This week on your geek culture update I present a 100' tower of legos! Why? To celebrate the 50th anniversary of this amazing toy of course! It was built this past weekend at Legoland Windsor which beats the one built in Toronto last summer which beat the one made in the California Legoland earlier last summer. Clearly it's on in the competitive world of erecting tall things out of legos! All of which are Geek King Approved.

Please feel free to send me nominees for the Geek King Seal of Approval. This concludes this royal announcement.

Posted by ironic1 at 06:32 AM | Permalink | 13 comments, last by zra.
Filed under Geeky

Last week was a rousing game of Ticket to Ride, what will it be this week? PDDers and PDD lurkers will be meeting again at Dragon Port Games at 6:30 on Monday and we'll play whatever people bring. If you've never played any board games you should still come!! Whoever knows how to play the selected game(s) will teach everyone else. Perhaps we can round up enough people to play two games at once. So definitely come out, I'd love to meet everyone.

Dragon Port Games & Comics is located at 3 South 4th Avenue West, between Michigan and Superior (it's sort of underneath the sidewalk, don't worry, you'll find it!)

Posted by Mel at 08:18 PM | Permalink | 7 comments, last by Mel
Filed under Geeky

Today: No Pants Day

Tomorrow: Free Comic Book Day

Continue reading "Add To Your Already Busy Schedule:" »

Posted by Bad Cat! at 10:16 AM | Permalink | 2 comments, last by Eldon Krosch Jr.
Filed under Current Events | Geeky | Holiday

Two video offerings on your helping of geek culture this week. Both of these are 100% Geek King Approved!

I have to confess to counting myself among the Ewok haters of which Andrew sings in this moving choral tribute to the 25th anniversary of Return of the Jedi, but this video almost wins me over. I even found myself singing along. Watch it, if for no other reason, for the Billy Dee Williams cameo. It says in the notes it was recorded at a United Methodist Church, but not which one. I'd love to know if anyone finds out.

The second video was recommended by Adem here on PDD. It's an Engineer's Guide to Cats and it's a beautiful thing to behold. I especially chortled at the cat yodeling.

Please feel free to send me nominees for the Geek King Seal of Approval. This concludes this royal announcement.

Posted by ironic1 at 04:02 PM | Permalink | 4 comments, last by pistoffnick
Filed under Geeky

We had so much fun board gaming this past Monday night, let's do it again! We'll meet at Dragon Port at 6:30 and we'll play whatever people bring. Ticket to Ride (USA, Marklin, and Eurpoe) and other games were mentioned.

Also, this weekend is Dragon Port's grand opening! Dragon Port Games & Comics is located at 3 South 4th Avenue West, pretty much it's the only thing between Michigan and Superior on 4th Avenue West so it's hard to miss.

Further, I'd like your assistance in making a short video that I'll subsequently post to PDD. I'm making it on my Mac so pretty much all you have to do is stare at the little cam and say a line or maybe two. I was thinking, originally, of playing all the parts myself, but I thought it would be more fun to get other PDD folks involved. If you're interested here's the script: Blogger X - A Drama.

So you can come for the gaming, come for the grand opening, come for the movie, or any combination of the three!

Posted by ironic1 at 12:58 PM | Permalink | 10 comments, last by Mel
Filed under Geeky | I Need Your Service

JULES: Speak 'What' again! Thou cur, cry 'What' again!
I dare thee utter 'What' again but once!
I dare thee twice and spit upon thy name!
Now, paint for me a portraiture in words,
If thou hast any in thy head but 'What',
Of Marsellus Wallace!
BRETT: He is dark.
J: Aye, and what more?
B: His head is shaven bald.
J: Hath he the semblance of a harlot?
B: What?
JULES strikes and BRETT cries out
J: Hath he the semblance of a harlot?
B: Nay!
J: Then why didst thou attempt to bed him thus?

0ǔr $¥$@dM!n, \/\/|-|0 ©|-|!££$ !n |-|34\/3|\|
ph34r3d β3 7|-|¥ |\|@m3
†|-|ÿ p\/\/n@g3 ©0|\/|3, †|-|ÿ $©r!p7$ b3 d0|\|3 !n /earth @$ i7 !$ i|\| /heaven.
$33|) u$ 7h!5 |)@ÿ oǔR d@!£ÿ R0|\/|$.
f0rG!\/3 u$ 0ǔr n00b 3xP£017$ @$ \/\/3 f0rG!\/3 $©r!P7 | R3\/34£ t0 u$ |\|07 Ζ3R0 |)@ÿ \/u£|\|$, βu7 $A\/3 u$ fR0|\/| t3h RIAA.
f0r 7|-|!|\|3 i$ t3h |\|37\/\/0R|<, @|\|d t3h rm -rf*, @|\|d @££ 0ǔR β@$3 @r3 β3£0|\|G t0 j00, f0R3\/3R @|\|d 3\/3R.
4|\/|3|\|.

