Category: All Things Geek

Geeks are looking to the future by their very nature

A Comic Discovery: Underground Seattle

Carl Setzer

While cleaning up today, I found this well outside of where it’s supposed to be…far from it’s bookshelf. So, I was delighted to find this gem and, so much for the work I wanted to get done, I set myself down and re-read it. Behold: “Underground Seattle”!

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I found this gem at the Edmonds Bookshop, one of my uber-favorite bookstores. I bought this early this year, and it was sold in support of Independent Bookstore Day (April 30, 2016). Definitely a worthy endeavor! This little book was a solidly delightful read. Reminds me of the art you find in such magazines as The Stranger, and the Zines of 90s. I think it does a fantastic job capturing pieces of Seattle’s underground culture.

Though I’ve poked around, I couldn’t find a place to see or even buy a copy of this little guy. I intend to keep looking, though it might have been too limited a run. If you know, let me know.

Here’s the list of contributors, along with web presence (websites, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pages). They’re all interesting and do fascinating work. Check them out!

Seth Goodkind (this link takes you to a copy of his contribution for this book), David Lasky, Max Clotfelter, Joe Garber, John Ohannesian, Ben Horak, Kelly Froh, Peter Bagge, Marie Hausauer, Tatiana Gill, Colleen Frakes, Ellen Forney, Roberta Gregory, Pat Moriarity, Laura Knetzger, Robyn Jordan, Allen Gladfelter, Marc Palm, Tom Van Deusen, James Stanton, Brendan Kiefer, Ryan Thies & Eroyn Franklin.

Update on Star Wars Rebels and iTunes

Carl Setzer

I logged into iTunes yesterday and, boom, there it was: the opportunity to buy the season pass for Star Wars Rebels season 3. Funny, really, that, even after writing about it and tagging the official accounts of Star Wars, et al, I heard nothing from the official channels. Engaging fans is a pretty important thing to do in today’s environment, especially considering last year’s pricing gaff.

So, anyway, here we are.

Wondering about Star Wars Rebels and iTunes

Carl Setzer1 Comment

…or Amazon, or anywhere. Last season I bought the season pass to both halves of the season (to my chagrin and annoyance). With the premier of Season 3 coming next week, I’ve been wondering when I’ll be able to buy the iTunes season pass. And I can’t find anything. It’s not in iTunes. Spent quite some time on the Google. Nada. I’d expect them to be pushing the season pass really soon. But it’s pretty quiet in internet-land.

I wonder if there’s some negotiation point hanging things up. Or if season two’s season-pass-gate soured folks. Or created some fear? Or…

Anyways, any of you heard something? I’d appreciate some insights if you got ’em. Or did I just need to subscribe to Disney XD? Bleh!

UPDATED: Star Wars Rebels Season 3 is NOW on iTunes, for all us cord-cutters. With that, the season pass reflects the cost of last year, what with the split season. That’s my assumption, at least. $39.99 is pretty steep if Disney plans on subdividing the season again.

Dune’s Litany Against Fear

Carl Setzer

A blogging friend posted this a little while ago (Say hello to Cafe Book Bean). I’ve loved the Dune books and have always found this to be a fantastic mediation. I’m often prone to anxiety and fear-based paralysis.

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” – Frank Herbert (Dune)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Official Teaser #2

Carl Setzer

I’m more excited than I should be. This awakens the 10 year old within me, the one whose life forever changed the moment the Star Destroyer flew over Tatooine chasing the Tantive IV. Star Wars has forever dominated my path. Seeing that this is in Imax, I intend to see it at the Pacific Science Center come December.

A Sci-Fi Geek Confession

Carl Setzer

One key weakness of mine of late has been time. Time for such things as film watching. Though I watched such gems as The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, I must admit to a key geek failure. One that might strain my geek-cred to a near breaking level. So, here goes: I hadn’t watched the J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot until yesterday. Yep; took me 4 years. FOUR! Sigh…I hang my head in geek shame.

That said, I actually like the film. [Spoiler Alert: (Ok, come on, if you haven’t seen it by now, you really shouldn’t be put off by plot revelations)] I know that will annoy some, and delight others. I liked the way the characters were recrafted. The time-continuum disruption theme was pretty cool. I wondered how they would reconcile the story-line when they killed Spock’s mother. Clever. I particularly like the edgier, closer to human Spock.

I admit that the lens-flare business was a bit distracting at times. However, it’s hard to extract Heisenberg from this (I was familiar with this before seeing the film. I’m sure awareness impacted my attention.) Didn’t negatively impact the film for me, just provided a bit of distraction.

What really caught me, though, was the Leonard Nimoy role. I didn’t know. DIDN’T KNOW!!!! Nope, no idea he was in the film. Yes, that would’ve made me see it sooner. And I’m sure I just missed some obvious marketing message somewhere. But I’m quite disconnected from the mainstream media stream at this point.

I shan’t wait so long to watch “Into Darkness”.

 

The Untapped Potential Of The Tablet

Carl Setzer

Last night I read, as I often do, a Kindle book on my Nexus (The Manga Gen, if you care). The app magnified the particular frame I to be read. “Clever”, I thought to myself. Yet, as I also do often, I wondered “what else can we do with these?” How can the devices transform the reading experience? Some ideas: animation, links within the document, perhaps an audio track? All kinds of quick, off the cuff possibilities. What would be wrought with a focused, detailed analysis? I know there are myriad opportunities, and think it would be grand to be part of that innovation. Who knows…

A Story of Epilepsy and the Power Of Love

Carl Setzer

The Story Collider podcast has become a deeply integrated into my psyche, and my life. I stumbled  upon the series via Radiolab. On my commute today, I listened to Sara Peters and Peter Aguero’s story about Sara’s epilepsy.  This was very well done: by the end I felt connected to them.

So, I highly recommend you spend a few minutes of your life watching the video below (the podcast was recorded at TedMed 2013, so, thus, you get video). Your life will be the better for it.

(It wouldn’t be a bad idea to subscribe to Story Collider, too. Just sayin’.)