Hey everyone! As the cold weather settles in, here are some November geeky events to keep your heart pumpin’ and your toes warm!
Saturday, November 3rd:X-Bit Halloween Bash Chiptunes concert featuring Electric Children (Misfits Cover Set), Bright White Lightning, MCFiredrill, and Live Animals
Saturday, November 3rd:The Atomic Bombshells LIVE at Columbia City Theatre! From the Brown Paper Tickets Site: “Hot off the heels of a headlining spot at Bumbershoot, The Atomic Bombshells, named “Seattle’s most venerable burlesque dancers” (The Stranger) and “the city’s most dazzling Burlesque troupe” (Seattle Weekly), bring their internationally celebrated brand of fabulous and polished high-camp burlesque to the oldest vaudeville theater in Washington. After a busy season of performances in New Orleans, the San Juan Islands, and the Triple Door and Bumbershoot stages in Seattle, the Bombshells return this fall to the gorgeously renovated Columbia City Theater, offering up a chance to see the country’s burlesque ALL-STARS (members include 2011’s Reigning Queen of Burlesque, and Miss Viva Las Vegas 2011) in a rare and intimate setting that has been named a “Best of Seattle” by Seattle Weekly. With a different exciting show each week, you’ll want to catch these icons more than once, as it’s their last run of shows before 2013….perfect for group events and parties, VIP tables are available for reservation! Your evening will be complete with Columbia City Theater’s full bar and delicious food. (Note: This is every Saturday in the month of November.)
Saturday, November 3rd – Sunday, November 4th:Sherlock Convention From the website: “The Sherlock Seattle Convention is a celebration of all things Sherlock and as such will feature many interesting and informative panels, fun and entertaining events, as well as a large screen presentation of BBC’s television production, SHERLOCK: Season 2 – A Scandal in Belgravia, The Hounds of Baskerville, and The Reichenbach Fall!” Please note: Advanced ticket sales are closed and there are no at-the-door membership sales. Please check their website for any changes.
Wednesday, November 7th: Everything vs. Everything! From the Facebook event page: “Unnatural Redhead Productions is proud to bring “Everything vs. Everything! A pop-culture explosion of pirates, ninjas, zombies, robots and more!” to Seattle this November. Iconic heroes and monsters will vy to win the audiences’ hearts in this burlesque extravaganza. Will Godzilla reign supreme? Which will triumph in the end, pirates or ninjas? These questions and more will answered with a heaping helping of glitter to boot!”
Wednesday, November 7th:Kurtis Wiebe Signing From the Facebook event page: “Kurtis Wiebe author of Image books: Intrepids, Green Wake, Peter Panzerfaust, Debris and Grim Leaper will be signing in the store Wednesday November 7th from 3-8pm! Come in and meet one of our favorite authors and check out his excellent books!”
Thursday, November 8th – Friday, November 16th:Where No Man Has Gone Before From the Brown Paper Tickets page: “Adventure! Beautiful women! Exotic alien worlds! Seattle Experimental Theater is proud to present its original unscripted comedy Where No Man Has Gone Before, a fully improvised parody of the original Star Trek TV series. Each night the cast will use suggestions from the audience to create the world and plot of the show. Where No Man Has Gone Before is appropriate for all ages.”
Friday, November 9th:The Ninth of Nerdvember Nerd music concert featuring Death*Star, Kids Get Hit By Buses, Klopfenpop, Jonny Nero Action Hero, and MC 117
Thursday, November 15th – Saturday, November 17th:Stories for Bad Children From the press release: “ Once upon a time there were two sisters. One day they went into the woods and encountered something weird like a talking wombat or an ancient cheese-scented crone. The good sister was perfectly polite and did whatever they asked. The bad sister was all “Piss off, freaks!” So the bad sister was cursed and the good sister got to marry a prince and ride a sapphire unicorn and lived happily ever after, blah blah blah. Bored with the good children? So are we. Vox Fabuli Puppets and Kendra & Michael Hayes team up to bring you STORIES FOR BAD CHILDREN, a cabaret-style show celebrating the naughty boys and girls of the fairy tale world. (Note: This is a show intended for audiences 15+)
Sunday, November 18th:Electro-dissection with the Geek Scouts From the event page: “Solve the mystery of electronic components by dissecting (and destroying) old devices. We will use hand-tools to disassemble a variety of electronics, identify the parts and learn what they do. We will use this process of discovery to explain key concepts of electrical devices and develop a deeper understanding of how they work. There will also be a metal-working studio tour which will including demos of a cnc plasma cutter and cnc router and a demonstration of mig and tig welding.”
