor Who virgin.  Sad, I know.  I wish I had the time to invest in all of the amazing science fiction and fantasy shows that are out there, but I don’t.  I have my shows that I follow religiously and for the rest I embark on epic television show marathons.  It actually works out pretty well for me.  Everything stays nice and fresh in my multiple-franchise-fact-packed little brain and I don’t have to wait a whole agonizing week for the next episode to come out.  It’s a pretty sweet deal if I do say so myself. 

    And I do.

    Anyhooters.  I got through Seasons 1-5 (aka Doctor’s 9, 10, and the first of Doctor 11) ridiculously fast.  Seriously…that whole unpacking and organizing my new house thing took a major productivity dive.  Then something horrific happened.  Netflix wouldn’t give me any more episodes. I wasn’t (and still am not – stupid broken computer 🙁 ) set up to BitTorrent them and I was really hoping to not have to buy them on Amazon Instant Video (just bought a house, remember?)  I went through Doctor withdrawals.  It was pathetic.  But I started organizing my house again which I GUESS was a good thing.  Pssh.

    Then the season finale came and BBCA did a whole marathon of season 6.  Thanks GODS!  Then I had to go out of town.  Gah!  How did I ever live without a DVR?  I have no idea.  Since I got back I’ve been watching episodes between cleaning, organizing, wedding attending, yadda yadda yadda and I am FINALLY all caught up.  Phew!

    I can officially proclaim myself a Whovian!

    So here are my thoughts on the Doctor, his companions, his enemies and all the rest. Watch out, because as River Song would say…SPOILERS!

    1. Is it a good thing or a bad thing that I will spend an entire day talking like a Dalek?

    2. I brought this up on the facebook page but it warrants repeating:

    Does anyone else think it’s weird that the daughter of the guy who played the 5th Doctor went on to play the daughter of the 10th Doctor and gave birth to the daughter of the guy who played the 10th Doctor?

    3. Dear Doc #9…you’re cool in a goofy “wait, aren’t you supposed to be a villain?” kind of way.  Your smile could light up the room and was really adorable.  I feel for you because you got all of the cheesy special effects and that really sucked for you.  Plus, you only got one season which was sad but kind of awesome because it made way for Doc #10.  I feel bad for admitting that but it’s true.  Still, you’re the one who dragged me in and solidified my Doctor Who addiction and for that, I will always be in your debt.

    4. Wait, did I hear it right that the Doctor killed his entire race in order to defeat the Daleks??  That’s some fucked up shit right there.

    5. OMFG enough with the creepy dolls.  What is it with creepy dolls??? Ugh, I hate creepy dolls.

    6. I’m not gonna lie, when we first met Donna I wasn’t a huge fan. 

    Donna with Doctor #10

    When they ditched her in favor of Martha I thought, yup, right decision!  Then they ditched Martha and brought back Donna and I thought, wtf? didn’t we establish that Donna was annoying??  Then I started to crazy love Donna and I was hoping she’d stick around for a while.  When her storyline ended I cried.  Not just because it had ended but because of the way it ended and how they made her go back to being annoying Donna.  She had the worst fate of all the Companions and my heart still breaks for her.  

    7. Speaking of Martha…

    Martha with Doctor #10

    I love how the Producers had such a hard on for Freema Agyeman that they cast her as Martha RIGHT AFTER casting her as Adeola, the Torchwood minion who got all Cyberman’d in “Army of Ghosts.”  Did they think we wouldn’t notice that it was the same chick?  Not hardly.  I can see why they did it though.  Martha was fantastic.  I felt bad for her that she was the rebound chick but that’s the price you pay for being a Companion, you’re going to get hurt somehow.  At least she went all girl power and took off on her own and became a badass soldier.  Now she’s a lawyer on Law and Order UK with Lee Adama.  Girl gets around.

    8. Badger’s back!!  I heart you so much Mark Sheppard.  I mean, is there a sci-fi show that you won’t do??  Please say no.

    Frakking badass

    9. Aside from being a better title than “The Doctor” I never really got why the show was called “Doctor Who.”  I mean, sure, people ask “doctor who?” every once in a while, but not really enough to make it the title of the show.  Now, thanks to a fat blue man with no body, I expect to find out the answer to that question and holy fucking crap I can’t wait!

    10. Dear Doc #10…I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you.  You had the best hair, the best clothes (sorry, Doc #11, but bow ties aren’t that cool), the best facial expressions.  You speak volumes with nothing but a raised eyebrow.  The whole daughter paradox thing creeps me out a little but I could get past that.  I get it Rose, I totally get it.  I would hit that too.

