Incurable Geek

I will be writing more frequently again soon - there are fangirls in my house at the moment!!

I just had to share these photos from my trip to Stockholm 2 weeks ago. My friend was taking me around Gamla Stan (the old quarter) when I spotted this store and just had to run in.

Yup, even in Swedish, I just can't resist comics!!!

I was also really impressed by another random sci-fi store's posession of a Don't Panic towel.

In conclusion; Stockholm - home of more geeky awesome than you might expect!

Defensible Locations in a Zombie Apocalypse

Admit it; you've all thought about it at least once. Maybe you haven't planned strategically, but the thought of what to do and where to go should humanity be overwhelmed by swarms of the undead has definitely occupied an idle hour or two.

Admittedly, I have been reading World War Z this week, so my paranoia is definitely at an elevated level, but one can never be too prepared. Luckily, I both live and work in environments where a discussion of how to fortify our current location or where to retreat to is considered perfectly valid and sparked some very interesting debate.

Thus, I have come up with my top 5 locations (some from personal experience, some from strategic evaluation) to hole up should the zombie apocalypse occur anytime soon.

5. Chateau Queribus, Languedoc, France

The main merits of this location lie in its strength as a short-term defensive position.

About 1.5 miles from the nearest main road, and with a hell of a trek to the top (I've done it!), Queribus could easily be reinforced and stocked for a reasonably prolonged standoff. Sheer cliffs on 3 sides - and a gravel path that could easily be blown on the 4th side - and virtually windowless, smooth walls mean that Queribus can withstand hoardes of your average Zs.

Unfortunately, once the smoke clears and the reality of settling in for the long term arises, then problems present themselves. While Queribus was undoubtedly designed to withstand siege, I imagine this was in terms of months, and not years. I don't recall seeing a well there, and what little soil there was (the terrain is very rocky) was not within the defensive perimeter and unlikely to be able to sustain a crop. On the bright side, it is a bit of a distance from the larger population centres, and is less likely to see large swarms of Zs.

4. Bunratty Castle, Co. Clare, Ireland

This 'castle' (actually a fortified house) has been completely restored and is ready to use, in case of attack! With windows starting 5 metres above the ground, no Z is going to be able to work out a way of getting in.

The castle also has a small courtyard attached, which is fully surrounded by a high wall and could potentially be adapted to produce food or house animals.

As it is a public attraction, the castle is already equipped with electricity - which would be good until the power stations went down - and is very well stocked with turf which would ensure plenty of roaring fires.

Big disadvantages to this location are its proximity to a big motorway - lots of Zs reanimating in their cars - and its position between two large population centres and near the Shannon Estuary and Airport; a likely congregation point for refugees and thus Zs. It is, however, near Limerick city - a massive source of gun crime and therefore plentiful available weapons.

3. Freemason's Hall, London

Freemason's Hall is a very eerie place to walk past. It is a massive building with windowless, blank external walls and no indication of what it is or why it is there.

It is the ideal location for a short-term standoff in London as it is very central, has a massive capacity and boasts two 1.25 tonne bronze Z-proof doors.

Having hardly any windows at all means that it would require little initial reinforcement. Its lack of long term usability is obvious - crowding, lack of supplies, being slap bag in the middle of a city with the potential for up to 7.5 million reanimated Zs.

However, if you're caught in London when the dead rise; this is where I'll be running and I'd advise you to follow!

Here is more detailed information, should you need it.

2. USS anything at all...

United States aircraft carriers are powered by nuclear reactors - the most recently built of which can go for up to 2 years without stopping to refuel.

With a capacity for up to 5,000 crew, these ships are equipped to look after a large volume of people for a prolonged amount of time.

Being at sea means only having to deal with the ocean hoardes - none of which will be able to scale the hull.

Blagging your way on to one could be a different issue though...

1. Carcassonne, France

This is it, my friends. The jewel in the crown. Z-free paradise.

With a double ring of ramparts enclosing an entire city (size relative to medieval standards), Carcassonne - while not restored to its original defensive glory - is perfectly equipped to shelter and sustain a considerable population through the worst of the zombie apocalypse.

Though currently a haven for tourists and thus adequately riddled with trinket shops, the Cité contains several hotels and a surprising number of residential dwellings. Many of the houses have adequate gardens and the city could be easily stocked from the surrounding areas.

The disadvantage would be the crowds of Zs from the ville basse - the modern area of Carcassonne - but I can testify to the fact that the cité is very well equipped with swords and other fantastic weaponry!

So folks, where should I be writing to you when the undead swarm across the earth??

The Particle Zoo

It's been a couple of weeks since I appreciated the hell out of some fine geeky craftsmanship, and no one is more deserving of it than The Particle Zoo!

Julie Peasley brings physics adorably to life with her cuddly, handmade collection of subatomic particles!

Having a self proclaimed lifelong interest in cosmology, Julie embarked on bringing her vision of these elusive subatomic building blocks to life after a visit to a craft fair turned her interest towards creating more physical art - an aside from her usual occupation of graphic design.

With a veritable rainbow of particles on offer - even the elusive Higgs Boson - and every creation lovingly rooted in accurate science (Julie even lists some of her advisors here), The Particle Zoo is my first stop when searching for the ideal geeky gift. Even the weights of the particles vary according to their properties!

Last Christmas I ordered the Up and Down Quarks and sent the Up to a friend of mine - to act as a sort of geeky friendship bracelet. They arrived with a lovely little hand signed note from Julie and a list of even more particles to tempt me!

As solo zookeeper, Julie makes everything herself, so larger orders do take time, but individual particles are ready quite quickly and it all has a wonderfully personal touch. We had a very amusing email conversation when I managed to fill in the wrong country for shipping (I had just moved! This is my defense!).

Each plushie comes with a sewn name tag and an attached cardboard label detailing its information and whether it is a light or heavy particle!

My Down Quark has a great big smile that I love waking up to each morning! I've got my eye on Strange and Charm next - I will eventually complete my Quark collection! Although owning the Universe is also quite tempting...

You can buy from The Particle Zoo online and Julie can be contacted here if you have any questions about a large order, whether London is actually in the UK or life in general!

Is it wrong that I used to add Earth, The Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy to all addresses when I was writing letters as a kid? :S

Really...?

Returning from hiatus with a rant is probably not the best calculated move in the history of blogging, but I've been forced to sell The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner for the past week so I forgive myself!

What, you ask, has finally caused me to snap?

Now the obvious Photoshop fail aside; this picture epitomises the problems I have with Twilight, and more specifically, with Twilight being handed to an entire generation of young women (those of you old enough to know better... well; you should know better :p).

He is restraining her arms - and that's supposed to be sexy. Or something. Every single poster for these films involves the character of Bella being held/restrained possessively by either Edward or Jacob in what I can only presume is supposed to be a romantic 'embrace'.

That this is handed to young girls as a role model is something that fundamentally disturbs me. I never got very far with the books - about 60 pages of Bella simpering and falling down was too much for me - and while the films are definitely hilariously entertaining, they consistently make me uncomfortable. They say to young women; you need to define yourself by your relationships with the men around you and wander around swooning after them until they tell you what to do.

I have no problem with perspectives other than my own, I have no problem with the portrayal of characters whose genuine desire in life is to have a family and children (although there are not enough alternatives in popular media), I do have a problem with the consistent portrayal of women as victims, idiots, pawns, posessions... surely, surely we are past this, as a society?

While they are not the sum total reason for my being who I am; I grew up with Scully, with Sam Carter, with Captain Janeway... women who knew how to smack a bitch/negotiate with some serious aliens and still had time for a tumultuous love life on the side. Smart, independent, free-thinking women.

Without intending to sound totally condescending, I am incredibly sad for a generation of women that grow up with Bella as their primary representation in popular culture.

Who were your heroines when you were growing up? Does Twilight enrage you or bring out your inner fangirl squee?

Indie Comic Reviews #1

In addition to buying as many independent comics as I could afford/get my hands on, I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of very talented comic book artists at MCM Expo on Saturday; some of whom I even had the chance to chat to at length.

Howard Hardiman was one of them. While we did talk about everything from pterodactyls to Sign Like a Pirate Day (a man with many strings to his bow; let me tell you), the name of Howard's website, Cute but Sad actually best sums up his work.

The simply titled badger tells "the sad tale of a lonely badger living in a flat in South London, watched quietly by Howard" and does so in beautiful black and white drawings.

