For the latest Nexus Graphica, Mark London Williams and I revealed our top 5 selections for the best graphic novels of the year.
Swing over to SF Site to read the reasons behind our selections.
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday and a particularly hectic schedule at the Geek Compound (more on that in future posts), I’m just getting around to telling y’all about my recent 20 second brush with fame.
Unbeknownst to most of you, I like to shop for groceries. At first blush, that would seem pretty weird unless you factor in that I like to eat (a lot!) and that my first job was sacking groceries for Randall’s in Houston. For over four years, I worked at the Dairy Ashford & Memorial location. Because of all this (and that Brandy hates to grocery shop), I handle all the food shopping for the Geek Compound.
In mid-October during my weekly sojourn, I was approached by a familiar-looking woman. I searched my mind for who the hell she was. This isn’t that uncommon for me. After living in Austin for 24 years, I’ve met a lot of people. Problem is that even though I have a great memory for faces, names often elude me. (So if you run into me and I look dumbfounded, it’s because I’m trying to recall your name)
Turns out the well-dressed woman was the local NBC affiliate KXAN evening anchor Leslie Rhode. She stopped me because I was the only guy she could find in the grocery store who was using re-usable bags. They were doing a story on the cleanliness (or not) of the bags. She asked if she could take two of my bags to test for bacteria levels. They’d give me two brand new bags right then and return my bags after the piece ran.
Leslie Rhode
Seemed like a dumb idea for a news report but what the hell. We exchanged the bags and I continued my shopping.
Soon after, Leslie and a cameraman advanced on me. “I’ve been looking for you. We’d like to interview you on camera.” While the cameraman prepped, Leslie told me how impressed she was that I did all the grocery shopping. Apparently her husband can’t be trusted to do it right. They interviewed me for a few minutes.
The piece finally ran on November 21. I appear on camera for all of about 20 seconds, saying something snarky. A transcript and video are available on the KXAN site.
Our bags to be tested are on the far right.
Bags, Bacteria, TV, and Me was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday and a particularly hectic schedule at the Geek Compound (more on that in future posts), I’m just getting around to telling y’all about my recent 20 second brush with fame.
Unbeknownst to most of you, I like to shop for groceries. At first blush, that would seem pretty weird unless you factor in that I like to eat (a lot!) and that my first job was sacking groceries for Randall’s in Houston. For over four years, I worked at the Dairy Ashford & Memorial location. Because of all this (and that Brandy hates to grocery shop), I handle all the food shopping for the Geek Compound.
In mid-October during my weekly sojourn, I was approached by a familiar-looking woman. I searched my mind for who the hell she was. This isn’t that uncommon for me. After living in Austin for 24 years, I’ve met a lot of people. Problem is that even though I have a great memory for faces, names often elude me. (So if you run into me and I look dumbfounded, it’s because I’m trying to recall your name)
Turns out the well-dressed woman was the local NBC affiliate KXAN evening anchor Leslie Rhode. She stopped me because I was the only guy she could find in the grocery store who was using re-usable bags. They were doing a story on the cleanliness (or not) of the bags. She asked if she could take two of my bags to test for bacteria levels. They’d give me two brand new bags right then and return my bags after the piece ran.
Leslie Rhode
Seemed like a dumb idea for a news report but what the hell. We exchanged the bags and I continued my shopping.
Soon after, Leslie and a cameraman advanced on me. "I’ve been looking for you. We’d like to interview you on camera." While the cameraman prepped, Leslie told me how impressed she was that I did all the grocery shopping. Apparently her husband can’t be trusted to do it right. They interviewed me for a few minutes.
The piece finally ran on November 21. I appear on camera for all of about 20 seconds, saying something snarky. A transcript and video are available on the KXAN site.
Our bags to be tested are on the far right.
For the latest Nexus Graphica, Mark London Williams and I revealed our bottom half (10-6) selections of the best graphic novels of the year.
Swing over to SF Site to read the reasons behind our selections.
Half of the Best was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon
For the latest Nexus Graphica, Mark London Williams and I revealed our bottom half (10-6) selections of the best graphic novels of the year.
Swing over to SF Site to read the reasons behind our selections.
Very light month of new titles. Highlights include the classics The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and Jaws, the underrated Matinee, the finale of Rescue Me, and the acclaimed Portlandia. Beginning with this month’s Geekgasm, I’m including a list of soon to be expiring titles. Sadly, I can only get titles scheduled to end two weeks out. Still better than nothing.
* streaming for the first time via Netflix.
* streaming in HD
* close captioning is available
Premiering December 1:
Death Rides a Horse
Friday the 13th: Part 7: The New Blood
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Jaws
*Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
Matinee A must see for fans of 1950s monster movies!
*Samourais
Premiering December 3:
*Peter Pan (2003)
Premiering December 10:
*Bones: Season 6
Premiering December 12:
*Rescue Me: Season 6
Premiering December 15:
*Death Race 2
Premiering December 20:
*Best Worst Movie Documentary about Troll 2
Premiering December 23:
*Portlandia
Premiering December 30:
**Spartacus (2010)
Titles expiring soon
Expiring December 1:
Best of the Best
Casino Royale (1954) This BBC TV movie was the first screen adaptation of James Bond
*Ever After: A Cinderella Story
Freak Out (2004)
Gods and Monsters This superior adaptation of the Christopehr Bram novel The Father of Frankenstein chronicles the life of openly gay Frankenstein director James Whale. Highly reccomended!
