A Geek's Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas and all thru the den comic books were stacked and I was reading again. I know I should sleep, despite the late hour but just can't help visiting Baxter Tower. My stocking was hung on the wall with a 3M hook as I nestled further into the chair reading my book.

My Superman jammies complete with cape after all of these years still in good shape. I wore them with pride despite the fade and a small rip in the side. Sure I should be in bed and I should be asleep, but the plot was getting deep. Time ticked away faster than planned reading about Elektra defeating The Hand.

Lost in my world when suddenly a loud sound like Mjolnair had been hurled. Quick as the Flash I ran to the window leaving my stash. A crimson streak went through the sky. It moved far quicker than the eye. Great Scott! What could this be? If it was Superman I couldn't see. A craft landed on the roof accompanied by the sound of a hoof. One hoof? No it was more. Quickly I ran locking the door. What this stranger would want I knew not. Please dear Odin let him leave alone my lot!

Down through the stove was such a loud clang. Unlocking the door and flinging it with a bang I ran to the kitchen unsure what I would find. Standing at the door with my hand on the knob my heart pounding causing my hand to throb. This was no time to be scared. I needed to be as brave as Daredevil dared. With a large gulp trying to fear no more I gave in pushing open the door.

To my amazment there was a large elf who was kind. His suit as red as red Hulk though around his waist was the most of his bulk. With white trim and beard I couldn't help thinking, "Man this is weird," His smile was bright as his eyes shone blue. He looked at me and said, "I've got something for you,"

With a twinkle in he eye as bright as Green Lantern's glow to his sack he dove in deep below. In mere moments he turned back round showing me what he had found. It was amazing! Astounding! I couldn't believe my eyes! My very own Batcopter that flies!


Of course that was not all. The red clad man beckoned me to follow him down the hall. Taking his sack to my tree he stood. Reaching in and pulling out gifts like a reverse hood. The complete Sandman, Hellboy too, and lets not forget the Gunslinger part two. The complete Hitchhiker's guide left me feeling all gooey inside.

One he was thru he closed up his bag and out the open window he flew. Up on the roof I could hear the old man talking to his reindeer. I was utterly amazed as this magic feat. It was watching Spider-Man swinging up the street. Into the night sky Santa flew away. I knew that I would never forget this Christmas day.

The Voice is the Same

 

I recently saw a video of a Q & A with H. Jon Benjamin at Comicon. A question was asked of how it was that Benjamin prepared for his various voice roles. For those unfamiliar with either H. Jon Benjamin’s name or his work let me explain his background a little bit. 

H. Jon Benjamin is a voice actor who has worked in various adult cartoon comedy shows. Benjamin is most noted as the voice of Sterling Archer in ‘Archer’ as well as Bob in ‘Bob’s Burgers’ and Orpheus’ master in ‘Venture Bros’. He has also done several other bit parts such as Moth Monster Man in ‘Aqua Teen Hunger Force’ and several others.

Now the reason the question is so funny is because Benjamin’s voice is the same no matter what character he voices. He has a very distinctive voice that’s easy to recognize. Also unlike other voice actors, such as Tom Kenny or Frank Welker, Benjamin never changes the sound of his voice. It’s always his own voice which makes it so easy to pick out.

As much as fans enjoy Benjamin’s voice and his work he does get picked on a bit because of never changing or fluctuating his voice. Although there is another voice actor from the 80s who did the same thing; who also had a very distinctive voice. That actor’s name is Lorenzo Music.

Music was the voice of Garfield the cat on ‘Garfield and Friends’ as well as the voice of Peter Venhkman on ‘The Real Ghostbusters’. He was also the voice of the announcements at Winfred Louder on ‘The Drew Carey’ show and Rhoda’s doorman in ‘Rhoda’. Sadly Music passed away from cancer in 2001.

So what Benjamin does voice wise has been done before. What’s funny is that the 2 men even kind of look alike. Although the biggest difference is that Lorenzo Music was much more family friendly oriented in his work while H. Jon Benjamin is certainly aimed towards adults.

Personally I’m a fan of both men. As a kid I loved Music as Garfield and Vehnkman and as an adult I like Benjamin in pretty much anything I hear him in. 

 

What If Waldo Were A Zombie?

This is a bit of silliness and mental wandering I had on Halloween night. Please allow me to explain a bit. For the past 10 years I have helped out with 92 Moose’s Free Family Halloween Party. This year I wore my Waldo costume; as in Where’s Waldo? I always hand out treat bags at the entrance. Every child gets a free treat bag stuffed with goodies upon arrival. Anyway, this year I handed out a goodie bag to a young boy dressed as a zombie. Before he took the bag he put his mask down and pretended to gnaw on my arm. After he took the bag I went to my friend Renee telling her what had happened.