    11. The thought of fish fingers and custard makes me want to barf.  But that scene was fucking brilliant.

    12. I’m confused….is Rory still plastic?  Or did he get converted back to being human somewhere along the way and I just missed it?

    13. I will never look at angel statues the same way again.  Ever.

    Ever.

    Ok, fine. You can blink one eye at a time. Smart ass.

    14. STFU!  Jack is the Face of Boe?!?

    15. “Vincent and the Doctor” is one of the greatest episodes of television I have ever seen. Not so much because of the giant invisible chicken, but because of the last 10 minutes. I don’t think it’s possible to watch it without shedding a few tears.  Tragically beautiful.

    16. Will someone please sell me some hallucinogenic lipstick already?! 

    17. Rose is probably my favorite Companion. 

    Rose with Doctor #9 (I had to get him in here somehow)

    She’s adorable in her bucked-tooth, cockney accented way but mostly I think it’s because of her chemistry with Doctor #10.  I cried the ugly cry when he had to leave her in the alternate dimension.  Sorry, Mickey, but you simply can’t replace the Doctor. When she started popping up in the background of season 4 I think I screamed a few times.  I miss that combo.

    18. Amy is a very close second. 

    Amy with Doctor #11

    I like her spunky Scottish redhead attitude and her relationship with Rory is adorable.  I was ridiculously happy when Amy chose Rory over the Doctor after that weird sort-of-but-sort-of-not love triangle thing they had going on there.  If they had kept going in that direction it would have been seriously awkward when River started coming around more often.  Rory should wear that Last Centurian costume, like, all the time.  So cute.

    19. Is it just me or is everyone reminded of The Gentlemen from Buffy the Vampire Slayer when they look at The Silents (aka The Silence)? 

    I swear, this is one of those situations where the DW writers know what the fuck is really going on and the rest of us are all oblivious.  Seriously, how many of these fuckers have I killed in my life and I can’t even remember doing it??

    20. Ok really? Giant green alien babies? Sorry Raxacoricofallapatorian’s, but you’re just not that scary.  Although, I suppose you’re better than the Adipose….

    21. Dear Doc #11…you’re cuter than #9 but not as cute as #10.  But I dig your fluttering randomness…I keep debating with myself whether or not you’ve got multiple personality disorder.  I’m still undecided.  I like that you’re angier than your predecessors.  You’ve got that whole “brooding tortured old soul” thing going on inside mixed with that “big goofy man-boy” exterior.  It’s a good time for all.  Ditch the Stetson but keep the Fez.  Fez’s are cool.  It’s weird how it looks so good on you. I wasn’t sure how you were going to get out of that whole death thing but I’m glad you did.  And well done on the wife front.  You’ve got good taste in women.

    22. Emperor Palpatine + Nazgul = Headless Monks.  Am I right??

    23. I’m conflicted.  Now I don’t know if I’d rather have a Starship or a TARDIS.  I used to be so sure that I wanted a Starship but a TARDIS isn’t restricted by the speed of light or timelines or the need for warp coils. *sigh*  I’m sorry Gene Roddenberry, but I think I need to go with the TARDIS.  Now excuse me while I go hang my Trekkie head in shame.

    Can't I just have both?

    24. The two-episode story arc where all of the former companions come together to help defeat the Daleks (“The Stolen Earth” and “Journey’s End”) is probably my favorite part of the whole series.  I love seeing the forces of good coming together to defeat evil and I was so happy to see Rose get her happy ending, even if it meant that Donna lost hers.  The part at the end when the Doctor tells Donna’s family that she was the most important person in the whole universe and that generations of alien worlds will tell stories about her was so poignant.  All of her dreams came true and she can never know about it.  Ugh.  Gutwrenching.  And the look on the Doctor’s face when he gave Rose to his weird hand clone, knowing that he would never see her again but that she could be finally have peace with part of him.  Ugh.  Gutwrenching.  The science fiction aspect is great but what separates Doctor Who from the rest of the sci-fi pack is the emotional wallop it deals you on a regular basis.  I lost count of how many times this show has broken my heart.