Friday, November 23rd – Saturday, November 24th:EtsyRAIN’s Handmade Holiday Show From the Facebook event page: “Thanksgiving weekend come to the annual Handmade Holiday show at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall at Seattle Center. A bigger venue, more vendors and the biggest shopping day of the year add up to the BIGGEST craft show in etsyRAIN history. The first 100 shoppers through the door EACH DAY will receive a free swag bag. More than 100 hand-selected vendors will be selling their wares on Friday, November 23 from 11-6 and Saturday November 24 from 11-5 on two floors of the lobby. This event is free to the public and promises the best selection of unique, high-quality, locally handmade gifts, art and treats.”
Got a fantastic event in November you’d like to see on Geek About Town? Email Shubz at prcontent@geekgirlcon.com! (Keep in mind, we at GeekGirlCon do reserve the right to decide what we post.)
Hiya, readers! For this installment of Artist Corner, we at GeekGirlCon connected with Nicole Dieker of Hello, The Future! She has been reaping the successes of her recent Kickstarter and took the time out to answer a few questions from us in between shows.
Hello, The Future! punching in the hours to make music for a nerdy world.
1: For folks not familiar with your music, how would you describe your sound?
“Nerd folk” is probably the most accurate statement. I say “geekrock” a lot too. Sometimes I tell people I sound like “girl Jonathan Coulton,” which I really don’t, but there’s a lot of overlap between people who like JoCo and people who like my songs.
2: You have recently completed a successful Kickstarter! What was the most rewarding part of the whole process?
Learning that I have a fan base willing to support an unfinished project.
By this point, I was nearly three years into performing as Hello, The Future! and I looked at the Kickstarter as a bit of a milestone marker; if I couldn’t get support for this project, I should step back from the full-time independent musicianry.
Then we not only funded the project, but also funded two stretch goals. It was an amazing feeling, knowing I had a team ready to support and back my work.
3: What are some obstacles you have faced as you were promoting The Geek Girl EP?
Boosting the signal is always the biggest obstacle. There are so many musicians and so many Kickstarters and so many tweets and videos and Facebook posts.
In my case, I started telling the story of the Kickstarter long before I actually announced the Kickstarter. I involved my audience in the process from the very beginning, showing them drafts of songs and drafts of rewards, letting them know how invested I was in this project and how much I wanted to give them the best work I could.
This helped because when we were ready to launch the Kickstarter, the audience was already ready to back. I didn’t have to spend the first week of the Kickstarter explaining it to people.
The other smart thing I did was get on as many podcasts and websites as I could. I would watch the stats, and every time I did an interview (even for a small podcast) the signal would boost and more people would back the project.
4: What is the most valuable advice you can offer for someone thinking of starting their own Kickstarter?
I have two pieces of advice.
1: Test your project and rewards with your fans before you launch the Kickstarter. I put an early draft of my Kickstarter online and asked my audience to tear it apart, which they willingly did (the internet seems to enjoy that kind of thing). They gave me a lot of useful information, including which rewards they liked (and which rewards they didn’t like at all) and helped me shape the final draft of the project.
2: Do the math, for both the money and the time. Make a budget. Create an estimate of how much it will cost to produce the main project, and then add on how much it will cost to produce and ship all of the rewards. Remember that Kickstarter and Amazon each take their cut, and that there’ll likely be taxes you’ll need to pay as well. Then figure out in which order you’re going to fulfill and ship the rewards, and how much time you’ll need to produce each of them (while you’re simultaneously working on the main project). That’ll help you create a realistic plan of action for the Kickstarter.