“I’m not really sure what to do,” I said half chuckling.

“Waldo as a zombie? Well that’s different,” Renee said.

“This time, Waldo is gonna find you!” I said smiling.

“THAT needs to be a story!” Renee smiled.

So here we are. What if Waldo were a zombie?





Waldo wanders to all kinds of strange and interesting places. He’s been to crowded beaches, chaotic shopping malls, Renaissance fairs, and many more. What if one day Waldo wandered to a dark place. A place where a new disease was just emerging.

It was a day like any other. Waldo was out wandering about with his satchel and walking stick. Waldo was going by a small hospital with bars on the windows. He stopped for a moment to check his map. As usual Waldo was oblivious to all of that was going on around him. He always seemed to just blend into his surroundings; no one ever really paid him any mind.

It was because Waldo was so used to being near invisible that he didn’t notice the disheveled man shuffling towards him in a bloodied hospital gown. Waldo didn’t see the man until after having put the map away and the man was practically on top of him. Waldo  smiled stretching out his arm to wave at this man who looked as though he needed a smile.

That was his mistake.

The man grabbed Waldo’s arm biting it to the bone. In pain Waldo tried desperately to get the man off from his arm by hitting him repeatedly with the walking stick. After several heavy blows the man lets Waldo’s arm go, topples backwards, and splits his head open on the pavement.

“That was very strange,” Waldo thought.

Waldo takes a scarf out of his satchel wrapping the wound until he can get to a proper hospital. He didn’t want to take his chances at the hospital that crazed patient had come out of. Luckily it wasn’t long until Waldo found another hospital. Inside his wound was stitched up and properly bandaged. With that taken care of Waldo was on his way.

For about a day Waldo felt ill. He felt very sluggish and his insides ached. He vomited along the way, but he still did not let that stop his wanderings. The following day he had a hard time to focus. Waldo was hungry, craving something, but nothing seemed to appeal to him. Not the snacks he carried in his satchel nor any food he came across seemed to satisfy this great hunger within him. By the third day Waldo could think of nothing else, but the hunger within him and the dire need to satisfy it.

It was at an open air café as Waldo shuffled by that a woman recognized him. She smiled as she got up from her seat running towards him.

“FOUND YOU!” she yelled excitedly.

Waldo stopped taking notice of this woman who was a complete stranger to him. As she got closer the smell of her enticed him. Not her perfume, but just the smell of her flesh. It smelled absolutely wonderful! She was talking at him, but Waldo wasn’t hearing a word of it. The insatiable hunger welled up within him and he knew that this would satisfy it. Like the man three days ago had done to him, Waldo lunged at the woman taking a bite out of shoulder. She screamed, but he didn’t care. The taste was wonderful! It was exactly what he was looking for! Waldo didn’t stop with the woman though, oh no, he devoured the entire café.

After he’d had his fill Waldo continued his wanderings. He no longer looked at the map; he didn’t care. Waldo simply went where he could feed. In his wanderings he made new friends who fed just as he did. What a crazed man at a secluded hospital had started Waldo finished. This time people weren’t looking for Waldo, Waldo was looking for them!

That is how the zombie apocalypse started. A cheerful man in a stripped shirt with a passion for wandering anywhere and everywhere. No one may have noticed him before, but they’ll notice him now.

November is Hulk Month

A couple of years ago I decided to dub November Hulk Month for Comic Geeks Unite. Why would I devote an entire month to one hero, but not do it for any of the others? Well I have a few reasons for doing that.

Let’s start with the selfish reason: the Incredible Hulk is my favorite hero. Why? For starters he combines two other loves of mine which are Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and classic monster movies. Stan Lee has said that he based the Hulk off from the classic Robert Louis Stevenson book and Boris Karloff’s portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster. I also like that not only is the Hulk a split personality from his scientist alter ego Bruce Banner, but that because of the Hulk’s brute force Banner is a reluctant hero. There is also a certain appeal in the Hulk’s unlimited strength. The madder he gets the stronger he gets making he essentially unstoppable.