    25. And last but not least, my hero, the one and only River Song.  How does one go about explaining all the of epic awesomeness that is the Doctor’s wife/murderer?  Although…technically I guess she didn’t actually murder him…but you know what I mean.  The woman gave up any possibility of ever regenerating again in order to save the Doctor after the first time she tried to kill him (again with the fabulous lipsticks!!)  And she made the ultimate sacrifice to keep him alive from the Shadows.  It’s not just her loyalty that makes her so endearing.  It’s her spunk.  And maybe her hair.  The Doctor solves problems without violence whenever possible but he has no problem with letting River shoot people.  Honestly, would he be able to talk her out of it?  Probably not.  God I love a woman with a gun.  She’s just as clever, if not more so, than the Doctor.  The only woman in the universe that can match him.  The fact that their timelines are reversed just adds to the tragic beauty of their romance.  They can never truly be together.  All they have are stolen moments in time in which they never know how well they’ll know each other.  It’s practically Shakesperean!

    Goodbye Sweetie

  • Flight Training with the Starship Enterprise

    If you read the blog you know that I come from a military family.  This came to me from a family member who was in the military.  Their good friend went through some flight training and was surprised to see that his training included a little assistance from Starfleet!  Some of the information is sensitive so I’ve changed names and blacked out some of the text (and unfortunately for you, not included some of the pictures – sorry!) but I got permission to share it because I think it’s just so kick ass.  Here you go:

    I don’t know how many I have told this story to, and they all think I’m full of shit.
     
    So now, once and for all, I shall dispel the Bullshit.
     
    Before I deployed to ***** in **** for the **************, I had to attend refresher training in the aircraft-make and model specific. 
     
    When I was in the Level **************, a programming extraordinare, “John Smith” at ********* in Ft. ******* said “OK, so you think your bad ass, huh, Pal?” (jokingly)
     
    I said, “Sure, John; show me what ya got” with a smirk. “We can fly upside down and cut grass if you want”
     
    He said, “I got the Starship Enterprise and I want you to land on it. I only get this out for the best of the best, you know.”
     
    I said, “Bring it on, Big Boy”, in my typical talk first, think later manner.
     
    So I did land on it, on the first approach and he was amazed. I was more amazed at the fact that someone had programmed that in!
     
    It wasn’t stationary. It was moving at an undisclosed rate at 4000 feet. Thanks Pal 🙂
     
    Here’s the Pics; I knew I had the GD things, I just had to find them 4 years later…I had “John” stop the sim so I could get pictures.
     
    The bullshit is over.
     
    I am so thankful for “John Smith” at ******** – he was a man among men and probably saved my life about 40 times. 

     

    STFU, how awesome is that???

    ***On a side note: my computer is broken again and I’m having trouble figuring out what the major malfunction is – ugh, so lame – so posts are likely to continue to be sporadic until I can figure this the fuck out or *sigh* get a new computer.

  • Oh my Odin! It’s Vikingfest!

    Yay!  My computer has been on the fritz since I moved and I’ve been relying on my friends and family for computer access (hence the lack of blog posts).  But I now have a brand spankin’ new power supply and I’m back up and running bitches! 

    *sigh*

    My life is once again complete.

    On to the fun stuff…Vikingfest!

    Be afraid. Be very afraid.

    Because I’m way prouder of my heritage than any decendant of rapists and pillagers should be, I decided that it would be fun to go to Vikingfest not one, but two days over the weekend. That, and I’ve been deprived of lefse for far too long and one days worth simply wasn’t enough.

    Mmmmmmm….lefse….

    I am lucky enough to have a double dose of viking blood from both the Norwegians and the Danes. I wrote a bit about growing up Norwegian while reviewing Thor but there’s more to it than mythology.  There’s the fact that we (and by we, I mean Leif Ericson) discovered America 500 years before the rest of Europe (suck it Columbus).  You know that Bluetooth gizmo that all the douchebags never take out of their ears? It’s named after Harald Bluetooth who was King of Denmark and Norway in the late 900’s.  The Bluetooth symbol?  His initials in Nordic runes. Dannebrog, the flag of Denmark, is the oldest flag still in modern use and was sent to King Valdemar II by God himself (I’m just going to assume that this legend is true) during the Battle of Lyndanisse.  It’s so awesome that the design was stolen by Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland.

    Yes, I’m a history nerd…though not of the caliber that my friend Pete is. Seriously, don’t try to out-fact him, he’ll kick your ass every time.

    Going back to Vikingfest 2011. It’s kind of like a Renaissance Faire only with women dressed as Valkyrie instead of wenches. Uhmmmm, more awesome much?!

    Here are some pics from Vikingfest:

    A chick warrior!!  I gotta give her props because that armor was ridiculously heavy.

    Pretty sure she can kick my ass

     A traditional Viking tent dwelling.

    I could get used to this

    Party in Valhalla!