5: What are you geeky about right now?
I am coming late to the Song of Ice and Fire series, having discovered it through the Game of Thrones HBO show. Nearly finished with A Feast For Crows at this point. Because I am a redhead, I’m making a Hipster Melisandre costume for Halloween which includes a t-shirt that reads “I served R’hllor before it was cool.”
Thanks again for taking some time out of your hustle for GeekGirlCon, Nicole! Congratulations again on not only a great EP, but a successful Kickstarter!
Hey everyone, Shubz here and back from a fun-filled weekend of sleeping in, sun, and LEGOS! That’s right, this past Saturday, I got an opportunity to check out BrickCon with my husband and a few of our friends. Feast your eyes on some of these impressive structures!
This pyramid is no joke! Check out all the detail in the layers to give it that unfinished look.
You can’t go wrong with Ron Swanson.
There was a booth with blacklight and light up lego structures, and my favorite was this beautiful chessboard.
Now this was definitely another favorite! BEHOLD THE BATCAVE! This was complete with a rotating panel that held Batman’s other suits and all the vehicles the Caped Crusader cannot go without.
I never knew the Justice League decorated so minimally.
Folks, this is only a fraction of the Hogwarts structure.
Another view of Hogwart’s. How awesome is that?
Please check out BrickCon’s site to catch more of the fun and building that happened this past weekend.
If you are a builder of any of the structures I have added, please email me at prcontent@geekgirlcon.com so I can properly give you props on your hard work and creativity.
What’s on your Lego builder bucket list?
–
Shubz K. Blalack
PR Content Producer
prcontent@geekgirlcon.com
Wally the Dog is too busy this October with so many nerd events!
Hi folks! Is it fall yet? Here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s hard to tell right now! Let’s celebrate this sun a little longer with some nerdy fun!
Tuesday, October 2nd: Tuesday Night Games at Raygun Lounge with Queer Geek! From the website: “This weekly meetup replaces the Monday meetup group that used to meet at Six Arms (and Chao Bistro before that). It will be held at the Raygun Lounge, Gamma Ray Games’ new game bar. Come and play board games and take part in other geeky pursuits and mingle with your fellow geeks” (Note: This is a weekly event so if you can’t catch Queer Geek! this time around, come through every Tuesday night for some gaming!)
Wednesday, October 3rd:Nerdy Board Game Night Location TBA, please see event invite for details.
Thursday, October 4th:Dominion Tournament Please see invite for details. If you would like to participate in the tournament, you must register!
Friday, October 5th – Sunday, October 7th:BrickCon From the website: BrickCon is a convention for adult fans, collectors, and builders of LEGO®.
Friday, October 5th – Sunday, October 7th:Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival From the website: The Pacific Northwest’s premier weekend long event devoted towards independent and international genre filmmaking. The event was created to offer exposure to films that traditionally are overlooked by the festival circuit from genres including action, animation, fantasy, horror, and science fiction. The festival will feature an amazing selection of fantastic films from around the earth – with the possibility of artists presenting the works themselves. U.S. and world premieres will play alongside global festival favorites and select retrospective titles.
Tuesday, October 9thInformation Architechture Panel from Amazon From the event invite: What is the role of an Information Architect at Amazon.com? You’re probably burning with curiosity, wondering what an IA does at the world’s largest online retailer. You probably wouldn’t guess that there are only 4 known Information Architects in the entire company! While Amazon has employed browse taxonomists for years, IAs are relatively new to the mix – mostly as a result of the tremendous growth of the company, and the information challenges that come with it. At this IA Meetup, you’ll have the opportunity to meet a panel consisting of three of them: Nick Sweers, Carolyn Tweedy, and Nick Berry. These IAs will inspire you with their pioneer spirit, as they show you how they are defining the practice within a culture dominated by developers.
