What a weird turn of events mr bond! how cool would that be james bond reading blogs? and not only that but my blog? agh to dream but thats why I am a geek! Sky Tyne and Wear acknowledge this and were kind enough to do a feature about Geek Apocalypse which is frigging awesome!
I have a few people to thank in regards to it happening and also to mention that I have been ill for the last week, hence why I sound like I belong in the Godfather in the video and on the last podcast. So apologies for that and looking like i needed to cough because….well I needed to cough! Huge thanks need to go to Mike for agreeing to let us use the Travelling Man shop and Jenni from sky tyne and wear who was patient in getting what he needed of me and the guys! I really want to thank Robbie Lee Hurst and Mike Mcconnell for agreeing to turn up and help me with the feature, I really appreciate it! Coincidently, the next podcast will feature Robbie and Mike which we will be recording on Tuesday the 30th june! what are the chances! 🙂
so heres where you can find the video hope you enjoy and thankyou for the support! 🙂
It wont be surprising for anyone to learn that regularly Geek Apocalypse contributors and I have many an argument as to who is the best superhero. To us Geek it’s a bit like which is better, chocolate or double chocolate? sex or lots of sex? its still awesome! But its an interestig debate none the less. What needs to be known is rather like what CM Punk said on the Nerdist Podcast, I never liked superman, because I never believed he wouldn’t make mistakes. As in somebody annoyed him and he burned them to a crisp because he got angry….I mean who hasn’t done that before?? Exactly!
I think one of the reasons for example the batman franchise has been successful in comparision is you get to see batman’s other identity Bruce Wayne suffer in staying Batman. He makes mistakes just like we do. I don’t think that was every really explored in the earlier superman films. It was the Wham Bam Thankyou Superman approach to superheroes in that everyone loved him as long as he was flying around saving the day. Thats why I highly recommend you watch the smallville tv series if you want to see that side of superman over a long period of time, as thats the best superman product thats been made in the last 15 years.
Before I get into reviewing Man of Steel, I want to underline that in order to combat that, I thought they made some very good choices in fixing this particular franchise. Now I know that they will be someone somewhere not happy with the fact that Christopher Nolan produced and wrote some of Man of Steel, and those people are known in the regular world as idiots. Seriously, If you were in that position of trying to resurrect a struggling franchise, wouldn’t you want someone that knows what they are doing and cares about the product? That’s why I never understood the problem with J J Abrams taking over Star Wars and Star Trek. He isn’t going to be doing both at the same time because just like the hobbit and lord of the rings they take forever to make and come out, and if theres a longer wait for things wouldn’t it be better to wait for it to be good then for it to come out earlier and be shit? I also think they made another couple of great choices in Man of Steel, using David S Goyer is one of them! Being a huge fan of blade (ok the first 2, never liked the third one) I was pleased to see Goyer invoved as it made sense being that he co wrote dark knight and dark knight rises with Nolan (christopher not the sisters). He also wrote the brilliant crow 2….yeah I dont remember either ,but just like superman, everyone makes mistakes!
I also think they made a great choice in picking Zack Snyder as Director. For those that Don’t know he directed 300 and also one of the best graphic novel adaptation in watchmen which I thought was genuinely brilliant. So they were sensible, reliable choices. Actually, no that I think about it, they made sure this wasn’t going to fail, as if you look at the all star cast, they really wanted people to know they were trying. But in a sense, Hollywood failing is a good thing as it makes them realise that they can’t just bish bash bosh things together and expect it to all work out. Because as we all know, that never ever happens……(insert film from millions of choices)
So to the film (finally! Also small spoilers from here on in). Based on what I said earlier I thought it was great that they essentially started again with Superman. I think with technology in motion pictures being as great as it is now its great to see Kryton in all its glory and see how superman ended up at earth in decent detail. To give you an example of how much back story they go into , superman doesn’t fly for over an hour into the film? Because they show you the struggles he goes through as a child trying to fit into a planet that he is not from. I always say in regards to Superhero films, you have to make people feel its believable than just letting them see its believable, as in feeling an emotional connection aka a reason to care about whats happening in the first place. And I generally think that they achieved this, It definitely worked on me anyway as I felt I should be rooting for him . I think in a lot of these films (I think ironman 3 made this exact mistake) they are so afraid of the serious scenes, not realising in reality that its the crux of the films. In this I think they got it exactly right.
