GeekRoundTable.com

The Return of GeekRoundTable.......

It has been a HARD 11 months for me, but it has all lead me to one conclusion, The Show Must Go On!

November 12, 2009: The Death of my Mother....

My Mom and Dad are both geeks and gave me my love of The World of Geek.  From my Dad, I got my love of Comics and Classic movies, and Toys, and from my Mom I got my love of Japanese Giant monster movies and action figures.  In July of  2009 my Mom, Brother, Sister, and their kids came out for a visit from New York.  We talked about Comic-Con and my being a board member and other things. She brought me a replica of Mecha-Godzilla, that she carried on the plane.  Then, roughly 3 and a half months later I get a phone call from family telling me my Mother is gravely ill.  I rush home and spend time with her in the Hospital.  After 10 days I run out of cash and have to come home with plans to return.  November 12, 2009, I get a call from my brother in tears telling me my Mother has passed away.  I am numb for the next 6 months.  I consider quitting Comic-Con and the board and giving up this site.  But, my Geek friends won't let me.  The love and support I got from my friends, still surprises me to this day.  Thanks to all of you.  I also want to say thanks to all the folks who came up to me after The GRT panel this year and shared their sympathy and  their own stories of loss.  Thank you.  All that support said to me, that the show must go on.

I Love You Mom,

,and always will.......

I dedicate The GRT website to my Mother.

A New GeekRoundTable!!!!!!

While the old GRT was not a bad set of show, it seem to be a lot slower in getting out to you guys.  I really want this site to be a fun, source of info for geeks, but not make it feel like you have to read a ton of content or listen to a 2 hour show.  So, what we are going to do on GRT is STREAMLINE the show.  What this means is we are not only make easier for you guys to get content, but make it easier for us to get it to you.  What this means is, getting the show to you in different ways. The pod casts will happen, but, they will be shorter.  There will be a GRT page on You Tube, to get you content directly from us at home and at the various show we all go to, like Anime Expo, APE, Wonder Con, and other conventions.  We are now  going to do  3 different shows:

1. A leaner, meaner GRT

We are going shorten the shows from over an hour, to 45 minutes to up to an hour.  What this means is because most of the cast is all over California, we will Skype more shows to make it convenient for everyone.  We will not cut out full, live cast show, there will just be fewer live ones.

2.The Politics of Geek

This show will be a passionate exploration of The World of Geek, from Women in Geekdom to Racism in the Geekdom.  This will be the Meet the Press for geeks.

3. From the Balcony Geeks

This show will concentrate on classic movies and will be manned by the old guys in the group, but not limited to them.  We will talk classic films and little known gems.

A fourth show, Rant! ,is more of a commentary bit that will mostly end up on You Tube, since they show will run anywhere from 10 minutes and up.  This will be the show where geeks get to grind that Geek Axe.

A new feature that we will also use will be The Empty Chair, where we invite a fan of GRT to sit in on a show(in person or via Skype).  will will start the  Empty chair in January.  We are looking forward to the new format and will be changing the face of GRT site, to fit the new shows.  If anyone wants to design new headers,will will put them up and give you full credit and put you at the top of the list for The Empty Chair.  If you have any questions drop us an email at [email protected]. 

Geek Out!

Ned Cato Jr

Fiji Water: So cool, so fresh, so bad for the environment?

 I found this article on the net and not only was I surprised, I was embarrassed at how little I knew about this brand, thinking foolishly that others will protect the environment, native cultures, and make  making a profit a secondary concern.  I was wrong.  Read on, and be as shocked as I was......

by Sarah Gilbert

The story of Fiji Water, as detailed in a startling investigative piece in Mother Jones Magazine last month, seems familiar.  Leafing through the story,  I found myself trying to remember where I'd read this tale before; like an old melody at the back of my brain, it hovered, just beyond memory.

Suddenly it came to me: it's Dole, it's United Fruit, it's West Indies Sugar Corporation, it's the old, old story. A company located in a lush, tropical location with a totalitarian government that welcomes foreign interests with deep pockets. It doesn't tax them, gives them access to the country's most precious natural resources, and stands by with heavy artillery in hand, protecting them while they strip the country. 

Meanwhile the country's citizens struggle with terrible poverty, hunger and squalid conditions. The only part of the story that Fiji Water has not yet repeated is the inevitable depletion of the resource -- in this case, a 17-mile-long aquifer to which Fiji Water has "near-exclusive access" -- and the subsequent abandonment of the country.