Gothic Vampires from Hell
Harry Knuckles and the Pearl Necklace
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto
Highway to Hell (1991)
*The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1981)
Holiday Classics: A Christmas Carol/A Picture of the Magi Wouldn’t want people to see a Christmas film during the Christmas season, would you? The Christmas Carol is narrated by Vincent Price
**The House of the Devil (2009)
The House on Skull Mountain
Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter
*King Kong (1976) Good riddance!
*Leviathan (1989)
*The Man in the Iron Mask (1998)
MST3K: Horrors of Spider Island
MST3K: The Indestructible Man
MST3K: Ring of Terror
MST3K: Swamp Women/Swamp Diamonds
MST3K: Tormented
Nosferatu: The Gothic Industrial Mix
Not Forgotten (2009)
**Orgazmo
Paranormal: Haunts and Horrors
*Red Dragon (2002)
**Santa’s Slay
*Smokey and the Bandit II
Supernova
Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms
Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business
*Volcano (1997)
*Walled In
*Warlock (1989)
Expiring December 2:
*The Return of the Living Dead
Expiring December 3:
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings Season 1
Expiring December 7:
Cronos Make sure you catch this brilliant debut film from Guillermo del Toro before it’s gone. A must see for all horror fans.
Expiring December 8:
*Crank 2: High Voltage
Ichi the Killer
Expiring December 12:
*Avalon High
Expiring December 13:
*Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare
Info courtesy of 
Impending Geekgasm on Netflix Instant Watch- Dec. edition was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon
Very light month of new titles. Highlights include the classics The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and Jaws, the underrated Matinee, the finale of Rescue Me, and the acclaimed Portlandia. Beginning with this month’s Geekgasm, I’m including a list of soon to be expiring titles. Sadly, I can only get titles scheduled to end two weeks out. Still better than nothing.
* streaming for the first time via Netflix.
* streaming in HD
* close captioning is available
Premiering December 1:
Death Rides a Horse
Friday the 13th: Part 7: The New Blood
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Jaws
*Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
Matinee A must see for fans of 1950s monster movies!
*Samourais
Premiering December 3:
*Peter Pan (2003)
Premiering December 10:
*Bones: Season 6
Premiering December 12:
*Rescue Me: Season 6
Premiering December 15:
*Death Race 2
Premiering December 20:
*Best Worst Movie Documentary about Troll 2
Premiering December 23:
*Portlandia
Premiering December 30:
**Spartacus (2010)
Titles expiring soon
Expiring December 1:
Best of the Best
Casino Royale (1954) This BBC TV movie was the first screen adaptation of James Bond
*Ever After: A Cinderella Story
Freak Out (2004)
Gods and Monsters This superior adaptation of the Christopehr Bram novel The Father of Frankenstein chronicles the life of openly gay Frankenstein director James Whale. Highly reccomended!
Gothic Vampires from Hell
Harry Knuckles and the Pearl Necklace
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto
Highway to Hell (1991)
*The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1981)
Holiday Classics: A Christmas Carol/A Picture of the Magi Wouldn’t want people to see a Christmas film during the Christmas season, would you? The Christmas Carol is narrated by Vincent Price
**The House of the Devil (2009)
The House on Skull Mountain
Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter
*King Kong (1976) Good riddance!
*Leviathan (1989)
*The Man in the Iron Mask (1998)
MST3K: Horrors of Spider Island
MST3K: The Indestructible Man
MST3K: Ring of Terror
MST3K: Swamp Women/Swamp Diamonds
MST3K: Tormented
Nosferatu: The Gothic Industrial Mix
Not Forgotten (2009)
**Orgazmo
Paranormal: Haunts and Horrors
*Red Dragon (2002)
**Santa’s Slay
*Smokey and the Bandit II
Supernova
Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms
Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business
*Volcano (1997)
*Walled In
*Warlock (1989)
Expiring December 2:
*The Return of the Living Dead
Expiring December 3:
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings Season 1
Expiring December 7:
Cronos Make sure you catch this brilliant debut film from Guillermo del Toro before it’s gone. A must see for all horror fans.
Expiring December 8:
*Crank 2: High Voltage
Ichi the Killer
Expiring December 12:
*Avalon High
Expiring December 13:
*Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare
Info courtesy of
As part of his ongoing column at New Pulp, Alan J. Porter is serializing our story “The Raven: Nameless Here For Evermore,” scheduled to appear in the not yet published Protectors anthology. The third segment appeared today.
Here’s an excerpt:
As he entered this third room, a loud click announced the bright light that suddenly shown straight into The Raven’s eyes. His sensitive red eyes contracted at the sudden light. Temporarily blinded, he inwardly cursed at his own stupidity, reflexively dropped into a defensive posture, and prepared for the inevitable attack.