    I'm totally wearing this the next time I go grocery shopping

    I got the Danish from my Dad and the Norwegian from myMom.  We have epic “uff da” vs. “oof dah” battles.

    The woman who taught me how to make lefse

    Testing equipment with Don, one of my parental units.

    He's Scottish but I like him anyway

    Norwegian recliner.

    It's more comfortable than it looks

     My new kitchen towel knows what’s up.

    You've been warned

    The Dread Crew of Oddwood is a pirate “heavy mahogany” rock band.  I didn’t know you could play heavy metal without electricity until I saw them.  (oh, and nice hat dude in the front row).

    Fellow rapists and pillagers

    And last, but not least, my favorite t-shirt ever.

    Epic win

    Next month there’s a jousting competition and a Scottish festival. I’m not Scottish (does a touch of Irish count?) but I dig a man in a kilt so you can bet your sporran that I’ll be there.

  • HNG Turns One!

    It’s hard to believe that it has been exactly one year since I embarked on this nerdy venture!  I didn’t think it would go beyond my friends and family but the blog now has fans all over the world.  I’m more than a bit flabbergasted by the whole thing.  Hopefully it continues to grow because I’m having way too much fun to stop now!

    In honor of Hot Nerd Girl’s one year anniversary, I thought it would be fun to look back at some of the all star blogs from the past year.

    MOST POPULAR

     

    The 10 Hottest Babes of Sci-Fi post I wrote back on December 7, 2010 has consistently been the top rated post.   This doesn’t surprise me one bit.  Hot chicks are pretty much universally loved by all and I’m convinced that the world would be a much more peaceful place if it was run by beautiful women.  Unless men started fighting over them….then maybe not so much.  Ok, maybe scrap that whole theory.  The point is, hot girls with geek cred rule.

    MOST SEARCHED ON GOOGLE

     

    The Facepalm Progression was little more than a quick joke meant only for the facebook page when I first introduced it this past February.  My Mom didn’t get it so I added the very well-known Picard “facepalm” and “double facepalm” pictures and put the full progression on the blog.  It got some chuckles and then one day it exploded in Google land and is now the top source of internet traffic to the blog.  Whudda thunk??

    MOST POPULAR MOVIE REVIEW

     

    There are a few different ways I could have gauged this but ultimately I went with the one that got the most attention when I posted it in May.  It got quite a few comments both on facebook and on the blog and was shared on several other websites.  It also happened to be my favorite movie of the year thus far and the one I probably geeked out about the most.  It was, of course, my favorite horny dude, Thor.  Ye Gods I heart him so much.

    BIGGEST SHOCKER

     

    My birthday last February 2nd was full of win!  I got all kinds of Star Trek-related goodies but one in particular came as a complete and total shock.  One of my earliest posts was written on September 8, 2010 and recounted the time I met Manu Intiraymi at a Star Trek Convention in San Francisco in 2002.  Well, Manu found that blog.  On my birthday.  Seriously. Best. Birthday. Present. Ever.  We corresponded via email and agreed I’d get a follow up interview which I have yet to take him up on (gotta get on that!)

    PHOTO SHOOTS

    The photo shoots are always a hit.  I’ve done a lot of mini shoots for various posts with the outtakes ending up on facebook.  The three big shoots were Halloween (TOS uniform), Slave Leia, and Lucky 13 (aka Superman undies).  I tallied up the votes for the next photo shoot and Xena was the clear winner.  I’ve received all the donations for the costume but my move to San Diego put the shoot on hold for a bit.  Once I’m (finally!) all settled in, I’ll get that all set up so look for those pictures in the next couple of months!

  • Going apeshit for Rise of the Planet of the Apes

    Best. Photoshop. Ever.

    I’m officially based out of San Diego now and Saturday morning I started the daunting task of unpacking everything I own.  Which is a lot of crap.  Ugh.  But it’s awesome crap that I’m not willing to throw or give away so whatever.  Thanks to my OCD and my constant pursuit of organizational perfection, it took me two days just to unpack the kitchen.  As my friend Kate puts it, “I wish someone would give me a friggin’ chill pill.”  After all that hard work I decided that I needed a reward (and a break) so I stumbled over to the movie theatre for some primate prequel goodness.

    I try to be good but y’all know I give stuff away sometimes so here is my customary SPOILER ALERT!

    I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect from Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  The previews looked pretty good, if a little obviously CGI, and the music sounded fantastic…but hey, it’s the trailer, it’s all the best parts, right?