Friday, October 12th:Seattle Art Museum Community Night Out From the SAM Website: Celebrate the creativity and ingenuity of women artists with an evening full of free live music, art making, My Favorite Things tours, performances and workshops inspired by Elles: Pompidou and Elles: SAM. Bring your family, friends, students, kids, parents, and fellow artists—there will be something for everyone! (From the SAM website) Join GeekGirlCon for “Ten Things I Know About You,” a game about famous female geeks and geekery. Spin the wheel for a topic and then name everything you can think of about it in the next 30 seconds. Surprise yourself with how much you know and maybe even win a prize!
Saturday, October 13th – Sunday, October 14th: InfoCamp 2012 From the event page: Join us at InfoCamp Seattle 2012 for an exciting weekend of talking & learning about everything information! As always, it will be you, the participants presenting sessions, talking amongst yourselves, and driving the content of InfoCamp!
…Rates are $60 for professionals, $20 for students for the 2 day event including lunch and snacks…This year will return to Mary Gates Hall at the UW. As well as the unconference format, we are featuring two speakers in 2012: Seattle City Librarian, Marcellus Turner, will start things off on Saturday before we move to the participant-led sessions and discussion. On Sunday, we will feature Information Architect and educator, Dan Klyn, to get us jazzed for another day of enthralling discussion between the participants. For more information, see the Seattle InfoCamp Blog.
Sunday, October, 14th: Dominoes and Such From the event page: “What are we doing? Dominoes (or other games depending on the mood), chatting about anything sci-fi related, drinking (caffeinated or unleaded), and general silliness. We start around 10:30 a.m. or so and play until whenever (usually 2:00 p.m.), feel free to come early or late; punctuality isn’t important.”
Friday, October 19th:DMG 5: Billy the Fridge, Art Vandelay, Death*Star, MC 117 Every third Friday at Pink Gorilla U-District, the DMG series features a line-up of live performing chiptune or nerdcore artists, complete with a visual display, and free-play gaming.
Friday, October 19th:Geeklesque: Unites! From the website:In times of crisis, those with great powers often come together. Leagues are formed; things get avenged; clothes… are taken off?! Critical Hit Burlesque (Portland, OR) and Jo Jo Stiletto Events (Seattle, WA) are teaming up this fall to bring you Geeklesque Unites! Geeklesque Unites will feature some of the best geek-themed burlesque from around the Pacific Northwest, for one night only on Friday, October 19, 2012.
Friday, October 26th – Sunday, October 28th, 2012: AkiCon Three-day anime, manga, and Japanese culture convention.
Friday, October 26th – Sunday, October 28thSteamCon Three-day steampunk convention during Halloween weekend
Sunday, October, 28th: Dominoes and Such From the event page: What are we doing? Dominoes (or other games depending on the mood), chatting about anything sci-fi related, drinking (caffeinated or unleaded), and general silliness. We start around 10:30 a.m. or so and play until whenever (usually 2:00 p.m.), feel free to come early or late; punctuality isn’t important.
Monday, October 29th – Tuesday, October 30th:Seattle Interactive Conference From the website: SIC 2012 provides a unique stage for entrepreneurs, technologists, advertisers, designers, entertainers, online business professionals and thinkers to converge: Visionary speakers on technology, creativity, and emergent trends will leave you inspired, and networking events promise to better connect you.
Got some geektastic events you want to add on to Geek About Town? Email Shubz at prcontent@geekgirlcon.com!
Hi folks, Shubz here! Recently, I got in touch with emcee LadyJ to ask her a few questions about her journey as an artist and to also discover what makes her inner geek sing (or in this case, rap)!
1: We ask everyone this: what are you geeky about right now?
All I gotta say is this. If you understand the term “Love & Tolerate” you are 20 percent cooler in LadyJ’s book! >:)
2: What made you choose rap as your preferred method of self-expression?
I found myself having a hard time understanding my own emotions. Like seriously, at the age of 9, I just never seemed to give a crap. Musically, it all came out, whether it was composing the music, lyrics, or otherwise.