“There’s no need for that old chap,” came a masculine voice, British, from the darkness, “I’m sorry if the old lamp trick disoriented you, I just wanted to make sure that it was, in fact, you.”
The Raven remained silent, squinting as his eyes adjusted. A man, his features hidden in deep shadow behind the lamp, sat at a large desk that filled the room. The slight glow from the bowl of a pipe was just visible and a plume of smoke swirled in the lamp light. The man’s right hand rested on a manila folder lying on the desktop.
The mystery man pushed the folder forward into the pool of light. “This will give you the answers you need. Well some of them at least. I hope it helps.” With that he turned the lamp off, returning the room to darkness. “Please excuse the charade, we may not be as flamboyant as you colonials, but we still enjoy our theatricals. Oh and please relock the door on your way out, there’s a good chap.”
Read the rest of the third part and find links to the previous installments at New Pulp.
The Raven: Nameless Here For Evermore Part 3 was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon
As part of his ongoing column at New Pulp, Alan J. Porter is serializing our story "The Raven: Nameless Here For Evermore," scheduled to appear in the not yet published Protectors anthology. The third segment appeared today.
Here’s an excerpt:
As he entered this third room, a loud click announced the bright light that suddenly shown straight into The Raven’s eyes. His sensitive red eyes contracted at the sudden light. Temporarily blinded, he inwardly cursed at his own stupidity, reflexively dropped into a defensive posture, and prepared for the inevitable attack.
“There’s no need for that old chap,” came a masculine voice, British, from the darkness, “I’m sorry if the old lamp trick disoriented you, I just wanted to make sure that it was, in fact, you.”
The Raven remained silent, squinting as his eyes adjusted. A man, his features hidden in deep shadow behind the lamp, sat at a large desk that filled the room. The slight glow from the bowl of a pipe was just visible and a plume of smoke swirled in the lamp light. The man’s right hand rested on a manila folder lying on the desktop.
The mystery man pushed the folder forward into the pool of light. “This will give you the answers you need. Well some of them at least. I hope it helps.” With that he turned the lamp off, returning the room to darkness. “Please excuse the charade, we may not be as flamboyant as you colonials, but we still enjoy our theatricals. Oh and please relock the door on your way out, there’s a good chap.”
Read the rest of the third part and find links to the previous installments at New Pulp.
Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.
Lightbringer
by K. D. McEntire
Cover by Sam Weber
Promo copy:
Wendy has the ability to see souls that have not moved on—but she does not seek them out. They seek her. They yearn for her… or what she can do for them. Without Wendy’s powers, the Lost, the souls that have died unnaturally young, are doomed to wander in the never forever, and Wendy knows she is the only one who can set them free by sending them into the light.
Each soul costs Wendy, delivering too many souls would be deadly, and yet she is driven to patrol, dropping everyone in her life but her best friend, Eddie—who wants to be more than friends—until she meets Piotr.
Piotr, the first Rider and guardian of the Lost, whose memory of his decades in the never, a world that the living never see, has faded away. With his old-fashioned charms, and haunted kindness, he understands Wendy in ways no one living ever could, yet Wendy is hiding that she can do more than exist in the never. Wendy is falling for a boy who she may have to send into the light.
But there are darker forces looking for the Lost. Trying to regain the youth and power that the Lost possess, the dark ones feed on the Lost and only Wendy and Piotr can save them—but at what cost?
Lightbringer is a YA urban fantasy/romance set in a world a breath away from our own. Similar in tone to Tithe and Unleashed, Lightbringer tiptoes down the line between love and horror as Wendy discovers herself and the darkest parts of the afterlife.
Care To Make Love In That Gross Little Space Between Cars?: A Believer Book of Advice
Edited by Mike Sachs and Eric Spitznagel
Introductions by Judd Apatow and Patton Oswalt
Promo copy:
In the spirit of You’re A Horrible Person But I Like You, Care To Make Love In That Gross Little Space Between Cars? is a series of twisted, belligerent advice columns from The Believer and an all-star cast of writers and comedians, including Bob Saget, Louis C. K., Amy Sedaris, Zach Galifianaks, Roz Chast, and Nick Hornby.
Care To Make Love In That Gross Little Space Between Cars? was originally conceived of as an advice column for The Believer. In these pages learn how to remove a wine stain from granite (witchcraft), how to avoid being found dead in an embarrassing manner, specifically being found by fireman in your underwear (wear long johns), and what book to read in a subway to make friends (“Common Problems of the Very Wealthy, Well-Endowed, and Omniscient”).
This looks to be an excellent bathroom read.
Inheritance
by Christopher Paolini
Cover by John Jude Palencar
Promo copy:
Not so very long ago, Eragon—Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider—was nothing more than a poor farm boy, and his dragon, Saphira, only a blue stone in the forest. Now the fate of an entire civilization rests on their shoulders.
Long months of training and battle have brought victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss. And still, the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix. When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him. And if they cannot, no one can. There will be no second chances.
The Rider and his dragon have come further than anyone dared to hope. But can they topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaësia? And if so, at what cost?
This is the much-anticipated, astonishing conclusion to the worldwide bestselling Inheritance cycle.
Books received 11/20/11 was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon