Thank you all so much for the support on our last video! Since July's unboxing was so popular, we'll continue to do unboxing videos and will also be adding more video content about gear. Check out Loot Crate, and be sure to like the video and leave comments if you would like to see similar content in the future.
By Scott Welcome back kids. I don't have as much to share since I'm trying to climb my way out of this digital video hole, but it seems I didn't do such a good job since I'm right back here this week sharing new discoveries with you. Here's what I've got for all of your procrastination needs:
1. “Honest Trailers - Captain America: The Winter Soldier” – Honest trailers just released their latest YouTube video two days ago, and this one made them work a little harder. When you're tackling a good movie, sometimes you've got to resort to (very relevant) nitpicking. Seriously, how did Stark miss all of the Hydra files when he hacked Shield? Falcon Punch!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvHyk2ESFCI 2. “How to Survive An Awful Work Party at Your Boss's House-GQ's Gentleman Lobsters” – You should honestly be sold by “Gentleman Lobsters.” I have no idea how GQ came up with these two, but they are the pinnacle of hipster chic anthropomorphic characters. And don't worry there are 7 more episodes where this came from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icpW_pOIXPo 3. “How Batman Begins Should Have Ended” – In the same vein as the guys from Honest Trailers, How It Should Have Ended provides hilarious videos redoing a lot of popular movie endings in a way that often makes more sense. I'm just glad that they acknowledge how crazy it is for Katie Holmes to turn into Maggie Gyllenhaal between Nolan's first two Batman movies. Batman's a detective; I think he should have noticed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeCDTYszuho 4. “How X-Men: First Class Should Have Ended” – Yup, I'm posting two of them. It really made no sense how they had a lengthy conversation as Charles lay in the sand with a bullet in his back. Best quote: “Oh lord! The Devil is dropping off people in the E.R.!”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-5tMPInetg Well, that's what I've got this week. Be careful with those “How It Should Have Ended” videos; if you dig them, and you start watching all of the other ones they've made, you'll be lost for hours. So definitely do that if your job is boring. by Johnny Yar! If you want to be a pirate then check out our tabletop part of the update. If you're wondering why I only did one pirate themed word or just like to collect hardcover editions of online graphic novels then read our comics section! Avast!... no wait keep reading. yar? Comics Mega Fauna Digital Pledge - 5 CAD, Physical Pledge - 35 CAD Mega Fauna is an anthology of comics about wild animals, pets, and monsters for readers of all ages. The comics come from the Cloudscape Comics Society and will be bundled into a full-colour book over 200 pages long covering 25 stories. You can view some preview pages at the Kickstarter campaign. Murder & Midnight: Book 1 Physical Pledge - $29 I have a thing for black and red... and when done in a beautiful hardcover... ooh it becomes hard to resist! But personal preferences aside... Murder & Midnight can be read online at murdermidnight.com. You will find a unique art style, or one I have not seen used in online graphic novels much, and a story about a man with his crow and raven searching for a fresh start while ancient magic and secrets lead him towards a darker destiny. This project is for the hardcover edition of book one. The Wormworld Saga: Volume 1 Digital Pledge - $1, Physical Pledge - $25 You can find the original graphic novel at wormworldsaga.com. This project is to fund the English edition of the hardcover book which already has a German and French edition. If you've heard of The Wormworld Saga then this could be a great addition to your collection, otherwise I encourage you to read the online edition to see if a hardcover version is in your future. Tabletop Dead Men Tell No Tales Print and Play Pledge - $5, Physical Pledge - $39 2 - 5 players, ages 13+, ~75 minute play time A cooperative, pirate-themed board game where your goal is to collect the hidden or guarded treasure on a burning ship and make it out alive. This game brings some neat aspects to the table including being able to transfer your action points to the next player, building up the ship itself as you explore, and chain reactions to destroy various parts of the ship. If you've played Forbidden Island, Pandemic or Flashpoint: Fire Rescue, you will find similar mechanics here. The Pirate Deck Print