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaK6khs8aMw]

    Well, let me tell you, it was actually super good. Like, amazingly good.  Like, at least 10x better than I thought it was going to be.  As a Navy family, we were stationed in Marin County when I was a kid and I went back to attend college in San Francisco.  The movie takes place in and around the Bay Area and it definitely made me nostalgic for the fog and the giant redwoods.  Hiking and hunting for Ewoks in Muir Woods has always been one of my favorite pastimes so I was thrilled to see so much of them in the movie.

    But first things first.  Freida Pinto is seriously the most gorgeous woman ever.  It’s a little ridiculous how hot she is.  And she has one of those faces that scream “kindness” so she’s totally believable as a vet at the San Francisco Zoo.  Oh, and did I mention that she’s beautiful?

    Now that that’s out of the way, let’s move on to James Franco as Will Rodman, a genetic engineer who has formulated the cure for Alzheimer’s.  Not because he wants to help humanity per se, although that’s certainly a positive side effect, but because his Father (John Lithgow) has the disease and he’s a total daddy’s boy.  After his presentation to the board goes bust and the human trials get canceled, Will goes so far as to smuggle some of the drug, ALZ-112, out of the lab in order to experiment on his own Dad.  It works brilliantly at first but it’s virus-based and eventually the antibodies grow strong enough to negate the benefits of the treatment.  Bummer.  Back to the drawing board.  About 2 movie days later (or the equivalent of 10 years in the real world) Will comes up with ALZ-113, a new virus that must be inhaled instead of injected….seriously…never a good sign when something is airborne.  I don’t want to give away what happens next for those who haven’t seen it but let’s just say that I’m very happy that zombies weren’t the result.  I was worried for a while there.

    Poor Andy Serkis.  The guy has been typecast as the king of non-human CGI critters (Gollum, King Kong, etc).  Half the time as an ape!  But really, it’s because he’s brilliant.  And he is.  I just wish he’d get thrown some more roles that didn’t involve him wearing a leotard with a bunch of blinking lights attached to it.  He brings amazing life to the chimpanzee Caesar. I don’t know if the special effects peeps can measure (or follow or whatever) what his eyes do but I’m thinking that they can.  Caesar’s eyes were much too expressive to be completely manufactured.  The CGI, by the by, was way better than the trailer made it out to be.  In the very first scene of the movie I actually had a hard time figuring out if the chimps looking around were real or fake.  With a name like Caesar there’s got to be some kind of sequel to the prequel.  That name comes with a dramatic downfall attached to it thankyouverymuch.

    The “bad guys” of the movie are another father-son duo, John Landon (the ageless Brian Cox…seriously, he looks the same as he did 20 years ago, I swear) and his son Dodge (Draco Malf…I mean…Tom Felton).  Together they run the San Bruno Primate “Sanctuary”.  Now, not to go all PETA on y’all but it WAS hard to watch the apes (CGI or no) getting mistreated and experimented on.  Unlike some people, I don’t believe the
    people behind the movie had any kind of political or animal rights agenda but I can see how it could be misconstrued that way.  You’d have to be pretty heartless to not feel something when an animal is in pain.  Humans on the other hand, well, whatever, who cares.  I’ve been desensitized to violence against people since I was a kid.

    With a nephew this cute I had to get him in here somehow

    So it wasn’t as hard to witness Dodge’s fate as it was to witness Buck’s, the big silverback gorilla.  One thing Draco…I mean Dodge….does get is the iconic line from the original Planet of the Apes.  I’ll give you a hint, it involves the adjectives “stinking” and “dirty.”   I was also anxious to see the launch of Icarus and the loss of the three astronauts on board.  Speaking of which, Charlton Heston isn’t completely absent, a clip from The Agony and the Ecstasy shows briefly on the break room television inside SBPS.  Need a new drinking game?  Every time you find a primate (or human) with a name paying homage to someone from the 1968 film, take a shot or chug a beer.  You’ll be buzzed in no time.  I spotted several but I’m not going to tell you what they are so that you can have fun finding them yourselves.

    I’m evil like that.

    Four out of Five Sci-Fives!

  • Guest Review! Cowboys & Aliens!

    As y’all know (I may have mentioned it once or thrice) I’m in the process of moving to San Diego and my life is in limbo while I finish up my work in Los Angeles.  Therefore, my BNF (Best Nerd Friend) Hayden and his lovely girlfriend, fellow HNG Melanie, were kind enough to go see Cowboys & Aliens this weekend and write not one but TWO reviews of it as guest bloggers.  H&M…I heart you.