Another reason is one of memoriam. It was in November (the 21st) that, sadly, Bill Bixby passed away. Bixby’s portrayal of David Banner in the television series (and television movies that followed) is one that fans compare all other actors who take on the part. Bixby was also well known from other TV series such as, ‘My Favorite Martian’ and ‘The Courtship of Eddie’s Father’ to name a couple. His representation of David Banner showed us a truly tortured soul who was a true Jack of all trades even though no matter where he wandered and what job he took inevitably his doctor background, not to mention the Hulk, would come out.

Fun fact about Bill Bixby; did you know he never let his son watch ‘The Incredible Hulk’ series? He never wanted his son to think that if his father got angry he would turn into a giant green rage monster.

November is also the month in which Lou Ferrigno was born. Lou’s birthday is on November 9. The Hulk himself, who even after the series ended has been a big part of anything Hulk. Ferrigno voiced the Hulk in the 1990’s cartoon series, as well as being the voice in the Edward Norton Incredible Hulk movie. His voice was even added to the mix for the noises and voice for Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk in, ’The Avengers’. Ferrigno has also been a consultant in the look of the Hulk for both the previously mentioned Edward Norton film as well as ‘The Avengers’. Let’s also not forget Lou’s cameos in the Eric Bana Hulk film and Edward Norton’s film. In both he played a security guard, but in Norton’s Lou got a much better nod.

Fun fact about Lou Ferrigno; he almost wasn’t the Hulk. Originally Richard Keel had been cast in the role, but the director’s son said that Keel didn’t look right. While Keel was tall he wasn’t bulky enough to properly play the Hulk. Thus Lou Ferrigo got the part and made geek history.

The last reason is because the pilot episode for, ‘The Incredible Hulk’ television series debuted in November. On November 4 the Hulk came to life on the small screen. For the first time in live action we got to see the transformation of David Banner into the strongest creature on the planet. Sure his origin and profession were changed and updated, but it worked. Along with being chased by the relentless tabloid reporter Jack McGee who became the constant antagonist throughout the series. It’s the longest running live action series Marvel has ever had.

So there you have it. That is why I have dubbed November Hulk month for Comic Geeks Unite. I hope you’ll join us as we celebrate everything The Incredible Hulk.

Confessions of a Chucky Doll

Being a haunter at The Town of Terror, put on by 92 Moose and B-98.5, has been an interesting experience. I had never haunted before, but I do enjoy scaring the daylights out of people given the chance. Want to know what it’s like to be haunting for a haunted house/hay ride? Read on and I shall share my experience with you.

    As I said before I had never haunted professionally, or in this case semi-professionally, so the experience was completely new to me. Not only that, but I am playing a well known horror icon. That is both a good and a bad thing. It’s bad in that people know the character and have certain expectations of me. There are certain standards I have to uphold. The good bit is that it is a well known monster so half of the work is done for me because of the appearance and those expectations.

    Now I’m sure some of you are thinking, “Wait, Chucky isn’t a girl!” You’re right, he’s not; however, with a sports bra, multiple layers, and the fact that the Chucky shirt is baggy hides my gender. In fact those who I encounter after say they had no idea that I was Chucky.

I will also take a moment to admit that my Chucky voice isn’t spot on. In fact it’s a bit high pitched for Chucky. What can I say? I’m not good enough to pull off the maniacal dead pan menacing child like voice that Brad Dourif can. The man set the standard and created the character. While I know I’m not going to match it I just try not to be an embarrassment.

    Of course the best thing about being a haunter are the reactions. It goes without saying, but I’m gonna say it anyway, screams and shrieks are awesome! Although to be honest I also enjoy the jokes, the thrilled recognition, the enthusiasm of wanting to play with Chucky, the horrified looks, and even the sarcastic comments. Any reaction is great. It lets me know I’m doing a decent job, or at least being amusing.

    Although I’m going to take a quick sec to tell you all something. A little haunted house etiquette if you will. Haunters have 1 job, and 1 job only, and that is to scare you. At the very least get some kind of reaction out of you. Don’t be the strong silent type; it’s rude. A scarer not getting a reaction is like a comedian getting silence while on stage. We know we’re not going to get to everyone, and that’s fine, but show a little something towards our efforts. Thank you for giving me that moment and consideration.

Now I want to share with you my favorite part; the reactions I have gotten. Like I said, I’m generally happy with any reaction I get so I’m going to share some of my favorite reactions I have gotten thus far.

“Is that Chucky?! Oh my God it’s Chucky! HI CHUCKY!”

“IT’S CHUCKY!”

“Oh my God I hate Chucky! Keep him away from me!”
“Dude seriously, I hate dolls!”