As i said earlier they made some really good acting choices. I thought Russell Crowe did a good job as Jor-el and I cant lie in saying I was worried he wouldn’t be good in a film such as this. Diane lane is one of my favourite actress (she should of won an oscar for unfaithful- there I’ve said it) and she does a great job as superman adopted mother. Kevin Costner also adds emotional punch to the film and is kind of the moral voice in the whole of the film being superman’s adopted father. I also thought Michael Shannon played an excellent villain as General Zod and Henry Cavill was a suprisingly good superman as he looked vulnerable yet you wanted him to be with in a bar fight. What I love is that the brits are slowly taking over the film industry, being that Caville, Garfield (spiderman) and bale (batman) are in three of some of the most well known franchises around. And we have james bond and doctor who! We are getting there america!
So whats my final verdict? think I might have a sandwich for dinner…but in regards to the film, I really thought it was great. If you want to see action with super special effects then go and see fast and the furious, but in regards to the latest superhero films that I’ve seen, I generally think this is one of the best. Its no surprise either that some of the best films made in this genre in recent years have involved christopher nolan, which you can see his input in Man of Steel that makes this the success that this film is. I love that when the action comes along in this film, your ready for it, cos they let you wait in an entertaining clever and entertaining way that makes the film believable and emotional.
easily 9 out of 10, maybe I do like superman now!
here is the video version of my review from our youtube channel!
I swear this is true that it pains me to say that I have never played D & D before. My excuse has to be based on the idea that at 25 years old that I just haven’t been exposed to the game. having sad that, in terms of actually roleplaying (and no unfortunately not THAT kind of roleplaying) I did play World of Warcraft roleplaying my character which I enjoyed for a few years. Looking back though, I think that’s all I liked, spending majority of my time helping organising a guild aka spending more time stressed than enjoying playing….hmmm where have I heard that before?
In terms of RPG specific games I recently broke that long awaited wait by playing Dragon Age RPG with a bunch of new friends I met by playing tabletop games with my board game club, which kind of shows why game clubs are great. After taking a while to get used to the process (I am a huge fan of dragon age so I was cool with that) the last session we did on tuesday I really enjoyed! I love the idea that our GM Andrew Barnettand any GM’s role is to create a story that captures the imagination and feeling that the players participating help create through their actions and decisions. Its so much fun using your imagination and it encourages you to get involved. Dont get me wrong, sometimes I have days like anyone where the last thing I want to do is play games with other people. I love the gaming industry and Im currently enjoying the pants of xcom, but what makes tabletop games so much more enjoyable is even if you have as bad dice rolls as I do, you still laugh and joke with the players around you! Even when you play these games online like we do, It is great, and in terms of being good for the soul, I always encourage people to open their minds and these games really do let you do that, minus the stress!
The great thing about tabletop games is that regardless of what your playing is just is important that your playing! As I said, without being part of a gaming club community I never would have got the opportunity to play my first ever RPG game. Regardless of the fact that my rogue cant seem to hit shit with his bow, and I’m not always participating, I really do enjoy the comradery and allowing people to express themselves. I’m so my experience has been so enjoyable!
Its funny, before writing this I was watching E3 videos in preparation for our Geek Apocalypse podcast tonight about E3 and I felt very sad. It suddenly dawned on me that the reason i felt this way because E3 really never feels like your part of it, especially if you watched the Microsoft conference, I’d be surprised if you felt like a gamer any more. That what I love about role-playing games, tabletop games, it carries the right attitude in that you have to make friends or you literally can’t play the game! So I actively encourage you to join us if you local in playing games, or find your nearest gameshop and have a go, or buy a game and invite your friends round! you really wont regret it! 🙂
if your interested I went to uk expo board game convention and did two podcasts there! I also did a podcast with the brilliant matt leacock last week who makes award winning games pandemic, forbidden island and roll through the ages! pretty awesome! you can find the podcast on itunes and  www.geekapocalypse.com/shows !
We also do a board game review show on youtube! here is the latest episode!
I know there will some people who will read this and quite rightly question my sincerity, but I really am so unbelievably shocked at the amount of great guests I’ve had on the show since I started Geek Apocalypse! And this week is no exception as we have the fabulous Matt Leacock on the show! He genuinely has designed some of my favourite games, pandemic is one of my favourite games of all time and the fact that he does primarily co-op games makes me very happy! imagine playing an awesome game where the object is to beat the board as opposed to beating each other? so I can definately regard this as a ticky box moment, which ironically is a name I used to dance under….