    Enjoy!

    Aliens.  Why’d it have to be Aliens?

    Hayden Gilbert:

    Let me start by saying there is no way I will be able to fill the shoes – or brazier – of the now legendary Hot Nerd Girl (although my fellow co-guest blogger Melanie definitely has a better shot in both departments).  However, while I don’t consider myself hot (in my own eyes), nor a girl (hopefully in anyone’s eyes), I can certifiably attest to being a nerd.

    I can also say without hesitation that I’m quite an avid western lover and a huge fan of anything involving visitors from another world (the cast of Jersey Shore being the exception).  Taking all that into account, I would have been first in line to see any movie with the title “Cowboys & Aliens” trailer unseen.

    As my very attractive co-blogger mentions as well, everything about this movie has a simple theme to it.  From the title itself to the premise of good ol’ fashion gunslingers taking on technologically superior creatures, Cowboys & Aliens succeeds in that it doesn’t try to be more than what it is:  A good old fashion shootout at the O.K. Corral with 10 foot tall slimy monsters that make the aliens from the Predator movies look like runway models.  Hell, what’s not to like about aliens who also lasso their victims!  Great stuff I tells ya.

    [youtube:http://youtu.be/UdmupNxobP0]

    While the acting overall was not quite award caliber, I actually liked the lack of over-the-top dramatics when it dealt with the reactions of humans to their unknown invaders.  Think about it, people during this time didn’t have clue one about space people or flying saucers as this takes place during a time when horses were the main source of transport and showing ankle was considered scantily clad.

    Hot girl with a six shooter? Yes please.

    Speaking of, seeing Olivia Wilde completely wrapped up in a piece of wallpaper during the whole movie was a waste of her, uh, talents.  The nude scene of her would have made up for it had they actually showed anything of value.  Did I mention I was a male nerd?

    As can be imagined, Harrison Ford stole the show in this one.  Be it a quick line or a familiar facial reaction, your attention is always drawn to his screen presence.  Daniel Craig served his purpose of bad ass alien annihilator (say that 10 times fast after 10 shots of whiskey), albeit his character wasn’t given any major Shakespearean dialogue to work with.  I also enjoyed the 2 – maybe more? – nods given to Indian Jones in the flick.  Can you spot them?  (Hint:  It’s 007 that summons the spirit of Indy twice)

    Overall, C&A was a fun and unique ride on the combination of two classic genres.  Add a pinch of 007 and a dash of Indy with a kick-ass final scene that would make any western-lover happy and you have a flick that is almost sure to satisfy.  Just remember to check your 6-shooter and expectations at the door.

    (P.S. For those Nerdboys like myself that need an additional fixen of Western Sci-Fi, be sure to check out Brisco Country Jr on DVD… best show ‘cancelled-too-soon’ ever!  Has Bruce Campbell ever done anything bad?)

    Melanie Critser:

    Brace yourself.  There are cowboys AND aliens in this movie!  And a cast of hot men and women that only get hotter when plastered in dirt.  Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig together at last…with Craig getting more ass shots in one movie than JLo has gotten in her entire career.  And don’t worry, men, Olivia Wilde doesn’t disappoint—especially as she emerges from fire…naked.  But this movie isn’t all fun and games—oh wait, yeah it is!

    Cowboys & Aliens is everything the title promises.  The story is simple.  Our planet has an element the aliens want.  They are here to scout out the planet and give the “mother-ship” the thumbs up to “come on down.”  It’s all up to the Cowboys and Indians to stop them…seriously, was anyone expecting an Oscar nominee?  It makes no apologies for its campiness!  There were moments that had heart and moments that almost made me cheer.

    What? No speedo's in the Old West?

    I wasn’t crazy about the aliens themselves, but I suppose that was the point.  They had creepy little extra hands that unfold out of their bellies, all slimy and shaky–yuck!  Also, where was the steamy love scene?  I felt a bit cheated in this area.  I can’t imagine what possessed them to leave that out—in the words of Flight of the Conchords, conditions were perfect for “Business Time.”  To no avail…

    Daniel Craig was sporting his 007 seriousness, just substitute a clean shave and tux for dried blood and cowboy gear.  The bad-ass side of Daniel Craig hits the spot, no one wants to watch him skipping through a flower field—bring on the guns!

    Harrison Ford’s role was the most intriguing.  Is he a bad guy?  Is he a good guy?  Regardless, he can still deliver those hilarious one liners.  And you may struggle with whether he’s The Good or The Bad..but he’s never The Ugly.  He clearly hasn’t lost his charm on screen and he’s giving Sean Connery a run for his money in the “Better with Age” department.