3: What boundaries have you faced in your development as a performance artist?
Sacrifice, know what to sacrifice, when to sacrifice, and how to do it. Ya can’t reach where you want to be without it, so ya gotta become a juggernaut.
4: What song did you have the most fun creating?
Off my Our Fantasy mix tape, there’s a song called Lunar Cry. I got to act the most insane I ever got to act on a record. A couple of friends helped me alot with the concept and lyrics; one of them was even on the chorus. (Note: song contains strong language)
5: Are there any upcoming projects you have to share about?
I have a few commercial single dropping soon. Fat Trel and a few other local celebs will be featured. I plan on doing another project for my fellow otaku soon… It’ll be completed before the year is up in time for AUSA and MAGFest!
Thanks for taking the time to geek out with GeekGirlCon, LadyJ!
Hi everyone! With the new school year starting, we asked our GeekGirlCon staff what their favorite school subject was. Here’s what some of them have shared:
Set
Jex Ballard, Volunteer Coordinator and Board Secretary: “My favorite subject in school was always math. I was a founding member of my elementary school’s math team, where we traveled all across Washington state competing against other schools. The best part was that Friday practices were game days where we played games like Set, Pylos, and any other game that enhanced our mental ability.”
An accurate depiction of Kris belting out a sweet tune.
Kris Panchyk, Vendor Coordinator: “My favorite subject through high school and college would definitely have to be choir. I was lucky to have stumbled into a fantastic group of people in high school, and musically we were AWESOME. It’s carried over into a love of music now and getting involved with local choirs.”
Ellen Ripley and Buffy (photo from EW.com)
Susie Rantz, PR Manager: “Geez, it’s hard to pick a favorite subject, because I feel I was a completely different person in high school than I was in middle school, and was yet another person in college. I will say the class I enjoyed the most was “Action Heroines in Contemporary Cinema.” We got to examine powerful female action heros, which meant watching Alien, Terminator 2, Buffy, Thelma and Louise, and more! I realized there were many more complex action heroines than I expected — and made me want to search for even more!”
What about you? What was or is your favorite subject in school?
I was recently introduced to a new board game that I’d never heard of before. It was quite entertaining, enough to drive me to share my experience with everyone else! With the typical (and reasonable) constraints of allowing for 2-5 players ages 8 and above, Small World is a game that will keep you captivated and on the edge of your seat for about an hour with the continuous shift in activity. It’s a game of rise and decline, conquest and defeat, and excitement for all of the players!
You’re about to be reminded that “It’s a small world after all.” No, I’m not talking about the incessant little robots of Magic Kingdom that sang and danced around your boat as your naive mind wondered what this chorale had to do with Disney World in the first place. Not to mention, Earth has about 510 million kilometers of surface area, which in no way could be considered small! In this case, however, we’re talking about the fictional world (Small World) occupied by Elves, Giants, Orcs, and Sorcerers, and despite the clicheness, it is indeed a small world. It is made up of small chunks of land—certainly not enough to accommodate for the 14 Fantasy Races that intend to conquer and thrive there. Because they can’t all inhabit the land at once, your goal is to build an empire of your race and eventually dominate all of Small World in only 10 short turns!
The Cover of Small World
You will be allowed to select the race you wish to play, paired up with a random Special Power that gives your race a unique benefit. You then use your Race Tokens to take over various regions of the map—in turn, forcing other races away. You must try to cover as much of the land as possible, for each region occupied at the end of your turn allows for the acquirement of Victory Coins, the system of points used to determine the winner at the end of the game. It’s not as easy as it sounds—conquering a region takes two Race Tokens, of which your supply is limited. If a region is already occupied by another race, it takes an additional Race Token for every enemy token already present in the region, and an additional Race Token for each obstacle on the region. This makes it difficult to conquer regions occupied by many Race Tokens and obstacles, so it is important to build a large and powerful army of your race if you wish to take over a large amount of land.
The game board: The land of Small World and its various regions.