(After asking, “Who wants to play with Chucky?!”) “I wanna play with Chucky! C’mon Chucky, I’ll be your best friend!”

“Chucky aren’t you supposed to be a midget? Why are you so tall?”

“Oh my God he’s got a knife!” (plastic prop by the way)

“Holy crap Chucky is following us!”

(As I was following the hay ride wagon) “Okaaaayyyy Chucky I get it!”

“Look it’s Chucky. OH MY GOD HE’S REAL!”

“Chucky, you’re seriously creeping me out.”

“KEEP AWAY FROM ME!”

(After asking, “Who wants to play with Chucky?!” and having a friend pushed towards me despite their attempts to get away from me) “He does! He likes Chucky!”

(This was a conversation between myself and a girl at the back of the hay wagon after I said, “CHUCKY NEEDS A NEW BODY!”)
“Chucky needs a new body?”
“Yeah, Chucky needs a new body!”
“Why does Chucky need a new body?”
“LOOK AT ME! I’M STUCK IN A FRICKIN’ DOLL!”

(After saying, “CHUCKY NEED A NEW BODY!”) “You can have my body Chucky. You want it?”

"You're not a 'Good Guy' Chucky!"

“Chucky you need to go home and go to bed! Go home Chucky!”

 Other than that I get the usual shrieks, screams, and even chuckles. Although sometimes some of the best reactions I get come much later. Like when I take new haunters to get costumes while wearing most of my Chucky outfit. The new recruits realize I’m Chucky and then tell me how much I scared them from earlier shows. It really makes me smile.

    There was even one time Chucky got to run amok in a Spirit of Halloween store for a remote broadcast. Scaring is much easier when people aren’t fully expecting a life sized Chucky doll to be creeping around the aisles. I got some good screams that day. Although I did take it easy on the little ones and I tried to incorporate humor by pretending to try on different costumes and accessories. Some people are never going to look at Chucky the same way after seeing him hold up a Wonder Woman bustier for size. Or the princess crown for that matter.

So what have I learned from my experience as a Chucky doll?
That Chucky certainly creeps out, if not outright scares, most of the population.
It takes a few tries to figure out what works best for scaring people on a hay ride.
Any reaction is better than none at all.
It sometimes creeps people out more to learn that Chucky is a girl than Chucky himself.
No matter what, have fun. If you’re not having fun why do it?

Geeks & Halloween

Here’s an interesting thing about geeks that I have learned. Most geeks are totally into Halloween. It’s a favorite time of year for many of them. When I first came across this realization I thought it was a little weird, but then after thinking about it more I realized how it all made such perfect sense.



The biggest aspect of Halloween is the costumes. There are stores and websites dedicated solely to Halloween costumes and that’s not counting the space set aside in department stores. Geeks dress up in cosplay when we go to conventions. Halloween is the one time of year when we aren’t ridiculed by the non-geeky for going out in public dressed up. Plus, in general, geeks look for any excuse or occasion to go out in public dressed up.

Then there are the monsters and creepy crawlies. For comic readers monsters, demons, creepy crawlies, and homicidal maniacs are par for the course. Those are the villains our favorite heroes battle. I mean look at Joker alone. He’s a sociopath homicidal clown. Stephen King wrote a book about an evil clown called, ‘It’. Although I think Pennywise pales in comparison to Joker’s antics.

    The ghost stories and supernatural aspects? Yep, got those covered too. Characters like Hellboy, John Constantine, Doctor Strange, Doctor Fate, and The Specter deal with the supernatural on a daily basis.

Then there are horror movies. Horror movies have a following all of their own and a few have their own comic series so they crossover. Not to mention that several geeky actors have done horror movies. A fan favorite is Bruce Campbell, aka Ash from the Evil Dead series. Ash has also appeared in a Marvel comics crossover, ’Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness’.

    So when you take a good look at it all it makes sense that geeks would be so into Halloween. We like a good scary story as much as the next person and when it comes to costumes we’ve got it nailed. Plus all of that candy around is pretty awesome.

Tell me, what’s your favorite part of Halloween? Who is your favorite movie monster? What’s your favorite horror movie?

The True Workings of a Haunted House

This year I was asked by a local radio station, 92 Moose, to help them with a large new project for Halloween. They had decided to do their own haunted house calling it Town of Terror. How could I resist such an offer?

    Helping out with a haunted house has been an interesting experience. In the case of Town of Terror it’s not just a haunted house. It’s more like a haunted fair ground. The set up is massive taking over the Pittston Fair Grounds. It has been a ton of work and I have only actually been apart of about 1/3 of it. Let me give you an idea of what’s been going on.