What makes this story so difficult to swallow is how eagerly the U.S. seems to have embraced Fiji's co-owners Stewart and Lynda Resnick. On this side of the Pacific, the pair cheerfully line the pockets of any political figure in sight (they supported both McCain and Obama in the past election) while selling Fiji's best, cleanest water at a huge profit. On the other side of the ocean, the people of Fiji suffer under terrible water conditions that have led to outbreaks of typhoid and parasitic infections.

It appears that America adores the Resnicks: Lynda brags that she knows "everyone in the world, every mogul, every movie star." These relationships have proven handy, as the Resnicks have reaped $1.5 million a year in water subsidies for their almond, pistachio and pomegranate crops in the U.S.

These agricultural water subsidies must be viewed in context: the stress from travelling to pollinate the almond "monoculture" crops like the ones the Resnicks grow, along with the pesticides they sell, are considered to be some of the major reasons that bees are succumbing to colony collapse disorder. And the Resnicks control an enormous amount of California water infrastructure that was built by public funds. They have a 48 percent interest in the Kern Water Bank, which was meant to collect water from aqueducts and the Kern River and to redistribute this water in times of drought.

The Resnicks and their Paramount Farms and Paramount Citrus could use the water to irrigate their fields (which are already subsidized by the government), or they could sell it to municipalities. According to critics, the Resnicks are "trying to 'game' the water market the way Enron gamed the energy market."

So the Resnicks are not known for their even-handedness with politicians or water, and their practices in the U.S. are not the greenest of all possible greens. In fact, they could share responsibility for many of our environmental woes. They could have a hand in California's future water shortages, during which they could profit gloriously. All the while, they are loudly and proudly marketing Fiji Water as the most environmentally friendly bottled water company in the world.

This, of course, is not saying much. Bottled water is notorious for its position in top five lists of "what not to do" for the planet. One day, future civilizations will look back on this decade and wonder in disbelief why it was that we pumped water out of one part of the planet, encased it in plastic, then encased it again for shipping, and spent many many non-renewable resources to bring it to another part of the planet where clean water was already plentiful. It's patently ridiculous.

The story is disturbing because of the truths it tells us about ourselves and our society. It's not just the water thing. It's the marketing. Lynda Resnick has been repeatedly described as a marketing genius for her ability to transform Fiji Water into a must-have accessory for environmentally-conscious celebrities and politicians, despite its heavy use of plastic and questionable commitment to environmentally sustainable practices. And oh, we are drinking the marketing at far greater rates than we are drinking the water. Our celebrities both enormous (Obama, Paris, and their ilk) and minor (the geekarati at the SXSW festival) can't live without it. So neither can we. Whatever celebrities sell us? YUM. Damn the consequences.

It's troubling, at the end of the story, that the company is not, as Anna Lenzer writes in her follow-up to the story (after Fiji Water spokesman Rob Six defended his company) doing anything about the military junta now controlling Fiji. "A UN official . . . in a recent commentary . . . singled out Fiji Water as the one company with enough leverage to force the junta to budge."

The commentary, by the way, was titled "Why Obama should stop drinking Fiji water."

Update: A spokesman for Roll International Corporation, the parent company of Fiji Water, contacted DailyFinance, claiming that there are factual errors in the piece. Roll International maintains that Fiji Water is not profitable, and that the company does not receive subsidies from the state of California.

Stop drinking bottled water, Stop drinking, Fiji Water, be aware.....


Geek Out!

You want million dollar!?

Ahh, so here we go.

Anyone that's listened to us knows how much we despise multiple title summer blockbuster ccrossovers with life changing consequences and solutions that will eventually be washed away at the end only to start all over again in about 3 months time.

So how could I ever find a story that contains all of that and actually enjoy it? Can't right? Until recently...

This has been one of my favorite online comics and OMG they actually did the same exact thing with other online comics, just better. And it was free.

This is brought by the guys of LeastICouldDo.Com and LFGComic.com. I've talked about these guys to other people before and I have successfully converted them to reading it daily and also reading the writer's blogs.

Enjoy!

Ultimate Final Civil War Invasion Crisis Thing

And this deserves a notice. 

Dollhouse. Oh my god! They finally pulled in the big number, Alan Tudyk. If you don't know who he is it's this debonair mother fucker

 

He comes in as a paranoid environmental pothead engineer, which becomes funny how well he plays the role. And the second half of the show this guy gets way more lines and becomes vital to the episode, and just fucking shines

This show really needed a chance given to it than what it got. The characters and story telling is completely different that Joss Whedon's Buffy and Firefly. Which has been a down side for some people. Which kinda made me think, "You know what, this is the same type of thought people went into the Spirit with". And I would just ask people to give this show another try. The twists aren't cliched and change every episodes, they end and the characters have to live with their decisions. And it comes back to bite them in the ass.