Equally important as conquering land is defending it, for other players will be trying to take over your regions as you do to theirs. Sometimes your Active race (more on “active” races below) ends up being spread so thin that it is unable to recover, and the best option is to adopt a new race and begin a new conquest. In doing this, you must first send your original race into Decline. This means that their special powers are eliminated, they are reduced to only one Race Token per region, and the tokens are flipped over to reveal the greyed-out “In Decline” side. Those left on the board will still gain you Victory Coins during scoring, but they are not Active and will typically die out quickly. It is always an emotional time when it becomes necessary to force your own Declined race off of the map to make room for your newly expanding Active race. After 10 turns of continuous rise and fall of supremacy, each player will total his Victory Coins to discover the ultimate winner—the dominator of Small World!
The main reason I like this game so much is that the Fantasy Races / Special Powers combinations are always so unique. They are randomized before the game, and each one is completely original and creative, allowing you to get sucked into the fictional atmosphere. The first time I played, I started out with the Ratmen race and the special power of Spiritry. My Ratmen had no benefit going for them other than their sheer number, and their Spirit ability allowed them to stay on the board after Decline no matter how many races I had on the board. At first I didn’t realize how useful this would be, but it ended up causing my many Ratmen to inhabit a majority of the board to start, and they remained scattered about for almost the entire game—a victory point gold mine! The combinations are different each time, be it Stout Orcs, Commando Elves, or even Flying Skeletons, so the game is always kept fresh and lively.
Some of the Special Power/Fantasy Race combination signature banners
Even though this game has a lot of rules and situations to consider, it is very simple once you get the hang of it. The time goes by quicker than you would expect as you mourn and celebrate the losses and successes of your races and attempt to hinder the other players’ expansions while augmenting your own. You learn quickly that it is most certainly a small world. The one catch is that no matter how many times you play the game, you will always have stuck in your head the little “Small World” Disney tune that has haunted your mind since you were a child. Say what you will, but that song is awfully catchy!
September is a nutritious snack, as well as a month to look forward to!
Hi everyone! GeekGirlCon ‘12 came to a close early August, and we on staff are rested and ready to get back out for some nerdy events in the Seattle area! Take a look!
Friday, August 31st – Sunday, September 2nd:SOLD OUT: PAX Prime Three-day gaming expo brought to you by the folks of Penny Arcade
Friday, August 31st – Saturday, September 1st:SOLD OUT: Whedonesque Burlesque From the event page: “Seattle’s finest geeky burlesque performers are daring to take inspiration from the Whedonverse: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Avengers, Firefly, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog, Dollhouse, Angel, and yes, maybe even Cabin in the Woods. It’s the summer of Joss and we’re baring ourselves in his honor! This shindig is a celebration of the evil genius that is Joss Whedon AND the fans who love him.”
Saturday, September 1stJonny Nero’s PAX Death Tour (Xbit) Chiptunes concert by X-bit, sponsored by PAX featuring: rainbowdragoneyes, A_rival, Electric Children, Orbital Strike, Turtlesaur, Abducted by Sharks, Jonny Nero Action Hero, Live Animals, G.Diffuser (On the El Corazon Lounge Stage)
Saturday, September 1st:Another Damn PAX Party! Nerdy music and burlesque featuring: MegaRan, Death*Star, Klopfenpop, Bill Beats, and The Glitter Vixens Burlesque (On the El Corazon Main Stage)
Saturday, September 1stDoctor Who Season Seven Premiere at 9 p.m. / 8 p.m. Central! (BBCAmerica) Episode description: “In the season opener, ‘Asylum of the Daleks,’ the Doctor is forced on an impossible mission after being kidnapped by his oldest foe – to a place even the Daleks are too terrified to enter…. the Asylum. A planetary prison confining the most terrifying and insane of their kind, the Doctor and the Ponds must find an escape route. But with Amy and Rory’s relationship in meltdown, and an army of mad Daleks closing in, it is up to the Doctor to save their lives, as well as the Pond’s marriage.”
Saturday, September 1st – Monday, September 3rd:Kumoricon 2012 Three day anime, manga, and Japanese culture convention located in Vancouver, WA. Kumoricon 2012 is the con’s 10th year.
Sunday, September 9th:Seattle Browncoats: Every 2nd and 4th Dominoes and Such From the event page: “What are we doing? Dominoes (or other games depending on the mood), chatting about anything sci-fi related, drinking (caffeinated or unleaded), and general silliness. We start around 10:30 a.m. or so and play until whenever (usually 2:00 p.m.), feel free to come early or late; punctuality isn’t important.”
Friday, September 21st – Sunday, September 23rd:Foolscap From the website: “Foolscap is a small weekend conference where readers, writers, visual artists, and other people who love science fiction and fantasy meet, learn, talk to each other, and have a great time together.”
Saturday, September 22nd:Jet City Comic Show From the website: “Jet City started in order to fill in the void for a quality one-day show for fans and dealers. A show that will be fun and entertaining for the fans, where they will have time to browse all the dealer tables or visit with their favorite creators.”
Sunday, September 23rd:Seattle Browncoats: Every 2nd and 4th Dominoes and Such From the event page: “What are we doing? Dominoes (or other games depending on the mood), chatting about anything sci-fi related, drinking (caffeinated or unleaded), and general silliness. We start around 10:30 a.m. or so and play until whenever (usually 2:00 p.m.), feel free to come early or late; punctuality isn’t important.”
Thursday, September 27th:Seattle Analytic Philosophy Club From the event page: “As this is a philosophy club, we will specifically focus on the moral issues related to equality of condition. The political debate over this issue has moral dimensions in addition to the usual practical ones, particularly as one side often casts the issue as one of fairness. But people of different political persuasions have different definitions of fairness. Is it more fair that those who do more get more, or that there is more equal distribution? Please see the forum post, What’s wrong with the 1%? – Equality and inequality, for a list of questions to consider before the meeting.”
Sunday, September 30th:Nectar Lounge Presents: Extremeties, Kirby Krackle, Death*Star, Soup or Villianz, Klopfenpop, MC 117, Shubzilla From the event page: “A huge lineup with touring act Extremities (Fresh Kils and Uncle Fester feat. Relic), out-of-towners Soup or Villainz, geek rock gods Kirby Krackle, producer and performer extraordinaire Klopfenpop, the Shakespeares of Nerdcore Death*Star, and newcomers MC 117 and Shubzilla! That’s right! 7 acts of hip hop and music on 1 night at one of Seattle’s best venues, Nectar Lounge!”
What are you excited to check out in September? Leave us a comment below!
If you have a geeky event you’d like to see on Geek About Town, please email Shubz Blalack at prcontent@geekgirlcon.com. Please keep in mind, that GeekGirlCon does reserve the right to post or not post events at our discretion and all events must be in alignment with our mission statement.
Hi everyone! Meet Anna Zola Miller, who serves on the Open Doors Committee of the Organization for Transformative Works. For those of you not familiar with Open Doors, they are an organization dedicated to preserving fanworks, especially those that run the risk of being lost. Check out some of their collections, which range from website to posters and fanfiction preservation. Anna was kind enough to answer a few questions about Open Doors and share what she’s currently geeking out about.
What has been the most rewarding part of the Open Doors Project?
Open Doors has given me a much better sense of the history and continuity of fandom. The online archives we’re importing to AO3 tend to be about ten years old, and of course fanzines have been around since the 1960’s. Media fandom has been around for going on half a century, now–it’s a well-established, coherent subculture, and at this point we have enough history that we need to take better care of it. Being involved with Open Doors has been a way for me to learn about that history and take an active part in preserving it.
What are some challenges that you have faced?