The prep, at least when I got asked to assist, started at the beginning of September. I joined the people behind Town of Terror to sort through 500 foot truck trailer filled with animatronics and totes filled with various Halloween décor, props, and costumes. After sorting everything into categories it was put back into the trailer.

At the end of September was the first build out at the Pittston Fair Grounds. Julie, one of the master minds behind Town of Terror, had a map of how the haunts were to be set up. Each area had a specific theme assigned to it. Not counting the contractors who were there to build the main event, there were about15-20 of us there hauling out supplies and getting things set up.

That day I ended up working with about a ¼ mile of corn stalks that had been laid out in 2 rows. My job was to put them around the pavilions and buildings. It may sound easy, but there was more to it than it sounds. By the end of the day I had dubbed myself the leader of the Children of the Corn.

    The following Tuesday I was asked to go with Merry, the second out of the 3 who had come up with Town of Terror, to help her gather donations made to the project. Now when I say donations I don’t mean like spiders, costumes, or little things. I mean toilets, chairs, couches, and a refrigerator, stuff to furnish the various horror scenes.

The weekend after it was 2 days of build and set up. This time I got to stay away from the corn stalks and got to design one of the scenes: the creepy hospital. I think that I and my partner Christy did a good job on it. The following day felt like horror arts and crafts. I spent a lot of time with paint. I painted platforms for zombie babies to move around in, black cats, and street signs.

 Now you may ask why it is I’m being so vague on what it is that Town of Terror has going on. The answer is because I don’t wanna let the demon out of the bag and ruin any of the scares we have planned. If you want to see Town of Terror for yourself it opens this Friday October 10 at 6pm on the Pittston Fair Grounds. Admission is $15 per person. For more information visit the Town of Terror site.




If you’re wondering how I’ll be haunting and what I’m doing, well that’s easy. When you get to the gate tell them Chucky sent you. Wanna play? BWAHAHAHAHA!

Geek Meets Eats: Chatting With Kitchen Overlord

I got the chance to chat with Chris-Rachael Oseland who is The Kitchen Overlord. What is a Kitchen Overlord and what does it do you ask? Kitchen Overlord is a website that has recipes that are geek themed. That's right, you can be watching your favorite show and eating food that is themed on that show. Pretty geektastic huh? 

I was fascinated by the site when I came across it which is why I got in touch with Chris-Rachael Oseland. Our conversation went like this:

 How did you come up with the idea to combine fandoms with food?
 
I think the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster would have me noodled to death in my sleep if I tried to take credit for inventing geeky cooking. It's always been there. Heck, if you can find photos of science fiction conventions in the 70's, look at past all the shiny metallic costumes at the tables in the back and you'll see home made rocket ships covered in fruit and dips shaped like UFO's.
 
People celebrate everything with food. A kid is born? Bring the exhausted parents food. It survived a year? Everyone gets cake! That kid's getting married? Time to decide whether you want the chicken or the fish at the wedding. Oh, they died? Bring the grieving family a casserole. First dates are over coffee or dinner. Business deals are signed at steakhouses. You'd be hard pressed to come up with any human celebrations that don't include food.
 

So when geeks get together to celebrate our shared love of Doctor Who, someone is bringing a TARDIS cake. That's great, unless four people bring a TARDIS cake. My job is to help people make something creative and different and tasty for their favorite geeky celebrations. Since geeks are notorious for having all kinds of dietary restrictions, I also try to come up with plenty of recipes that are gluten free, dairy free, vegan friendly, and occasionally paleo/primal, though that stuff gets expensive, fast.  

What was the first recipe you created?

Hmm. I wish I had a clever answer, but honestly, I haven't the faintest clue. That's like asking if someone remembers the first book they read or the first TV show they watched. Science says adults can't remember anything much before the age of four, so I'd say I've been assembling food in interesting ways since before I properly qualified as sentient. I'd honestly be curious if anyone can say, "Yes, this is the first time I assembled food in a way I wanted to recreate later." If they can, they're probably part of an alien species here to study humanity. Don't trust them.

What's the most complicated recipe you've made?

The Deadpool Sweet Rolls. Basically, you have three different sugary yeast doughs in three colors. It's hard enough to mix up all that dough at once so it rises at roughly the same pace, but then assembling the shape, taking into account the different amounts of time each one had to rise, cutting and shaping the log, etc, was almost as nightmarish as Deadpool himself showing up and slicing off various sores to make you some authentic 100% superhero sushi.