It's too bad that we won't be able to see the episode that stars Felicia Day, ready?

Her ~~~>

really I could have posted any picture, but why not her with a lightsaber? *SWOON*

Guess I'll have to see that episode when the DVD get's released.

I won't be covering any news about Star Trek, cause we're all going to have our opinions. Word to your mother.

Collaborating and listening,

Johann "The Johann Joseph" Joseph

On Avatar and Racism Part 3

Red Ronin is a regular follower of GRT.  He always has a great comment for the blog, but this comment in response to Mary Sturhann's post, is dead spot on.  Here is the comment:

On... Like, racism and stuff.

A racist is anyone who believes it is natural, proper and acceptable to categorize human beings based upon arbitrary physical attributes. There are people in this world who would literally have no idea how to operate if not for references to race. They cannot for the life of them perceive how their acceptance of the concept soaks into every aspect of their being and perception.

Race does not exist. It never has. It is a fiction. It was created as a distraction or an excuse so that evil deeds could go unpunished. It was sustained by offering illusory power of one group of "us" over another group of "them" or many even. There is no "reverse-racism" - only racism. It must end.

That said...

If Charlton Heston can play Moses and somehow convincingly portray a man who spent a few decades hiding in Ethiopia unnoticed and undiscovered... And Sir Richard Burton can play Othello... Then surely Laurence Fishbourne can play Lex Luthor or Abraham Lincoln, right? Right.

As much as I love The Seven Faces of Dr Lao, Flash Gordon: Defender of the Universe and Remo Williams the Adventure Begins, there is only so much you can do with makeup. I've nothing against Tony Randall, Max Von Sydow or Joel Grey. But man, C'MON! It's 2009 and Hollywood wants to continue these shenanigans with Avatar: The Last Airbender? This might be enough to convince myself to watch the live action movie of The Guyver followed by the live action version of Fist of the North Star before shooting myself in the head.

:P

Red Ronin

Thoughtful words...... Thanks Red Ronin.

On Avatar and Racism Part 2

 My friend  and fellow GeekRoundTable panelist Mary Sturhann is one of the most honest people you will ever meet, she rarely holds back her opinion, so when Mary sent me a page from her live journal regarding the upcoming live-action Avatar movie, I thought I should share it with you my fellow geeks. Here is are the words from the woman herself....

Avatar the Last Airbender
As a kid I grew up watching Westerns. I loved them. As I matured, slightly, and my worldview widened I became aware of the actors. I started to realize the Indians were just white guys in makeup. I had grown up just missing the very edge of full frontal prejudice. I lived in a world were jerks usually tried to hide it. I live in California, the movie studios are in California and there are plenty of Native Americans so why were none of them in the movies? I was mildly confused at the time. Unfortunately reality settled in and I learned more than I wanted to know about. When I first started dating my husband 24 years ago it raised a little ruckus. Now no one cares that our coloring doesn't match. I am not hardcore about the whole race issue. I thought "Memoirs of a Geisha" was a great film, but some Japanese people were upset that Chinese people had most of the main roles. I was just happy that an Asian was playing an Asian. Any fruit in the bowl was fine with me.

My kids started watching Avatar the Last Airbender long before I did. The show is good so I did not mind being pulled in. I really enjoyed it. After the wonderful jobs movie studios & Directors have made in the last 10 years producing quality films from comics & animation I was thrilled to know they would make an Avatar movie. Then disturbing news began to leak out. M Night Shyamalan would be the director. I'm not sure what I think of that choice, but it certainly did not cause me to lose any sleep. Then the casting call came and the Caucasian kids rolled out. People were upset! I have heard similar complaints before. Firefly / Serenity has an Asian flavor to it. That should include at least some Asians in the background, but never seemed to. However this is a bigger problem. Avatar the Last Airbender is ALL ASIAN ALL THE TIME! Every character seemed to be a different branch of the Asian population. California in particular is drowning in Asians. There is no way to legitimately say that they interviewed all the young Asians actors out there and came up with nothing. Avatar could and should be cast by mostly unknown actors. I realize the Studio decided they had a blank slate when they signed on to convert animation into live action, but did they need to clean the slate all the way down to white?

Here is my problem in 2 sentences:
#1: If the miscasting of Avatar was done innocently, then it proves they are supremely stupid and have never ever watched the show.
#2: If the miscasting of Avatar was done on purpose, then they have proven themselves to be supremely stupid bigots.