One of the major challenges in Open Doors is the tension between the philosophy of preservation and the culture of fandom. When we did our first automated archive import, there was a lot of controversy over whether we were moving fans’ work without permission, and whether that violated fan culture’s etiquette. As I see it, the preference some people have expressed for letting old archives disappear and old fanworks with them, rather than moving to the AO3, is a product of the shame and silence that surrounds fandom. I think we should assert our rights as fan creators to do and preserve what we see as culturally interesting and valuable transformative work, even as we attempt to protect people’s identity in situations where fandom can be a sensitive subject. A major part of that is ensuring that current fans are aware that they are not alone; they are part of a legitimate culture that has been around for a long time. And as a history geek, the thought of old fanworks disappearing makes me really sad.
Tell us about your favorite archived piece.
There’s a Starsky and Hutch fanzine that was archived in the Fan Culture Preservation Project a while ago, called Scales of Justice. I’ve never even seen Starsky and Hutch, but the zine is full of art and it’s so ridiculously gorgeous that I love it anyway. You can see some of the art on its Fanlore page.
What are you geeky about right now?
I’ve just started watching Battlestar Galactica so basically everything is robots. It’s an amazing show, and I already want to cosplay Starbuck. I’ve also been geeking out about all the Shakespeare in the Park that’s going on this summer. I’ve seen five different productions of Twelfth Night but the one Wooden O is doing currently is pretty near my favorite.
What was your favorite part about GeekGirlCon ‘12?
The con was excellent; the Jane Espenson panel was probably my favorite, but I also got a lot out of the Fans, Creators, and Social Justice panel. And Nerdlesque. And everything else. 😀
Check out Anna’s blog to read more about her experience at GeekGirlCon 2012!
Now reader, let’s hear from you! What’s your favorite kind of fanwork?
Hey again! Shubz here and I’m back live blogging at Geek Girls in Popular Culture in room 301/302 with Cecil Castelluci, Sarah Kuhn, Sarah Watson, Stephanie Thorpe, and moderator Javier Grillo-Marxuach!
Questions
Why do you think that level of interest in science and mathematical persuits are less desirable in female characters?
Cecil Castellucci (CC): That character is usually designated as a sidekick.
Sarah Kuhn (SK): Is this female protagonist a good role model?
Sarah Watson (SW): I don’t think geekiness and sexiness is separate.
Is the role-model trope restricting characterization? Stephanie Thorpe (ST): People don’t like feeling stupid in general. When someone comes across as smart, they may put on an air of condescending. We want women to be likeable, adorable, and cute. Smart tends to go with aloof a lot of the time.
Headless Heroine: Has all characteristics that can relate to a wide range of reader.
Nancy Drew as a headless heroine. Many authors have depicted her differently.
Are there any characters that you identify with? ST: I’m influenced by the X-Files. Dana Scully was that lightening bolt – she’s a skeptic, she’s intelligent, and her scientific background. I want to see more strong characters like her.
SW: I loved the Goonies, Martha Plimpton.
CC: I loved Daria!
Thoughts on editing geek girls ST: Depends. Sometimes they want more nerdy, sometimes they want less.
SW: I’m more of the middle man.
SK: Not a lot less nerdy notes [in scripts], but I did make notes like, “What does this mean?” Is it a reference?
CC: Made a love story about a Klingon and a Jedi. Writing a geeky character made it easy to have a demand for more geeky media and characters.
Lisabeth Salander ST: She is a strong female lead. She’s not necessarily someone I look up to or want to be like, but I enjoy spending time reading about her.
Star Trek Characters CC: It’s subjective. Uhura in classic Star Trek, not a nerd. Uhura in the recent film, language nerd.
Love stories with geek girls CC: Amidala falls apart when love is threatened.
SW: Hermione is intelligent and a fighter despite her obstacles.
Changing genders in iconic characters ST: (RE: Elementary’s Watson) If they’re doing it to add a romantic element, I’ll be disappointed.
SW: I’ve seen it and it’s fantastic. Lucy Liu brings a nurturing role to Watson.
SK: There’s a new interest piqued when you introduce new elements or changes.
CC: I’m excited!
Any socially unattractive female geek characters? SW: In TV, everyone’s really attractive. Books offer you to create what they would look like.