Are your recipes geared more towards kids or adults? Whether it's making or eating.

Oh, I'm totally about the adults. My recipes are all written as party food for grownups who want to show off their geeky cooking skills. I wouldn't have so many cocktail recipes if I was writing for kids. :)  I do have lots of fans who happen to be parents. The vast majority of them are awesome people who send me some of the funniest feedback, but a few of them will occasionally send me indignant messages about cleaning up my language. I even had a parent complain that I should take down a recipe because the knife skills were beyond their six year old. Protip: if you want the internet to babysit your kids, don't plant them in front of any site with the word "Overlord" in the name. Except for you, Mr. Luthor. Lex and I are making great progress on his new kryptonite infused pesto recipe.

What's your favorite kind of food to work with? (i.e. pasta, breads, hamburg, fish, ect.)

I'm a sucker for bread. In these gluten hating days, it feels lush and decadent and more than a little sinful. Home made bread is the bacon of carbs. I absolutely love turning $3 worth of flour, yeast, eggs, and oil into a geeky edible sculpture. Honestly, it's a shame so many people are intimidated by the idea of making bread. Humans invented it right after beer. In fact, the earliest breads were made using brewing leftovers. If a bunch of drunks in ancient Sumeria could hack it, so can you. I promise.

Sort of a chicken and the egg question, but what came first; the geekiness or the cooking?

I'm a second generation geek, so I'd have to say the geekiness.

What fandom(s) do you follow?

Oh, boy. Tons. On the literary side, I'm a huge fan of Terry Pratchett and Lois McMaster Bujold, though I've been going through a retro kick lately, reading a lot of Octavia Butler and earlier John Varley. None of that makes for good recipe ideas, though.

Comics are great for someone like me. In the great debate between the big two, I come down firmly on the side of Marvel. Readers usually think I'm more into DC because I have more DC related recipes. While Marvel is much better at storytelling and character development, DC wins for simple, evocative iconagraphy. Anyone can instantly recognize a Wonder Woman, Batman, or Superman logo. Simple, evocative logos are something I can work with.

My big love right now is TV. A decade ago I would've scoffed at the idea, but man, we're living in a golden age of Geek Television. Of course I love Doctor Who. Heck, I wouldn't have written an entire cookbook about it if I wasn't mad about the show. I've got a similar passion for The Walking Dead (and a delightfully gory cookbook coming out this fall where all the recipes look like human body parts.)

Some of my favorite current stuff is coming out of Canada. Seriously - when did Canadian TV stop looking like it rode the short bus to the broadcast station and start kicking our asses? I can't say enough good things about Continuum, Orphan Black, and Lost Girl. If you're not watching them, you're missing out on some of the best genre storytelling out there.

Do you have an current recipes in the works?

Always. I try to post at least 1 new recipe each week on Kitchen Overlord. Most weeks I'll post between 2-3, plus some videos of either Sci Fi Life Hacks or geeky kitchen gadget reviews.  I've slowed down during my Kickstarter. If you're contemplating one, let me warn you, the rumors are true. Running a Kickstarter is like having a second job. It will eat your life. Luckily, you know exactly when all the excitement will end.

Do you have any cookbooks out for people to purchase?

Of course!

My most popular book is Dining With the Doctor: The Unauthorized Whovian Cookbook

My personal favorite is Wood for Sheep: The Unauthorized Settlers Cookbook

And my bet reviewed is SteamDrunks: 101 Steampunk Cocktails and Mixed Drinks

I have two more cookbooks coming up this fall:
The Noshing Dead: The Unauthorized Walking Dead Cookbook
An Unexpected Cookbook: The Unofficial Book of Hobbit Cookery



Any other projects in the works that you'd like to share?

I'm in the last days of a Kickstarter for the Illustrated Geek Cookbook, which has 50 lushly illustrated recipes covering 120 years of geek culture.  It was an interesting challenge. In addition to keeping the recipes really geeky, I had to focus on keeping them easy enough to illustrate. This meant no more than 8-10 ingredients or steps. For most of my recipes, I start things from scratch. If you want bread, get the flour and yeast. We're going to be at this for a couple hours. For this cookbook, though, I had to use a lot of pre-made things, like grocery bought crescent dough and marinara sauce for the Eye of Sauron. The feedback was great. People love the simpler recipes as much as they love Ton's art. I've loosened up a lot since then. While I still revel in scratch cooking, I have a lot more recipes now using convenience items.

So the next time you get a hankering for something geeky go to Kitchen Overlord and see what Chris-Rachael Oseland has that you can whip up.

Transformers: Age of Extinction Review

I’m doing a movie review for “Transformers: Age of Extinction”. As usual I will do my general disclaimer in that this post may (most likely) contain spoilers. It is also solely my opinion. I always encourage people to go watch the films for themselves to form their own opinion of the film.

I watched the new “Transformers: Age of Extinction” movie today. I’m going to be honest and blunt in that overall I really didn’t enjoy it. I don’t feel it furthered the story, but rather gives an introspective of the past movies. There were points (about 1/3 - ½ way through) where it felt like the movie’s sole purpose was to set up the arrival of the Dinobots who show up for the last quarter of the film. It felt like a story that we didn’t really need. Does that make any sense? I say it like that because the progression of events are what we expected, in a realistic way rather than a fairy tale happy ending kind of way. There were elements that were added that didn’t seem necessary, nor did they feel like they fit.

Let me do a more specific breakdown of points to further illustrate what I’m saying. I’ll start with the negative aspects, but then I’ll say what I think the movie did do well.

The first three scenes were so jumpy in content that I had no idea what was initially going on. First it’s Earth during the Dino age getting a glimpse of aliens that are not Transformers, then suddenly in the Arctic looking at what appears to be a Dinobot, but isn’t, and then suddenly in Texas with Mark Wahlberg. None of it seemed connected and only later gets explained half way through the movie.

What’s going on is pretty much what you would expect. The Government mistrusts all Transformers because of the Chicago incident. One man (who is CIA) is secretly hunting all Transformers down, including Autobots who have a pardon for their defense in Chicago, with the help of a new Transformer bounty hunter, Lockdown. The CIA head has a contract with Lockdown and Joshua Joyce, who owns KSI technologies where with the Transformers that have been taken out and what was found in the Arctic have learned to make Transformers. Also, as is typical black ops secret CIA them or us kind of behavior, this man as no problem killing innocent people in order to achieve his goals, but then criticizes Wahlberg for siding with the Autobots.

The introduction of the new alien race, the Creators, feels like a puzzle piece that doesn’t fit, but was jammed into place to try to have things make sense. I picture them to be like The Creators in “Prometheus”. The introduction of these new species leaves more questions than answers. Their main purpose in the story seems only to be to give Lockdown motivation.

Also Megatron manages to reincarnate himself through Joyce’s flagship creation Galvatron. I haven’t fully decided if this is a good point or a bad one yet. It could go either way. In terms of Megatron’s nature it makes perfect sense, but as many times as Megatron has been killed and brought back it kinda feels like beating a dead horse. So again, it really could go either way

Now lets move onto the positive things. I will say that this movie is a fantastic story for Optimus Prime. It gives you an in depth profile of his character, his struggles, and his motivations that helps to give an insight to the past films. This story truly does center around Optimus. Plus for a wee bit you get to see him in his classic flat nosed cartoon truck form. There is also at the end of the film where you see Optimus go into knight form. Very badass indeed!

What you do see of the Dinobots is dynamite. Granted you have to wait till the end of the film to see them (anyone surprised by that? Seriously?), but they are amazing once they do make their appearance. The end battle is epic, as is expected, with the Dinobots coming to the Autobots rescue as they are outnumbered by Joyce’s version of Transformers who have all been infected by the reincarnated Megatron.

It was also refreshing to see a main character who is a 180 from Shia Lebouf’s Sam Witwicky. Wahlberg’s Cade Yeager has nothing to lose. His tech firm went under, his wife died, he’s broke, and he’s about to lose his house. The only thing that matters to him is his daughter, Tessa, played by Nicola Peltz. As long as she’s safe Cade doesn’t really care what happens to himself. He also says this wonderful quote to Optimus, “You gotta look at all of the junk and see the treasure.”


I was also impressed with the talent they got to participate in this latest installment. Mark Wahlberg aside there was Stanley Tucci as Joshua Joyce and Kelsey Grammer as Harold Attinger the head of the CIA who has no problem killing people who get in his way. You know I never thought I would ever be happy to see Kelsey Grammer die. I love the man’s work. There was also some great talent for the Autobots as well; John Goodman as Hound, Ken Wantanabe as Drift, John DiMaggio as Crosshairs, and here is the biggie, Frank Welker as Galvatron. That’s right, for once we get the original voices of Optimus Prime and Megatron in the same film. That is a big perk indeed!