I will not support a movie where either one of those situations is in effect. I will just watch the excellent DVD of the original show and be perfectly happy with that.

Mary Sturhann

---

Words from a wise woman and friend, stay tuned for an upcoming podcast where we will be discussing the Avatar movie.

Geek out!

The Most Wonderfully Geeky Moments of 2008...YOU DECIDE!

Found this article about geeks going mainstream in 2008. I'm not totally sure about that....lol There are mainstream geek stuff and then there is still stuff that's on the fringe that's still geeky damn't.

Here's the article you guys be the judge

The Most Wonderfully Geeky Moments of 2008

Why can't the GARGOYLES catch a break?

In 1994 Disney premired an ambitious animated series, Gargoyles,created and produced by Greg Weisman.  Hailed for targeting an older demographic and it's darker tone,Gargoyles is known for it's complex story arcs and melodrama. It borrowed mythology from different cultures in many of it's stories.  African, Native American, Western European were some of the cultures explored. 

On the geek side, the show used many alumni from Star Trek: The Next Generation, including Marina Sirtis and Jonathan Frakes.  It was really cool to hear a familiar voice come out of a animated character.  Now my rant. The show it seems to have never gotten a respectful time slot, even though it has never been off the air for a respectful 14 years!  It would either air at 6 or 7 AM , or get put at the 4 AM slot where it resides on Disney's TOON channel, in it's Jetix line up.  It seems in an age where animation at times is nothing more than an 30 minute commercial for toys, a series like Gargoyles has a loyal fanbase willing to follow it no matter where or when it is on.  Though I know there is nothing that can really be done, I just wanted to get this off my chest!

For fans, anyone looking to buy the 3 season series(though season 3 had no input from the creator Greg Weisman), Season One and Season Two part One are available on DVD.  Slave Labor Graphics did continue the series in comic book form from the end of season 2 written by the creator of the show, giving new life to the incredible show.  With the holidays coming up this show would be a great gift for that geek in your life!

Geek Out!

Ned Cato Jr,

Will Eisner...

   Something has come to my attention recently, Many young geeks have heard of Comic Book Legend Will Eisner, the man whose name is on the Oscars of the comic book world, the Eisners.  But many may not be familiar with his contributions to the industry.  With the upcoming release of  the Spirit movie, most know about his character,The Spirit, but what most do not know, is the he created the concept of the graphic novel the most important being Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories.  I am not going to bore you with details about his life and work, just go out pick up Contract and another great book,Comics and Sequential Art,it is a great book for writers and artists alike.  So, my fellow geeks, get out there and spread the word, and buy the books.  As for the round-table we will do a Eisner tribute near the release of the movie.  Till then get your butts out there buy the books and read and tell your friends.

Geek Out!
Ned Cato Jr.

Tribute....

  This year I lost 2 friends.... Retailer Rory Root and Actress Priscilla Allen.  These people in their own rights were superstars in each of their respective fields, Rory, the definitive Comic Retailer, and Priscilla, an accomplished Actress.  Rory was the owner of  comic book store that took the meaning to the ultimate... a meeting of the minds.  Priscilla was a legend in San Diego theater, and for those not familiar with her name, starred with Governor Arnold in Total Recall as the exploding head lady.  To me,however, they were friends and confidants.  When I worked at San Diego School of the Creative and Performing Arts ,Priscilla was a teacher of drama and I was her aide. Being at her side was an education that no amount of money can buy. Comic-Con was not Comic-Con till I saw Rory and we had one of our many chat on different subjects.  Rory was one of  the few retailers that kept an eye out for Comic-Con...He was one of us.  I could go on and on about these two, but I am starting to get misty, so I will end this blog by saying I will miss them both and I will never forget them...

Rest In Peace Friends....

Geek Pride....

A couple weeks ago I got re-elected to the Board of Directors of Comic-Con for the 13th time.(Yay for me!!!)  In the two weeks before I was trying to decide what  to say in my speech to the committee. Many subjects kept running thru my head, dedication, loyalty,even love.  But I keep coming back to one theme time and time again, Pride. I am an out and proud geek.  My parents are geeks, my friends are geeks, and my life is deciededly geek.  I try to put a little bit of geek into my life every day.  I own who and what I am and dare anyone to challange that. And to all those geeks out there who get static from their co-workers, tell them to look around them, we are everywhere.  I am geek.  I am proud.  Get used to it!

Geek Out!

Ned Cato Jr.