We talk with author and ubergeek Garth Sundem about how math, science, and communications weave through all geekdom. Producer and long-time GWCer Solai shares the story of his '90s-era online Harry Potter community, Hagrid’s Hut. Local table-top gamer Abigail Manuel walks Audra through rolling her first D&D character and tackling her first hobgoblin encounter. We listen to some killer stories from listeners about their geek life experiences. And we run down the week in geek, including new Akira and Spider-Man casting news.
FIRST
See now isn’t that refreshing that gwc isn’t like that?
Hrmmm.
?_?
You know. Like. Cause it was posted and I was first.
Forget you pike. =P
Want me to ruin another one of Pike’s fantasies for you? I seem to be good at that.
Horde of Snookis, Pike. Snookis! d:
Well it used to be refreshing…now not so much…thanks. 
Stop that. 
I love that Solai is not only in the podcast, but is a part of the title of the podcast. Awesome!
Akira: I’m actually intrigued that they’re going to change the location of the setting, because otherwise it’s just a bit odd to have Zac Efron be the face of Neo Tokyo, no matter how much he looks like a real life anime character (I think it’s the hair and the eyes). If it’s Neo NY, then they don’t have to make up some reason why everyone’s Caucasian (presumably. I just mean, it’s just that much less likely they’d be hiring a bunch of Japanese actors given there aren’t a whole lot of Japanese/Asian actors in Hollywood that can open a movie, if any at all) in Neo Tokyo.
Anyway, I’m still listening to the podcast (yet I haven’t listened to the one before. I have no respect for order, apparently. :D), but wanted to chime in that a friend of mine did name her child Hermione. I doubt she’d name her next child Hagrid though. That might be too much. 
Oh, and Garth totally rocks.
Loved the interview with Garth Sundem and the discussion reminds me of how they show the abilities of the son on the show No Ordinary Family. He super brain breaks down most things into equations like playing football and pool.
ooh a 3 hour podcast can’t wait!
Hey guys only half way through the podcast awesome as always cant wait to check out Geek Logic but I gotta say its good to be a Geek!!
I finished listening to the Garth Sundem interview at lunch today. Admittedly it was longer than a normal GWC interview, but I found Garth engaging, funny, intelligent, and he completely captivated my attention. In my line of work I run across brilliance such as Garth exhibits a few times each year. Brilliant people like Garth that can take a compilation of information and put it into a perspective that is easy to understand, yet deeply revealing, sometimes shocking, and most of the time holistically useful. Being in their presence is an absolute treat especially if they love to share their perspectives. People like Garth are a true treasure to humankind and I thank Garth and those like him for his contributions to the library of geek data.
Thank you to whoever was able to line up this interview! I am looking forward to experiencing the rest of the podcast soon!
~Shooter Out
raises careful hand
I watch akira in the original japnese.
even if all I Cna understand is “teetsuuuuooooo…
canaaaaaadaaaaaa”
the last bnit is clearly a tribute to our techdrew
I’m loving the length of this podcast, IT covered most of my driving today and I’m still not finished it.
Phaze
on the “also liked the Garth interview and the solai one, even though I’m not too keen on HP meself” ID
Congrats Audra on your exploration of D&D culture. Its been years since I have last played. As for geekdom, I just had a perilous journey just this Friday…hunting for the Scott Pilgrim Blu-Ray. Gather round and I will tell you the tale.
For reasons of funding, I had to wait until Friday to get my copy of SP. I had been dreaming of this for days, counting the hours. So I took the bus to work, waited for lunch apprehensively, then take a stroll to Best Buy. Time came, I made the walk of about 3/4 mile as the crow flies, roughly 27 minutes. I find the display for SP, but no Blu-Ray.
NOOOOOO!!!
I checked the general stock. None. Checked with employees. All sold out. FRAK! Okay, I’ll go to Wal-Mart. Nada. So I go back to work dejected. True, I could have ordered it on Amazon, but I wanted to watch it TONIGHT! This aggression of lack of stock will not stand, man!
So after got back home and had the car, I dropped my honey off to her girls night out and took our two kids with me out on the hunt. Another Wal-Mart. Not happening. A Super Target, a SUPER Targer for crying out loud! Nyet. It started getting late. One last Best Buy to go. It’s 9:15. Both kids, both proclaiming in their own ways that they are NOT tired are starting to get cranky. But we went in there at the final hour and found the second-to-last copy in the store. I did a happy dance in my head as I paid for my prize.
Afterwards, we went home weary but satisfied. I put the kids in bed and put the disc in the machine. Then I fell asleep as the disc menu played on. Oh well, there’s always the morning.