So that’s my 2 cents on “Transformers: Age of Extinction”. If you like go watch the film yourself and let me know what you thought of it. However if I had to give one solitary reason to see it, that reason is Optimus Prime.

Part of My Maine Heritage

When people think of Maine usually the things that come to mind are lobster, pine trees, coast line, and Stephen King. Nothing against Stephen King, I do enjoy his work, but Maine actually has more of history than that. Especially when it comes to some of the famous people and various pop culture contributions to come out of Maine. Again don't get me wrong I like Stephen King and there are some days I love the reputation he's given the state about there being ghosts, monsters, supernatural creatures, and deranged loners in the woods that will kill you several different gorey ways. Anyway I've gone off topic.

What many people don't realize is that M*A*S*H came from Maine. I'm a HUGE M*A*S*H fan and enjoy flaunting this fact whenever possible. Dr. Richard Hornberger, who wrote under the pen name Dr. Richard Hooker, wrote the book M*A*S*H which inspired the movie and the series. He was from Breman, Maine and was a thoracic surgeon who practiced in Waterville, Maine.

He based the book on his experience at a M*A*S*H unit in the Korean War and the main character Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce was modeled after himself. Although he never liked Alan Alda's protrayal of the character which is funny since that's who people think of when they think of Hawkeye Pierce.

Dr. Hornberger died of leukemia at 73 in November 1997.

Many people don't even realize that M*A*S*H was a book. I highly recommend the book if you can get your hands on a copy. If you think what Hawkeye and Trapper did on screen for highjinks were crazy they were toned down in comparison to what was done in text. For example, attempting to crucify and burn the protestant priest that was also on camp, but never mentioned in the movie and show. Oh yeah, things like that.
So I just wanted to take a moment to share a bit of pop culture trivia/heritage. See? Learn something new everyday.

Amazing Spider-Man 2 Review

I saw ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ and as promised here is my 2 cents on it. I gotta do the usual disclaimer which is; this is merely my opinion and I encourage you to go watch the film for yourself to form your own opinion. Also this review contains spoilers so if you don’t wanna know, this is your chance to stop reading.

Still with me? Alright then, here we go.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. After reading all of the articles and casting I was so afraid that Spider-Man was going to be a jumbled mess of characters. However it wasn’t a jumbled mess. It was a very captivating story with the focus, villain wise, on Electro. And while the other characters that were promised are introduced (Felicia Hardy and Alistair Smythe) they don’t play a huge part and don’t get their costumes.

The aspect that I found most interesting is that the villains in this film make you feel very sympathetic to them. Electro just wanted to be seen and given credit for the work he had done instead of being used. Meanwhile Harry inherited a company that doesn’t want him there for a father who was never there for him. The only villain you don’t feel bad for is Rhino. Granted you don’t see him much, but he’s a Russian mobster who enjoys crime.

Also, yes, the rumors are true. Gwen Stacy does indeed die. The slight change that they made, aside from the location of her demise, is that Spider-Man isn’t responsible. He is just a little too slow in saving her. If you watch the web gets to her, but her head hits the ground before the web pulls her back up.

There are a few things I’m still unsure how I feel about them. The first is the “Osborn curse” as Norman puts it to Harry. Apparently the Osborns have a retro genetic disease which is why Norman founded Oscorp to begin with. Then there’s Richard Parker putting his own DNA into the spiders which is why Peter got powers. The combination of the disease, which is starting to take hold of Harry and Parker’s genetic spiders are how we get Green Goblin. There is also Peter and Harry’s friendship. For being childhood friends you don’t really get that feeling. Their friendship feels sort of forced.

A couple of things they did that I really enjoy is Dennis Leary makes an appearance again as Captain Stacy. No they don’t bring him back to life, but his memory haunts Peter. The other is that Marvel continues the lesson of never fire the CEO and founder of the company. In a Marvel movie whenever a board boots out the head of the company it never goes well for them, and that continues here.

The ending they leave wide open for Rhino to be the next major villain for the third installment. That would be good because otherwise it’s just a waste of Paul Giamatti’s talent. Which was also a concern when I heard the Rhino was only in the film for 4 minutes.

Overall I really enjoyed it and it taught me not to judge a movie based on all of the articles I see about it. In fact, think I’m going to be laying off those a bit. Oh, and one last thing. The scene during the credits is a bit of a disappointment. It’s just a sneak peek scene from ‘X-Men Days of Future Past’. Just to forewarn you.

Let me know what you think of ’The Amazing Spider-Man 2’.