Posted by ironic1 at 09:24 AM | Permalink | 10 comments, last by huitz
Filed under Geeky

Given BadCat!'s comment I'm starting to get a whole new appreciation for this game.

I suppose it's better than having Aggravation and then going Bonkers and having to say you are Sorry, but I suppose that's Life.

Posted by ironic1 at 02:17 PM | Permalink | 4 comments, last by adam
Filed under Geeky

The triumphant return of the PDD Game Night!
Thanks to everyone who came! Thanks to DragonPort Games for allowing us to take over their backroom!
Last night's game: A rousing rout of RoboRally!

(Photos taken with my Blackberry... sorry, Edge, I'll get a good photo of you next time!)

Continue reading "We did not play Stratego... euphemistically or otherwise..." »

Posted by tamara at 06:18 AM | Permalink | 12 comments, last by Eldon Krosch Jr.
Filed under Duluth Scene | Geeky | Photos | Serious Substantive Matters | Weird Stuff

In honor of King Geek Ironic1, I searched the memory banks and found this shot of actual girl gamers gone wild ... er... with stratego. And ther are those of you who didn't believe me. BTW, I'm SOOOO dead for posting this pic..problem is I dont know if it's peepers or brandy that will get me first. Here's to living dangerously.

Now, the story depens as, after searching for a good stratego link for above, I cam across this

As Bruno Faidutti rightly reminds L'Attaque - the ancestor of Stratego - was invented in France. It was in fact designed by a lady, Mademoiselle Hermance Edan, who filed a patent for a "jeu de bataille avec pieces mobiles sur damier" (a battle game with mobile pieces on a gameboard) on 11-26-1908. The patent was released by the French Patent Office in 1909 (patent #396.795). Hermance Edan had given no name to her game but a French manufacturer - still to be identified - was selling the game as L'Attaque as early as 1910 (as advertised in a Parisian department store catalogue: see R.C. Bell, 'Games to play', 1988, p. 39). A red army was opposed to a blue one (already!).

original here

Here's to the girl gamer!

Posted by baci at 09:03 PM | Permalink | 7 comments, last by Price
Filed under Geeky

Monday Night PDD Board Gaming returns! We'll meet at Dragon Port Games & Comics this Monday, April 21, at 6:30pm.

I'll bring along Settlers of Catan (with the Seafarers expansion) and Ticket to Ride (USA, 1910, and Marklïn versions) and you can bring whatever you want. We can decide on what to play when we get there. I'd be interested in learning Puerto Rico if anyone brings that. Also, in the past we've had enough for 2 or 3 games going at the same time. So we can set up tables as needed.

In the past we've ordered out for food or brought our own.

Dragon Port Games & Comics is located at 3 South 4th Ave West.

Posted by ironic1 at 03:34 PM | Permalink | 30 comments, last by Steve
Filed under Geeky

...form of data center

Posted by baci at 01:44 PM | Permalink | 5 comments, last by mevdev
Filed under Duluth News | Geeky

Thanks to his newly acquired title as King of the Geeks, it was announced today that Ironic1's beard has been chosen as the shoot location for all forest settings in Peter Jackson's new Hobbit movie.

Congrats your majesty.

Posted by they once called me king neal at 12:29 PM | Permalink | 5 comments, last by Chris
Filed under Geeky

Like a phoenix, out of the ashes of Robin Goodfellow, Dragon Port Games has risen and has settled in its new location at 3 South 4th Avenue West, between Superior and Michigan and not too far from Harbor City HS. The Grand Opening will be April 25 but they are currently open for business, but I'm not sure of the hours.

Frankly I'm amazed that after Robin Goodfellow closed at the end of February how fast these gamers and former employees were able to move the inventory and get things going at a new location. Best wishes to Steve and Donny and everyone down at DPG.

Posted by ironic1 at 06:38 AM | Permalink | 15 comments, last by Steve
Filed under Geeky

As part of my royal duty I have promised to keep PDD abreast of geek culture. So I present my first picks to receive the Geek King Seal of Approval!

Statistical Analysis of "Red Shirt Deaths" in Star Trek:TOS - Does reality hold up to the hype? How dangerous is it really to beam down to a planet wearing a red shirt? What can Starfleet do to improve workplace conditions?

Fourteen Year Old Creates a Chemistry CCG - Elementeo combines the fun of trading card games with the thrill of the periodic table. What's not to love?

Star Wars gets Steampunked - Sillof's Workshop does a mechanized, Victorian take on A New Hope.

Please feel free to send me nominees for the Geek King Seal of Approval. This concludes this royal announcement.

