Come Down and Join The Circus!

Remember when you went to the Big Top when you were a kid? The stench of the animals, the creepy clowns? The glamorous Liberty Rider? The jaw-dropping contortionists?

It seems that the circus came to town this month. Cirque Du Soleil sold out their Michael Jackson Immortal tour.

Water For Elephants was released into the theaters last week. It was a great book for tension and despicably colorful characters, so we're hoping bloody Big Head Pattison doesn't ruin it.

But what really strikes me as more than coincidence, that I might need to run away and go see the circus (but one without animal cruelty!), is the music I have found by Vermillion Lies and seeing March Fourth at the Second Eighth Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational.

Now- It's crazy enough to have "Circus Apocalypse" running through your head. But it's a fun sort of crazy. I highly recommend this band and their Impossible Girl singleton, now on tour: Kim Boekbinder. These twin sisters incorporate elements of the circus and cabaret to take a rock show and turn it into a spectacle.

Circus Apocalypse by Vermillion Lies

But after you download the Vermillion Lies albums off bandcamp, go check out March Fourth! If I were throwing a festival and had unlimited funds, I would book this Marching Band from Portland. Honestly, my first impression of them was that they were a troupe that had just escaped from a freak show to play their music. There were dancers on stilts, steampunk drummers, crazy hats, tassels, and vibrations that will make you have to dance. They were the pied pipers of the festival, pulling people from all over the festival grounds to their parade. They were my favorite thing I've seen all month.

So, now we pack up April, and all its harlequins, back onto the bus. Hopefully, the zombies, robots, and Steampunk conventions will be as good in the coming months, as all of the fun the circus has brought to town in April.

Oh My American Gods!!!!

In case you've been under a rock the last decade, American Gods is a best selling novel that chronicles the picaresque journey of Shadow, a taciturn ex-con whose life changes once he sits down on a plane and gets offered a job. He enters a world where gods of the old world, such as Anansi and Chernobog, are gearing up for a war against new age gods of Media and Computers. They will fight to the death in the minds of men for that which gods need to survive: belief.

So, It's been ten years since Neil Gaiman's (famous author of many great books) American Gods came out. Wow. Do you feel old? I feel old. That means I've been recommending this book for over a decade. I have gifted it at least 5 times. I own the first edition hardback, a well loved paperback and the George Guidell Audiobook. It's a wonderful novel. If you haven't read it, head over to the library and get it.

Actually, screw the library. Go to Mysterious Galaxy, or your local indie book seller, and buy this book. Whenever I cannot think of what to read and am suffering from literary Ennui, this is my go-to book, followed by its sequel, Anansi Boys.

Which is why this week has been so bloody exciting! First, the rumors have been confirmed! HBO is partnering up with Playtone (Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman's production company.) to make a series. I think this is the best news I've heard since I heard Ron Howard was producing the Dark Tower as a series. These novels are epic, and grand of scale in terms of where they take place and diversity of characters. They deserve to be just as fleshy as they need to be.

Gaiman implied there would be good news on his facebook about American gods, and said that he had finally sat down with someone whose work he thought was "brilliant," and who he trusted to do right by the book.

In other news, audiobook junkies are queing up to try to be a contributing voice in the Harper Collins 10th AnniversaryAmerican Gods Audiobook Contest. The top 20 contestants will be chosen by the interwebs, and from that pool, Neil and some people from Harper will pick the winner. Whoever wins gets a free trip to New York to record a brief part of the book. I think every audiophile with a microphone is gearing up to record their audition paragraph, just to be part of something so incredible.

PS. PICK ME!!! LOL.

Let's Hear It For The Nerd Boys

"Dude! I don't talk to her about computers!"

My attention was immediately unriveted from my book and tea. I was at my favorite new lunch nook, The Tea Garden, waiting for my ramen, when the nerdy Asian boys brought their socially challenged friend to lunch, for what I can assume is the male equivalent of the girl's confab. I realized he was in trouble immediately because one- he had no inside voice and two- he was berating his friend for his "useless advice."

I quickly gathered that the boy was suffering from a bad case of "the friend zone." He had been hanging out with this girl since October and wanted to change the status of his relationship from friends to oooga chahka ooga oooga...more than friends. "I mean, we even spent hours the other night cuddling!" he proclaimed to the restaurant at large.