Entirely wordless panels (in a style reminiscent of Shaun Tan, who I can never rave about quite enough) play out the story of badger's everyday life, but, while wonderfully drawn, it is far from cutesy.

Badger doesn't play in the park with his woodland friends, nor does he smoke a pipe and do the Times crossword... this is a comic book about the stark reality of just how easy it is to be lonely, even in a city full of people.

Howard's other work covers a range of social and personal issues, and it's so exciting to see someone exploring these in such an interesting format. I am looking forward to seeing more of his work, especially the pterodactyl he promised ;)

badger and Howard's other comics are available here and you can catch up with him over at his Tumblr.

I didn't have the opportunity to talk to the The Zombies Ate My Chilean guys at all, as their stall was (justifiably) busy. The guys (one of whom I'm pretty sure was Alex Macieira; who does the pencil, inks and story - the other signature I can't quite decipher sadly) did very kindly sign it for me though, and I also scored an "I [anatomically correct heart picture] zombies" badge which I was very pleased with.

I needed no convincing to buy The Zombies Ate My Chilean but it was definitely worthwhile. A group of friends wake up in London after a rough night out and are puzzled to find that instead of one or two missing moments, none of them have any idea what happened the night before. Things get more confusing as they realise that two of the guys aren't answering their phones. Then comes a phonecall; "They keep walking past my window.."

It's very much a guy romp, but an enjoyable one with a very promising start. The artwork is really brilliant and I can't wait to get my hands on some more. It does seem that these guys have been a bit slack on getting an online presence established; their Myspace promises the eventual existence of an official website and does say that the comics are on sale at Orbital.. I'll give Orbital a try and, if not, see if I can get in touch with the guys and find out whether they do any kind of overseas shipping at all. YOU ALL NEED THIS COMIC.

Despite a fairly strong cover, Geek-Girl didn't impress me all that much at the stall; but I had to give it a fair chance, given its name.

It feels almost sinful to say so; but I found this too girly. Or at least, too self-consciously so. It reads a bit more like a male fantasy... It starts out with two guys discussing an invention that one has come up with in a bid to win the affection of a girl he likes; glasses with a 'superpower chip' built into them.

Girls at the next table overhear them and for reasons unknown blatantly obvious their ploy to get the glasses involves making out with each other to somehow make the guys do their bidding... *cue extreme eyeroll*

After a tasteless sex joke, we learn that instead of uber awesome, the glasses make Ruby uber clutzy. A shocking revelation; made even more horrifying when *gasp* several of her friends' outfits are stained when she spills drinks on them.

I'm not gonna lie folks; this is compelling stuff.

I know I've been harsh, so in the name of fairness here is the website if you'd like to know more or give it a try. I wanted to like it; really I did.

More reviews comings soon; don't forget to check out some of these amazing artists!

An Overactive Imagination?

I am constantly seeing fandom references in inappropriate places. In fact, just about everywhere.

Sometimes I'll see a shop sign or a car registration plate that triggers my geek and makes me smile to myself... it's been happening an awful lot more since I moved to London; purely on merit of there being a greater number of shops and everything not being called Paddy's [insert function of establishment here] (I may be exaggerating slightly...).

These are just a few references I scooped together from memory.

Starbucks is a little hilariously obvious, I will grant you, but I hadn't seen it often enough before I moved here to prevent it reminding me of BSG.

The internet provided this one, so I'm afraid I have no idea where it is, but I would definitely eat anything prepared by the president of the Twelve Colonies! Even if she is associated with The Evil League of Evil Coca Cola apparently.

This is a chain of stores in the UK that sells outdoor equipment and both the name and the appropriateness of that make me squee every time. I genuinely don't know whether it's a family name of some kind or whether thse guys are the most awesome company in the world...

This isn't actually out of context, as it's a gaming shop, but it's still awesome. On Earlham Street in Covent Garden.

Not sure if this is just a UK product but it gets me every time!

REALLLLY obscure character reference to George R.R Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series...

Legendary in the X-Files fandom, this apparently occured in Ottawa, Canada when someone got bored with naming things 5th Street etc... (Sarah, I've stolen your photo; thank you!)

So! What's in your area that has a geeky name/reference? Or anywhere that you've seen???