My colleague Jim is a fount of fascinating stories, often having to do with projects he and his friends have undertaken. My latest favorite, The Year of the Blog.
My name is Dru Johnston, and I write unsustainable blogs.
Starting April 12th, 2009 I will be creating a new blog everyday for a year. At the end of that, if I don’t…
I woke up this morning to a disconcerting tweet. A musician I follow announced that his song was listed among the top ten geek anthems of all time. I remembered the message from over a month ago, when I’d written the top ten list on Popten and he’d expressed his gratitude. But this time, the link led to CNN.
The next click made my jaw drop…
Maybe it’s my many years as a teacher tugging on my heartstrings here, but it’s jaw-dropping to see what Mr.B’s kids choir has accomplished. This Staten Island public school choir teacher has had his kids perform with Common, Tori Amos, Crowded House and a slew of other celebrities. They’ve been on the Today Show, MTV a bunch of times, CNN.…
With Valentine’s Day around the corner and twenty inches of stagnant snow still waiting for you outside your front door, you might be making this year’s consumer-condoned love fest a Blockbuster night. (Block-who?) The fine people at Complex meant well making this list, and while its mostly digestible, there are a few atrocities going in inside it. (Harry Met Sally…
It’s a lovely thing to have talented friends. Case in point, Popten’s own Jamie Antonisse, who just won an Independent Games Festival’s Student Showcase (which, my less nerdy bretheren, is a big deal) for his game Spectre. (Art by fellow Poptenizen Chris Baily!)
Good news! The game, which keeps getting praise heaped on it, can be played right this second- go…
The geek have officially inherited the Earth, as was prophesied in Psalms 37:7 (more or less) so many bearded men ago. It’s a fairly recent thing, having happened somewhere between Google’s ascent to ubiquity, the second installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the eyebrow-raising popularity of Weird Al’s White & Nerdy. And since history is told by the…
An article I wrote on Avatar was published on Psychology Today’s Geek Pride blog. Check it out here. I copied the beginning below.
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Well, he did it. And I doubt many of us are surprised.
James Cameron’s Avatar finally surpassed his last movie, Titanic, as the world’s all-time top grossing film. Meanwhile, videos exploring the sexual possibilities of neuron-tendrilled Na’vi ponytails are sprouting…
My final project in high school computer class was programming the Death Star Trench Run in BASIC. Still, I’ve got nothing on these New Zealanders.
I can only hope the Lord of the Rings Trilogy is up next on their plate. That’ll keep ‘em nice and busy until 2015.
Nice to finally round out my Top Three New Zealand Products.
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The word of the decade is “Google” and the word of 2009 is “tweet” – so says the American Dialect Society. Not too surprising- though I winced at ‘tweet’- lordy do I despise that word. However, some of their category winners (‘Fail’ as Most Useful) are pretty brilliant. The winners are below, and to check out all things dialect in…
Popten compadre Ethan Gilsdorf wrote a fantastic book detailing his global travels through geekdom (see Juan’s glowing review, below). He just emailed me with an easy way to nab it, autographed, for free! Thought I’d pass it along…
Author Ethan Gilsdorf, Globe Pequot Press and Froobi.com have teamed up to offer a special opportunity to win one of 10 free autographed…
Matt Ellsworth and I met while making Second Skin, a documentary I directed on virtual worlds. He’s one of the boys from Indiana who loves to game. Our conversations over the years have led to a few things, one of them was finding a common love for Johnnie Walker Black Label, and the second was a penchant for postulating about…
The geek have officially inherited the Earth, as was prophesied in Psalms 37:7 (more or less) so many bearded men ago. It’s a fairly recent thing, having happened somewhere between Google’s ascent to ubiquity, the second installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the eyebrow-raising popularity of Weird Al’s White & Nerdy. And since history is told by the…
How much does James Cameron ride George Lucas’ dick? Only enough to base an entire movie, Avatar, on the final battle sequence from the last good film in the Star Wars franchise, Return of the Jedi. Each film has its ragtag band of native creatures, each film pits basic bush weaponry against mechanized slaughter machines, each film has exploding trees.…
Come with me, friends, to another time. Let’s say 1998ish. Ross and Rachel rule the airwaves, ER is hailed as the Best Drama Evar. As the sun sets on Seinfeld, critics mourn its passing, proclaiming that we’re not likely to see a show of its brilliance ever again.
I watched an episode of Seinfeld yesterday. It’s still funny, despite the canned…
I sincerely hope I made every attempt to be fair and honest and if I left off a film you love, please know that it was not with malice and there are only ten spots. I even split them into two genres because taking any of these off the list kind of made my heart hurt. Also, feel free to…