Posted by ironic1 at 12:06 PM | Permalink | 7 comments, last by Geek Queen 2003 HRH AnnMarie
Filed under Geeky

My photos are up on Flickr. I tagged them GeekProm2008.

Posted by Starfire at 11:51 AM | Permalink | 12 comments, last by Girl From the North Country
Filed under Creepy Duluth Stuff | Duluth History | Duluth Scene | Funny Stuff | Geeky | Photos

Thanks for letting me lead your geek kingdom for the past year.

Posted by they once called me king neal at 05:06 PM | Permalink | 7 comments, last by huitz
Filed under Geeky

Not that I was worried about having a bad time at Geek Prom, I was just afraid I'd have to show up missing an essential piece of my costume. True, no one may have noticed, but I would have noticed!
Despite moving two times in two years (both times hurriedly stuffing random items into boxes), I was able to locate said necessary piece of costume (after only a few days of searching).
Anyway, so I guess the point of this is that I'll be at Geek Prom with all my geeky bling on. Blizzard or not, I hope everyone will be there to join me! :D

Posted by Bad Cat! at 08:26 PM | Permalink | 0 comments
Filed under Geeky

Pre-Cooked Double Cream Stout Roast with cool beer foam action!

Post-Cooked Double Cream Stout Roast

If I had to figure what I'm the most geeky at, it'd have to be cooking (and the subsequent eating!) I love to cook. I pore over ritzy food magazines and drool at the knives that cut cans in mid-air. My pasta pot is like my third arm. I belong to the Cooking Club of America. I love making comfort food or food that has unpronounceable ingredients that I can only order online from a great store like Kalustyans... I buy antique cooking implements (and use them a lot!) I have a whisk collection.

Yup, I'm a food geek.

Anyway, I was pondering if a food geek could really be a geek in the traditional sense of the word. So I wikipedia'd geek.

According to said Wikipedia, "Formerly, the term referred to a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken, bat, snake or bugs." Hmm... biting the head off live animals. Food. Biting. Animals. Food.

So it seems to me that a food geek must be the original geek, at least if you believe Wikipedia's account of the word. And I do... oh yes, I do.

Continue reading "I geek, therefore, I am." »

Posted by tamara at 07:01 PM | Permalink | 7 comments, last by tamara
Filed under Geeky | Recommendations | Serious Substantive Matters | Weird Stuff

[Enlarge]

In preparation for Geek Prom I thought it would be instructive to review 101 ways to pwn a noob. This will be both instructive for a) the noob who is about to be pwned even though, as said noob, there is no way around being pwned, but at least you have some idea of what you have coming, and b) the uber pwner who, in his or her glorious rush to pwn said noob, may have forgotten certain options for said pwnage.

This list is by no means exhaustive.

[Thanks Ironic Gamer!]

Posted by ironic1 at 03:37 AM | Permalink | 15 comments, last by CJ Downing
Filed under Geeky

So I've emailed the prom organizers and have received no response, so I'll just ask it here. Is Geek Prom going to have wifi? I'm hoping to blog it.

Just askin'!

Posted by ironic1 at 09:11 PM | Permalink | 1 comment by Cynic
Filed under Geeky

with geek prom coming up and the death of gygax i though it would be a good idea to present this. it may have been on here before, but it's always good for a laugh.

Continue reading "fear of girls" »

Posted by they once called me king neal at 07:03 AM | Permalink | 2 comments, last by Bad Cat!
Filed under Funny Stuff | Geeky | Serious Substantive Matters | Web Fun

I've always loved the story of Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace. Recently, a portrait of her was purchased at auction. It's a great way to encourage the students at HCIS that tech can be fun no matter what gender(s) you are. If you're the parent of a middle school kid, share with them the real faces of tech and they'll be forever hooked. Right now, the Math/Science/Tech educators at HCIS are talking alot about why students come to us claiming " I just dont get math" or "I'm NOT a chemistry person". My 3.5 year old cant stop asking about how things work...where's the disconnect? Please comment about when and why you decided , "I just dont DO math..." or what was it that helped you persevere through our culture's math/science stigma.

Posted by baci at 07:36 AM | Permalink | 22 comments, last by Skippie the Aussie Wharf Rat
Filed under Geeky

Yeah, sure, they're big HBO celebrities now, but I bet we could have got them cheap in 2004. So let's fire up the Wayback Machine and change history! Then we'll be able to say now that we knew them when.

