News & Updates - Page 160 of 224

TWITTER HASHTAGS ARE NOT NEWS, DAMMIT!

By Eric San Juan October 20, 2015Rants

Unless you've been unplugged for the last 24 hours or make it a policy to ignore anything related to geek stuff (in which case why would you be reading this blog?), you've probably heard about the #BoycottStarWarsVII hashtag making the rounds on Twitter. Stories about it are blowing up social media right now, and understandably so, given how shockingly offensive and ridiculous the movement behind "Boycott Star Wars VII" seems. The story goes like this: there is a growing movement to boycott Star Wars: The Force Awakens because, those behind the movement say, it's an anti-white movie that glorifies minorities…

Watchmen and The Lord of the Rings Are Strikingly Similar Landmarks

By Eric San Juan October 13, 2015Books & Authors, Comics & Graphic Novels, Geek Stuff

Watching The Rings Moore’s Watchmen and Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings Are Strikingly Similar Landmarks When one talks of vital contributions to the art of comics, one cannot ignore Alan Moore. With a body of work as consistently terrific as his – he has more certifiable classics under his belt than any comic writer of the last 30 years – targeting any given tale as his “best” is an impossible task. But of Alan Moore’s contributions to comicdom, one truly stands as not just an undeniable landmark, but the undeniable landmark, putting its stamp on comic history forever: Watchmen, the powerful 12-issue collaboration with Dave…

Go to hell, “R” key. Go to hell and die.

By Eric San Juan September 30, 2015Random Musings, Rants

It's a poor craftsman that blames his tools. That's how the saying goes, at least, but you know what? "It" being the conspicuous lack of a goddamn "R" in every other goddamn word I type from my goddamn laptop. I may or may not have mentioned it before, but I don't write on my desktop. Too many distractions. I have to get away from my desk and get someplace with as few bright and shinys as possible. That means grabbing the laptop and doing all my writing at the kitchen table or out on the back deck. I'm too prone…

Mad Men’s Jon Hamm may finally get his due

By Eric San Juan September 18, 2015Television

Since 2007, Jon Hamm had been putting on an acting clinic with his subdued, measured performance as Don Draper, the dashing ad man with a past he can't run away from. The Mad Men actor drew raves and a slew of award nominations, including eight straight nominations for the Best Actor in a Drama Series Emmy (including this year's nod). Unfortunately for Hamm, he ran into a wall called Bryan Cranston. See, while Hamm was busy being awesome, Cranston was out there being just as awesome. Cranston won Best Actor four out of the first seven years Hamm was nominated,…

The 5 Most Powerful Geeks of All Time

By Eric San Juan September 14, 2015Geek Stuff, Random Musings

Let's jump back a few years. Shortly after the release of Geek Wisdom, a book I was honored to contribute to, I was contacted by Men's Health magazine to write a piece about the most powerful geeks of all time. It sounded like a fun assignment. I wrote the piece. It was supposedly filled with "awesome stuff" and "everyone at the office [loved]" it, according to the editor who contacted me. But they never used it, and I never heard from that editor again. Rather than let it languish on a memory stick, I figured I'd yank it from the…