    Overall, I don’t expect this movie to be on any top 10 (or 100) lists, but I truly enjoyed it.  Perhaps my expectations were right where they needed to be–I jumped in my seat and laughed at the cheesiness.  It was just the boost my summer needed!

    You can read Hayden’s online dating advice (it worked for him!) at Examiner.com.  Melanie doesn’t have a blog so you’ll just have to hope she guest writes for HNG again.  Like what they wrote?  Let them know in the comments!

  • Captain America: The First Avenger of Awesome

    As many of you know, this past weekend I spent my time doing my big move from Los Angeles to San Diego. Between the packing of the U-haul and the wiping of the brow from all the heavy lifting, I didn’t have time to get to the theater to catch the last of the summer superhero themed blockbusters: Captain America. But after asking everyone on facebook if I should hurry out to the theaters to catch this cinematic marvel, I decided that unwrapping my bed from the bubble wrap could wait. To the theater!

    [youtube:http://youtu.be/W4DlMggBPvc]

    And just in case I do spoil something, SPOILER WARNING!

    Now, as I’m sure many of you know, a high bar was set in terms of Captain America movies. There have been three previously, with two done in the seventies and one in 1990. And if you missed them, SyFy was good enough to have a marathon of them on Friday night. Lucky for me I’ve actually already seen the 1990’s one and, being a good little nerd girl, I’ve even seen the Dolph Lungren debacle Punisher movie from around the same time period.

    [youtube:http://youtu.be/cs8rFsmhNTc]

    I had never even heard of the 1970’s sequel Captain America II: Death Too Soon starring Reb Brown. <sarcasm> Fortunately for me, I was able to catch about 15 minutes of it between throwing my fine china and Star Trek teddy bears into cardboard boxes. And I gotta say, Chris Evans had a pretty tough job beating it. Captain America throws his motorcycle on top of a prison wall but can’t defeat a pack of what looks like SPCA rejects? Phew! So tough! </sarcasm>

    Captain America II
    Totally not ridiculous looking

    If you’ve read any of my blog posts before, you’ll know that my brother serves in the USMC. Going in I was curious about how they were going to portray why Steve wanted to fight, how he was going to get into the program and how he would see himself during the whole run up to becoming the bad ass Cap that we all know and love. And I gotta say, they nailed it. As opposed to the 1990’s movie version, or even the comic book, where it’s just kind of a given that he’s getting all geared up to fight, this one takes a much longer route and shows just how much the character of Steve Rogers wants to serve his country. There were times when I actually started to get genuinely verklempt. Chris Evans played the role so perfectly of the scrawny little guy that doesn’t want to pick a fight persay, he just “doesn’t like a bully.” It really is heartwarming for a girl who’s brother is in the military. If I were to pick a part that really got me, it’s when he jumped on the grenade in training. The others guys always treated him harshly, but he was willing to die for them. How many of the rest of us can say the same?

    Overall, as just an action film is was pretty damn awesome. In the land of over-choreographed fight scenes in movies where every minor character seems to know as much martial arts as a human-turned-vampire in Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, it was really cool to see the Cap do it more old school 1940’s style. Just kicking, punching, shooting and flinging that shield like he was born to do it. No huge martial arts training from some guy that was smuggled out of China to teach him the wise ways of kicking ass Asia-style, just good old fashioned brawling of the period. *LIKE*

    Could anything with this chest be bad? The answer is nothing. Ever. EV-ER.

    I’d like to say there was something wrong with this movie, but honestly, for an origin film I can’t find anything wrong with it. Being a big Marvel girl, I know a fair amount about Captain America. So I already knew how the film was going to end, which is a bit of a different experience compared to all the other super hero films that have been coming out this summer. Since The Avengers is coming out next summer, Cap has got to get frozen in the Arctic. Not that it was a huge deal, but it just gave me this lurking creepy feeling during the film. Maybe I’m alone in this, just saying.

    But is that enough to keep me from the theaters? Hell no.

    And don’t forget to wait for the special action at the end. It’s way more involved than the previous tidbits we get at the end of all the other films.

    Five out of Five Sci-Fives!

  • The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!

    Ugh.  I’m home sick today.  No bueno.

    I took the day off from work and was going to take the day off from blogging (especially since no nerdy movies came out this past weekend) but after catching up on Falling Skies and being asked my thoughts about it…well…it seems I just can’t quit you.  Not even for a day.