While his friends used inside voices, and I didn't hear what they were saying, I gather one was advising him to play it cool and wait for her to come to him, and the other was encouraging him to go for it. Then they were coming up with strategies for him to create the perfect date where he could express his feelings, planning expensive dinners or going to exotic locations.

I so badly wanted to get up from my chair and sit down with those boys and tell them what I have learned from both study and experience. Oh, sweety! Just tell her you like her and see if she likes you back. No games. Surgical, get in, get out, don't leave any sponges inside.

First, gentlemen, if a girl is cuddling with you, she probably likes you. If she is spending more than one night a week with you of her own free will, she probably likes you. If she touches you affectionately, hugs you, knows your likes and dislikes, she probably likes you. If you wait for her to come to you, you may be waiting for a long time. Even if a girl is in deep smit, she will most likely fear rejection and want the guy to make the first move.

Now, granted it took me a couple of months of that post hang out "GAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!" feeling to get the gumption to text my current boyfriend to figure out if we were dating or just hanging out. And guess what? Having that conversation, (because no matter how it starts, it will lead to a conversation) didn't cause either of us to spontaneously combust, get attacked by zombies, or lose our comic-con passes. But that is the first time in the 14 years that I've been attempting to date that I did anything close to making the first move.

Second, sir, fortune favors the brave. Conversely, weak-spined cowards rarely get laid. I once read a story where a guy met a woman in the New York Blackout, and was so taken with her that he tracked her down afterwards. Women hear these anecdotes daily. If you can't sack up enough to go, "Um, I think you're really cute/ awesome/ kickass and I think we should try going on a date to see where this goes.", then you are screwed. And not the type of screwing which requires protection.

So here's my advice: go for it. The worst thing that could happen is that she's not actually into you...well, I guess the really worst thing would be if Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner were at two different conventions in the same town on the same day, at the same time. Or that Wil Wheaton came to your town and started dating your sister. The upside is that if she's been hanging out with you socially for any extended period, she knows you are socially ill-equipped, but celebrates your diversity.

If you are unsure how to broach the subject, I personally would advise against taking your friend to a really unusual or far-away place to discuss your feelings to avoid awkward long silences. I would recommend that you hang out as usual, and discuss your feelings in a private setting, such as your apartment when your roommates have been told to get out.

Lastly, if you are unsure if she likes you back, take advantage of the fact that this is the information age. Be a weaselly bastard and ask a mutual girlfriend if they think your paramour has feelings for you, or would at least be interested in dating you. There is something flattering and attractive about someone telling you they think you are the greatest thing since cylon toast.

So, in closing, boys, don't overcomplicate or overcompensate. Take a chance if you feel you have a shot. Last, sometimes we are wrong. Sometimes we get rejected. It rounds us as people and gives us experience. Be nice and be yourself. It'll be OK this time or the next time, if this time around ends up sucking more than Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher.

admitting you have a problem

Do you ever sit around with your geeky friends, maybe laughing so hard soda a l m o s t shoots out of your nose, and think, "Geebus, I should write this down?"

Do you ever meander through comic-con, a book store, or a totally random geek hang out and think, I wish I had something that gave me press credentials so I could ask random and perhaps famous people weird questions, play a little harder, and share it with the world?

Do you watch "Big Bang Theory" and think, geez, I think I know that guy... If you are that guy, I'm sorry and/or we should go on a date. Unless you make me throw up in my mouth a little. or you haven't showered in the last 24 hours. or you have a significant other or some contagious disease from the shumach tribe. The aforementioned need not apply. If you think "Big Bang Theory is a science fiction genred porno, then please direct me to it, just because that's what I thought of when I first heard the title....(heehee)not to watch, just to prove it's out there, man.

But, if you answered yes to the above, then I am like you. You are like me. We are cyber-peers. Less cool than being cyber-punks, but we're a little late for that movement.

I am blogging because I need a more productive outlet for my geekiness than occasionally playing munchkin and having weekly anime nights. Geek out with me. If you know something that is worth geeking out about, send me a link or a message. It's all good. I will endeavor to entertain, but if you don't like it, well- Frakk off.