Posted by ironic1 at 04:34 PM | Permalink | 8 comments, last by Liz
Filed under Geeky | Music

Posted by Purple at 03:45 PM | Permalink | 9 comments, last by mayday
Filed under Geeky

• Allspice
• Artichokes
• Bananas
• Broccoli
• Chili Peppers
• Chocolate
• Cocoa
• Coffee
• Cranberries
• Green Beans
• Green Peppers
• Iceberg Lettuce
• Indian Corn
• Kiwi
• Margarine
• Peanuts
• Pineapple
• Potatoes
• Red Peppers
• Rhubarb
• Shortening
• Tea
• Turkey
• Tomatoes
• Vanilla Bean
• Yams
• Yellow Peppers

Posted by ironic1 at 01:31 PM | Permalink | 12 comments, last by zra.
Filed under Geeky

Posted by ironic1 at 01:59 PM | Permalink | 3 comments, last by Nick
Filed under Geeky

In the pre-Episode 1 retail frenzy, there were about a bazillion crappy Star Wars items to be found in stores. Here are the ones so bad they didn't get made: Rejected!

Posted by Bad Cat! at 02:36 PM | Permalink | 2 comments, last by Beverly
Filed under Geeky

Posted by Tomasz at 02:32 PM | Permalink | 3 comments, last by Mary
Filed under Geeky

Came across this while googling "pennies." (Also just noticed that my spell checker recognizes "googling.")

Posted by adam at 01:16 PM | Permalink | 2 comments, last by Chris
Filed under Geeky

www.salon.com/ent/tv/review/2008/02/19/krofft/

Continue reading "H R Pufnstuf, Jack Wild, and Quisp in Loves Park, IL" »

Posted by Girl From the North Country at 10:35 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Filed under Funny Stuff | Geeky | R.I.P. | Weird Stuff

Jabba on the Dais!

I hereby pass the stream of consciousness baton...

Continue reading "From Elephants, to Orangutans, to Dr. Zaius, to..." »

Posted by ironic1 at 07:49 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Filed under Geeky | Music

Here's a still from the most recent episode of Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles which I just watched on my 'puter. It was okay, though fairly humorless, except for this little nod to the geeks out there. As John Connor leaves a computer store we see the address of the store on the glass door - 1337.

Summer Glau, though, is terrific. I just wished she was still playing River Tam, but baring that, this will have to do.

Posted by ironic1 at 10:23 PM | Permalink | 2 comments, last by ironic1
Filed under Geeky

Got a question one of youse might be able to assist with. Every now and again I do a music podcast thingie. To date I've merged all the music into 1 large file uploaded it and made a m3u file to point to it. I was looking at .pls files as an alternative and a little unclear on something. Do you need to upload multiple music/talk/whatever tracks to use a .pls file to tag each section correctly?

Posted by edgeways at 04:01 PM | Permalink | 0 comments
Filed under Geeky

Speaking of old school, remember when scaners were cool? This guy has done the leg work if this is your bag. Now let's start spying on the neighbor.

Posted by Kitty Brand at 10:27 AM | Permalink | 6 comments, last by tamara
Filed under Creepy Duluth Stuff | Geeky | Web Fun

Is anybody using Audacity or other freeware/ open source sound editor? I want to record a few simple things but am unsure of how to do so. I’m looking to record a guitar and vocal track so I assume I need to have recording software (Audacity or some other cheap software) , a decent soundcard(already have) and a way to hook the mics to the computer. I think there is a way to do this via a USB gadget but am not sure. Does anyone have any advice?

Posted by MarkM at 09:25 AM | Permalink | 8 comments, last by Roger Angus
Filed under Geeky | Music

Hello, first time poster here.

For those former BBSers interested in a flashback, here's a list of old 218 BBSes. (Remember the get-togethers at Godfathers and the Incline Station?)

There's even a documentary about the hobby in general (which is surprisingly entertaining for a five-and-a-half hour documentary on nerds dialing up to other computers), and a wiki for BBSes.

Posted by andy_l at 09:17 AM | Permalink | 3 comments, last by Tomasz
Filed under Geeky

Continue reading "I'll have the nerf medallions, thank you very much!" »

Posted by tamara at 09:32 AM | Permalink | 1 comment by Mary
Filed under Geeky | Photos | Weird Stuff

After spending a couple holiday seasons abroad, I returned poo-pooing the extravagant, gaudy Christmas displays in America. Now that I have a child, though, I am absolutely giddy about the kitsch and events surrounding this season. I love Christmas in the Northland.

This year the little pirate and I went to "Scrooge" at the Playhouse (btw, really good production), "The Nutcracker" performed by the Minnesota Ballet and Monroe's Christmas show.
But tonight is the event I've been looking forward to for a year:

At:

Ive never seen Elfis, but I absolutely LOVE Bentleyville! Even if Elfis is bad, it's gonna be a good time.

WHAT:Elfis
WHERE: Bentleyville
WHEN:6-8 p.m.

Drop me a line if you want to meet up.

Posted by Purple at 11:59 AM | Permalink | 4 comments, last by Girl From the North Country
Filed under Art | Geeky | Music | Recommendations

Posted by clip at 08:24 PM | Permalink | 4 comments, last by camarama
Filed under Geeky