Geek with Family

The Hellboy Animated production crew keeps a blog. I’m pretty geeked to see this thing. The blog posts the latest character designs, concepts and background art for the series of 75 minute movies. The first movie is finished or close to it and the team has already begun the second feature. The outlook is hopeful for these direct to DVD movies to capture Mike Mignola’s vision better than the Hellboy live action movie or the animated, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, from Disney’s catalog.

Continue reading Hellboy Animated Movies Production Blog

Popularity: 16% [?]

My Music Hall MMF-5’s setup is lacking after professionals in an audio specialty shop set it up and I set it up again using the HiFi News Test LP. Though this is a modest deck, I don’t feel I am getting the most out of the records I play. Luckily, in June Stereophile Magazine’s Michael Fremer will be releasing his 3 hour long Turntable Setup DVD.

Music Direct says:

How does Michael Fremer (Stereophile Contributing Editor and Analog Guru) start off his new turntable set-up DVD? With over 10 minutes of comedy, of course! But the coolest part of this three hour DVD is that it is filled with insight and expertise to help anyone get the most from their turntable! It’s a practical guide, no math and no complex geometric formulas. He goes through all the basic parameters on a Pro-Ject RM-5, a Rega P5 and a VPI Scoutmaster. There will be cool animation to highlight certain points and the most important part: he makes all this fun and easy, in a way only Mr. Fremer can! This is a project that will alleviate everyone’s fears regarding turntable set-up. That was his number one goal: To make everyone feel at ease attempting turntable set-up and optimization. This is a DVD that every analog lover will want on their shelves. Get a copy for yourself and one for your analog lovin’ friends! Turntable set-up has never been this much fun!

Joy, preorder pending.

Popularity: 4% [?]

As a lifelong geek, I’ve never had much desire to exercise. As a kid I was always as skinny and weak as Neon Genesis Envangelion’s Shinji. My adult life, or at least the last ten years, I’ve struggled with weight loss. With the birth of Toddler_o_Geek (then Newborn_o_Geek), I stopped dieting and trying to exercise and really gained a lot of weight in a short amount of time. With weight related health problems looming, I must exercise for at least an half hour a day, doctor’s orders. After a few weeks of using a boring peddling machine while watching Invader Zim, R.O.D. OVA, or Blood+ at 5:30 AM, I ordered Red Octane’s DDR clone bundle, In the Groove, plus 2 Ignition 3.0 Dance Pads (one for me and one for Wife_o_Geek or Toddler_o_Geek, though she prefers a bamboo inlayed serving tray we keep on the ottoman, it’s more to her scale). I had to wait a few weeks for the bundle to show up (backordered), and then another week for the second dance pad. Now I could join all those obese elementary school kids I keep hearing about, and dance away from diabetes and heart disease.

Continue reading Red Octane’s In the Groove and Ignition 3.0 Dance Pads Weight Loss Plan Review

Popularity: 17% [?]

Warren Ellis finally gets to have some fun at Marvel Comics with his new Next Wave. I just picked up the third issue and the "Director’s Cut" of the first issue (I’m not a completist, I just missed the first printing, getting in on the second issue). Next Wave is a pirate super-hero team of real, forgotten Marvel characters (Captain Marvel, Boom Boom, Bloodstone and Machine Man (I have loved Machine Man ever since he crushed coal into diamonds in his purple robot hands 20-some years ago)) and a new parody character (the Captain or he could be too obscure for me or a combination of different Marvel Captains). The team used to work for H.A.T.E., but Boom Boom stole their parent corporation’s (Beyond Corp.) marketing plan and the team had to go rogue to save the world from H.A.T.E.’s Unusual Weapons of Mass Destruction (UWMDS). It’s all in the marketing plan, you should read it, an eye-opener.

Continue reading Warren Ellis’ Next Wave for Marvel Comics Kicks

Popularity: 10% [?]