and Play Pledge - free, Physical Pledge - $12 2- 4 players, ages 6+, 10 - 30 minute play time Continuing our pirate-themed tabletop update, we have a quick, kid-friendly game where you are also trying to steal treasure from a ship. In this case, the ship is not burning and you are not playing cooperatively. The ship is formed from a base set of cards and you play cards from your hand over this set to form treasure coins (half of a coin exists on the sides of cards) which you can collect for points. Some cards allow you to perform other actions such as removing cards already played. Overall this looks like a game that can be enjoyed by all ages, and it's always refreshing to see younger age groups targeted for tabletop! Summoner's Grimoire
Print and Play Pledge - $10, Physical Pledge - $40 This game offers two game-modes: Basic can be played fairly quickly with players trying to move to the opposite temple while also banishing other players by landing on their avatar. This reminds me of Sorry! and may not be everyone's cup of tea. The Advanced mode offers a bit more strategy with player cards and combat dice rolls when trying to banish another player. You also get "Patrons" or player powers for these combat scenarios. The 2014 Geekie Awards. What can I say that wasn’t said (more graphically) in the Twitch chat? The award show aired live last night at 9 p.m. (EDT) / 6 p.m. (PDT) in Los Angeles and on Twitch.tv. Even though it is in its sophomore year, the show featured microphone issues, awkward transitions, and a questionably drunk Grant Imahara. It was my hope today to write about the amazing work displayed on the show by the nominees and about the excitement of a growing geek community; however, the Geekie Awards showed the dark side of growing corporate treatment of geek culture.
Before I break down some of the issues, I want to focus on the bright spots of the Geekie Awards. If the show is able to make it to a third year, the genuine moments are the ones to strive for. Gale Anne Hurd’s speech for the Lifetime Achievement Award highlighted the economic and cultural impact that geeks and nerds have on the world right now. Hurd quoted Wikipedia (yep) and other resources that cite the billions of dollars geeks wield in the marketplace as well as our unique ability to adapt to the way in which society is rapidly changing due to and evolving with technology. It is our strengths that will allow us to inherit the world and build it in our image, one that is hopefully more accepting, more creative, and plain old more fun. Another bright spot involved presenting the Geek of the Year Award to LeVar Burton. We’ve already sung his praises after the Reading Rainbow Kickstarter became one of the most successful grassroots funding campaigns ever, and yet there will never be too many accolades that can be heaped on LeVar. He led the crowd in singing part of the Reading Rainbow theme song. This guest and a few others lent the show its only shreds of credibility. Then LeVar had to accept a Gibson guitar, one of the first of many reminders throughout the rest of the night how much this show was bought and paid for. If you visit the Geekie Awards website (http://www.thegeekieawards.com/) and scroll to the bottom, you’ll see a list of sponsors a mile long. Some are legitimate geek interests: Stan Lee’s Pow! Entertainment, Dark Horse Comics, and WowWee of Robosapien fame, among others. Yet there is an even longer list including Gibson, Pizza Hut, and Mountain Dew that bored us with their commercial breaks. Honestly, I don’t care about corporate sponsors. They are a necessary evil to get many neat things sponsored, and geeks do consume massive amounts of junk food. One of the many issues of the show was the way in which the writers and producers of the Geekies let the messages of the sponsors overshadow the other themes of the evening—celebration, inclusiveness, geekiness. In the pre-show commentary, one of the writers of the show admitted that last year they had problems balancing the comedy and the heartfelt moments in the script. I don’t know what they did to try to improve because it felt like they were desperate to make jokes, especially at the end as the ship was rapidly sinking. If the show was truly about showcasing independent creators, filmmakers, artists, and more, then heartfelt moments and actual descriptions and videos would have been more effective than stale jokes and presenters who could also have second lives as porn stars. I would love to see the Geekies improve and become a fun way to introduce indie artists to broader audiences. But with writing and producing of such poor quality, it may never have the chance to redeem itself. |