I’m only an hour into the podcast but wanted to comment about the disscussion of The Walking Dead. I was talking to a few of my buddies at work about the show, one of whom does not usually like zombies or horror in general. He was surprised how much he enjoyed the show and we had a great conversation about how the show transends its genre. That got us into comparing it to another show we both love: Battlestar Galactica.
In the same way that Battlestar Galactica was more than just a sci-fi show with space battles and robots, The Walking Dead is a story that has zombies in it, but that is not what defines the show. These are shows that ask deeper questions about human nature and survival and what the cost is to your own morality and humanity.
Great podcast as always. Much thanks and kudos to the triplets, you guys always brighten my week. Double serving of thanks to Chuck, who puts so much effort into making the podcast sound fraking amazing. Looking forward to seeing you all and having some drinks and talking geekery at the meetup
me again on the geekery and D&D, I never actually played D&D, not even the much hallowed 3rd ed. However I did play something very similar to D&D when I was in my early twenties it was…
Call of Cthullu.
I had a character (British of course but based out of new England) who sounded, according to our GM “like Darth Vader with a head cold”
however, and this was the huge shock for us just out of our teens
we had a girl in our group
She was our age, had grown up in London, was called Ruth, ahd the sexiest accent and was (to my young eyes at least) smokin’ hot.
I call that a positive gaming and geek experince
and not rolling your character? for shame Audra for shaaaame.
I shall bring my shiny METAL dice to the meet up, if we’re not gaming the frakking things a reheavy enough to use as a +2 bludgeoning single handed weapon
Also I’m concerned that the D4 may actually count as a “too sharp” object for hand luggage :o
Sadly in my current remote location I do not get any opportunity to game sob and the one Irish gaming convention I do attend is within a week of the meet up, see guys I’m surrendering my once yearly RPG session to be with you lot
Excellent cast so far, not quite finished it yet (up to date on walking dead though so all cool).
In closing I like casts this long, make more of them, even looooonger.
I shall leave many many additional voicemails, I mean I do a podcast, so you know I like the sound of my own voice.
Phaze
on the "I’m vague and somewhat cidery but looking forward to hogswatch in under a fortnight, if only I didn’t have to get up at 5 AM to catch my flight shudder " ID
Just finished.
I’ve been solo frakking that show weeks! You should join me tomorrow.
What shooter said. And, way more elegantly than I could.
So, I’ve been here for almost 15 months. This is not a knock on previous podcasts, but this one will go down as my favorite. And, I haven’t said that about any before this one.
I could go on and on about how great this one was. But, if I had to pick a word to describe it, mine would be insightful.
Solai, you got me with your story about coming out to your coworkers and the consequences. I think most, if not all of us, can relate.
Is there a Google cache of Hagrid’s Hut around?
I was able to catch Solai’s segment while walking Master Valor and Capt Mal this afternoon. (Yes Solai, I was spending quality time with Captain Mal while listening to your segment. I thought you would appreciate that.)
Solai,
First of all, thank you for all that you have done in the past and have brought to the GWC community. Whatever part you have played in developing GWC to what it is today deserves huge props all on its own. I appreciate the time you have put in and hope that you are able to continue some involvement even with the next little Solai on the way!
Hearing your Hagrid’s Hut story was phenomenal. It is amazing the time you put into that endeavor as well as the personalization and care. I’ll admit I was just a passé Harry Potter fan before the GWC arc. In fact, I was two movies behind and had never read the books. Following the GWC arc I read through all the books and watched each movie following reading the book. I’m probably the most excited person in my house for Friday when the next film releases, and had it been around at the time, I probably would have involved myself heavily in Hagrid’s Hut myself.
Deciding to close out Hagrid’s Hut must have been a tremendously difficult decision for you. You had invested so much time even though it was a lot of work, I’m sure part of you wanted to continue it.
Thank you for taking your time to record the segment. I found it as enlightening and interesting as dxf’s segment on John Hughes. Fellow GWCers always always ALWAYS impress me with their passion and knowledge and your segment was no exception. I hope to hear more about Harry Potter and/or Hagrid’s Hut at the next meetup we’re both at!
~Shooter Out
PS – Fantasy Football RAWKS.
“Do people who play Fantasy Football call themselves geeks?”
The answer before 5 years ago, I’d have to say was no. It was more considered something “jocks” could do w/o a backlash from friends.
Comedians would say they argues on how fantasy sports was just as geeky and D&D with people who played Fantasy Sports.
Now, I’m not sure if that perception (right or wrong) still persists.
The term ‘geek’ has gained an insane amount of cred over the past five years or so. I think most FF players currently wouldn’t object to being labeled “football geeks.” Which, I think, is appropriate.
I got a better one for them.