    So I’m not promising genius (I am pretty doped up on DayQuil, after all) but here are my thoughts after watching the first two episodes of Falling Skies.

    SPOILERS AHEAD!

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjroVVhe8G0]

    I’ll always think of Noah Wyle as Dr. Carter.  I’m sure he’d be THRILLED to hear that for the 100,000th time but, oh well, type casting’s a bitch.  That said, he’s surprisingly believable as Tom Mason, a history professor / Second in Command of the 2nd Massachusetts resistance fighters.  Especially once you get past the fact that the kid on the operating table is being poked and prodded by the womanizing pilot from Wings instead of him.

    I was totally convinced that Anne Glass aka the hot chick from Terminator: Salvation, was Native American.  Hell, her name is Moon Bloodgood after all.  Turns out she’s Korean, Irish and Dutch.  Oops, my bad.  She’s perty and she likes to use her hands a lot in a strange, overly graceful way.   Like she’s in a soap commercial or something.  It’s her way of showing tenderness and sexual tension during the scenes between her and Tom.  They totally want to bang, they just have to hold out until Tom rescues his middle child (why is it always the middle child that gets screwed??) and they’re on the offensive against the skitters.

    Tom’s oldest son, Hal Mason (Drew Roy) is fond of over-acting.  He REALLY wants you to know what emotion he’s playing at any given time.  It’s a little distracting.  He’s best when he’s pretending to be cocky, which he does even though he’s really a big ‘ol mushy teddy bear of an older brother.  Hal’s dating fellow scout Karen but some medic girl named Lourdes (Seychelle Gabriel) has a real hard on for him.  But, you know, an innocent hard on cause she’s Catholic and she wants to make sure you know that she prays.  A lot.

    Through my DayQuil haze I was having the hardest time figuring out where I’d seen Karen (Jessy Schram) before.  Then it hit me that I remember her playing the wife in Unstoppable.  It’s very probable that I remember this only because her husband was played by Chris Pine aka the new Captain Kirk.  Typical HNG brain, typical.  She sure is a cutie though.  Good choice for a “girl next door” turned “post apocalyptic freedom fighter chick.”  Her fate is unclear and considering the huge crush Lourdes has on Karen’s man, Hal Mason, I’m guessing that Lourdes is going to be mending Hal’s broken heart with her sweet lady kisses in an upcoming episode.

    Lourdes, Anne, Karen, Hal and Tom

    My favorite characters thus far are Captain Weaver, John Pope, and Margaret.  It’s probably because they are the hardest characters to like.  Typical HNG brain, typical.  Captain Weaver (Will Patton) is gruff and unrelenting.  Until he relents.  Which he does when someone is being unrelenting with him.  But I like him.  He’s doing the best he can with what he’s got.  And I like his ponytail.  John Pope (Colin Cunningham) is the closest thing to a human bad guy that we’ve got at this point. He’s a bad ass ex-con motorcycle gang leader until we find out that what he really likes to do is…..cook.  I don’t eat meat (ok, cue the jokes now) but I’m now aware that you must, MUST poach a chicken before you cook it.  Once you poach it you can cook it however you want.  Salmonella, I’m on to you, you little shit.  I like Margaret (Sarah Carter) cause she’s all mysterious and stuff.  I think I remember them calling her Maggie at some point.  I like the name Maggie better so I’m sticking with it.  Don’t try to have sex with her; she’ll pop a cap in your ass for it eventually.  And bringing her chocolate won’t help.  You have been warned.

    And lastly, the alien critters.  They call them Skitters…I guess because they are kind of lizard-like and lizards skitter around and can climb up walls and stuff.  These guys do that and are really hard to kill unless you shoot off two of their six legs.  Then they magically become weak and you can defeat them.  They also have robots called Mechs which are pretty much a rip-off of the toasters from BSG.  Everyone wants to know why the aliens invented robots that look vaguely humanoid instead of robots with six legs in their own image.  Apparently we humans are so self-involved that we only build robots that look like us and since the skitters did too, they must be trying to fuck with our minds.  We’re so self-involved that it’s always about us, all the time.

    Spitting image of my Uncle Lester

    Oh, and they slap alien harnesses onto our children and turn them all into slaves.

    Yaaaay!!!

    I’m into it.  I’ll keep letting my DVR record it for a while longer, see where it goes.  Now excuse me while I unfold my stiff legs from my desk chair, gag down some more DayQuil and watch The Last Starfighter.

    I don’t care what you say, Larry Santy, it’s one of the greatest movies EVER.