Talk Nerdy to Me - Episode 1 | Alaska Commons

Written by: James Shewmake on November 8, 2012

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Welcome to the first edition of Talk Nerdy to Me, Alaska Commons? new home for all things nerd culture related. Here you will find insights into webcomics, books, movies, nerd gear, news and more!

Comics

In starting things off, I have a confession to make. I am addicted to webcomics, and have been for quite some time. At last count I was following over 60 comics in my RSS feed, about 40 of which update semi-regularly or regularly.

I first broke my webcomic cherry about 10 years ago, with a comic that is still one of my favorites; Something Positive ?by Randy Milholland. I love Something Positive because it?s honest, irreverent, occasionally NSFW, and it always makes me chuckle.

The characters of S*P are a motley and down to earth crew. The lead character is Davan, a self deprecating guy with an incredibly cynical world view and sarcastic sense of humor. For those who can see past the thick layers he is a steadfast friend. He currently lives in Texas with his hairless amorphous (seemingly indestructible) cat Choo Choo Bear, his long time best friend PeeJee and his snarky aging father who is in the early stages of Alzheimer?s. There?s quite an extensive supporting cast, with story lines bouncing back and forth between Boston, Texas, Los Angeles, and various other locales.

Randy does an excellent job of blending everyday life with extraordinary adventures while including the occasional clever crossover.

But I will warn you, this comic is not for the easily offended, and Randy doesn?t really care about hate mail. So if you like snark, sarcasm, cynicism all rolled in with some witty social commentary, I highly recommend picking up right from the beginning.

And watch out for the Redneck Trees

Gear

And now we move on to nerd gear.

If you have ever seen me in person, chances are I was wearing a shirt with some (often obscure) nerd culture reference on it.

My absolute favorite shirt (one I?m wearing as I write this) comes from the talented crew over at shark robot. If you live in Alaska it?s a must own, because as everyone now knows, we can see Russia from our house and vice versa.

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Books

Halloween has come and gone, but if you?re into creepy tales of science horror and macabre, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of H.P. Lovecraft: Complete and Unabridged.

If you?ve never heard of Lovecraft, the best explanation I can give is ?Edgar Allen Poe on Acid?. Seriously, pick this book up and enter the world of the Old Ones and Elder gods. You won?t regret it!

News and stuff

Oh, and in nerd news, there was something or other I saw in passing about a merger between the greatest science fantasy film of my childhood and some children?s network. In typical internet fashion, every possible joke ever was immediately made:

And that?s this week in Talk Nerdy to Me, a feature that I hope to bring to Alaska Commonsland on an every other week basis!

Have a book you want me to review or gear or other suggestions? Tweet me @NorthernWander or drop us a line at info@alaskacommons.com.

Next week I return with a new edition of SCIENCE! but until then keep talking nerdy?

James Shewmake is a Dark Lord of the Sith, when he?s not practicing the ?superstitious? art of manipulating the Dark Side of the Force or doing the bidding of the Empire, he sits in the shadows and plots new ways to twist Galactic Society to his dark will. Mostly a moral support to Alaska Commons, he spends most of his less sinister efforts working on graduate research in fisheries management.

James Shewmake

Source: http://www.alaskacommons.com/2012/11/08/talk-nerdy-to-me-episode-1/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=talk-nerdy-to-me-episode-1

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