In order to be able to record the podcast I had to get up on 6am with the time difference and Matt’s availability the reason why. So I decided to work on my web series script while I waited rather than doing the sensible thing of sleeping beforehand (told you I’m not clever). I highly recommend not doing that and trying to sleep at 7.30 am, body clock still hasn’t reset properly as I’m writing this! but as i said on the podcast it wasn’t a burden at all, I got the chance to talk to some of my favourite designers, by simply asking him via email! Sometimes the simplest thing to do is ask and not over think it! Also his games have been featured on the web series show tabletop with wil wheaton! if you dont believe me he is last episode 2 weeks ago!
so please do check out the podcast if you havent already at www.geekapocalypse.com/shows and on itunes a few hours after this post! during the podcast we meantioned that his daughter had made him a looking for players flag, well here is a picture of what he showed me on video call!
Remember the blog I wrote a while ago about being in a music video? thankyou one person! well, tis offically been released! I am in the first minute or so, but dont let that put you off! I shall be at the official offical launch this saturday (15/6/13) where ill be talking to anna and her band plus the support acts which will be awesome! but as I said I said when I wrote my blog about working on this video, I had a blast working on it, was only one day but I hope peeps like it! support them as much as you can!
Ι am aware I haven’t wrote anything in a while and it has been bothering me, because in totally honesty, I really enjoy writing this blog. every since I have written stuff down from around 14 years old, it is very much therapy for me. And those that know me know I very much need as much therapy as I can get! which does sound funny but is also very much true! I am just always hopeful that its fun crazy more than any other type of crazy. Ill pause now as any friend reading this politely nods….
by the way I’ve had a blog in my drafts folder for a while now, where I have wrote about that very subject, and for various reasons I have never been able to press the publish button, mainly because it needs work and I don’t feel its the right time to dedicate my time telling my story on that.Maybe its the feeling of if I go ill go all the way kind of feeling.  But one day I definitely will, especially with the importance of talking about mental health being reminded with Stephen fry admitting his struggles recently. It will always be important to talk about it because my immediate reaction to Stephens admission  is that I hope one day mental health wont be debated, but understood. And if i can help that happen by even one person knowing my side of that then it will be worth doing, just like my mam talking about her parkinson illness, the more people that know the better everyone can understand the condition. but like i say, one day ill talk about it fully from my point of view,
but the truth is in regards to my blog inactivity, is that I have been ridiculously busy after uk expo. not only did I do two blogs during the weekend and then have to edit two podcasts, but Most of my recent time has been spent writing a web series. My basic and rather tragic failings after uni was I tried to get into the BBC as a producer and got very close to doing so. now one of the things they ask you to do is write a pilot, so I wrote a show called looking forward to failure! now ever since I wrote it, it has been on my old computer that i originally thought Id lost the data for . but, I came up with the genius solution (ok my cousin did, but he isn’t here to take the credit!) to buy the casing for a external hard drive so i could reuse my old hard drive. So through the wonder of magic commonly known as technology, hey presto! I could get my data of it and there it was, my old series pilot! Â So, after willing myself to think it wont suck balls, I decided to read it, and yeah it needed work ,but it got me feeling passionate about writing again. And some of it made me laugh which I very rarely do in regards to my own material. So I decided there and then to commit my spare time to write this and see if i could make it a web series!
its funny, I really don’t believe in coincidences or that the stars align and all the pieces fall right into place,(I’m a scorpio that ain’t gonna happen-joke) but I know things can influence me. coupled with the good fortune of finding the script I have been watching so many web series, that it made me realise that something like this can be possible if I put my mind to it. It’s really weird though, cos like I said right at the beginning of this blog I really struggle with having to be over confident in making something happen but with business and creative pursuits you kinda have to be. With a web series you kind have to have the mindset that it will be made then it will be successful in order to have the motivation to make it happen in the first place. Or at least I have to, which makes me sad because all i really want to do is to see it made but anyone that writes something that says that  they don’t care if its not successful are simply not telling the truth. Â
Ultimately, I think if i don’t dedicate all my time to it ill slack of and then lose the desire to complete it ,and to be honest, I do that far too often that I might never complete any idea ever! so other than my regular schedule of podcasting and freelance work, I’m trying desperately to get the script ready by finishing the final episode of the first season so I can then try and  get it to the next stage! then theres figure out the kickstarter project so if anyone says to me in the next few days, Steven you dont work hard, you may not see them again!
because the things that are worth working hard for, are the reason they are hard in the first place!
i did an interview where i talked about Geek apocalypse in detail! if your interested here it it is!Â
land of the geeks 