I also want to add - this was a our first podcast so please have patience with any sound inconsistencies. We are working on fixing this for future recordings.
Monday, July 30, 2012
The Dark Knight Rises Podcast Discussion
Welcome to our first podcast! After opening night, the three of us got some wine and talked about different aspects of the movie. Now that it's been out for over a week, we'd love to share our thoughts with you. DO NOT LISTEN IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE. It is loaded with spoilers. You've been warned.
Friday, July 27, 2012
The Big "O" or 5 Rings to Rule Them All
THE OLYMPICS ARE HERE!!!
The Olympic Games are easily one of my favorite sporting events to watch. Why? You might ask, or who cares? To that I say, Shut your mouth when you're talking to me! The Olympics bring the entire world together for 2-ish weeks, to put differences and conflicts aside in the name of peace and good sportsmanship. Granted, after looking at Olympic Juggernauts like the U.S. and China, it hardly seems fair, but that doesn't mean they are not entertaining.
Now I was going to write this whole essay like post comparing The Hunger Games to The Olympic Games, but it's been a long week at work, and like I said, I've got two weeks, should I ever feel up to it. Until then, enjoy these very interesting facts about The 2012 London Olympic Games. U-S-A! U-S-A!
London will become the first city to officially stage the Olympics for a third time.
There is a very fair argument that the first modern Olympic Games actually took place in the small English village of Much Wenlock in 1866 - some 30 years before the 1896 Athens Games.
Britain was the first country to stage a Paralympic event which took place on the Opening day of the 1948 London Olympics and were known as the Stoke Mandeville Games. Competitors were disabled war veterans. The name derives from Parallel Olympic.
The two mascots of the Games, Wenlock and Mandeville are named after the previously mentioned Much Wenlock and Stoke Mandeville.
The sporting pictograms that are now an integral part of the Olympic Games were first introduced at the 1948 London Games. There were originally just 20 Olympic Symbols and they were used on the tickets to help people find the events. They were reintroduced at the 1966 games and have been used ever since.
At the 1908 London Games the organizers of the Marathon discovered that the British Royal Box was 385 yards further down route than the 26 mile finishing mark. The route was extended to finish exactly in front of King Edward VII and has been 26miles and 385 yards ever since.
It has been announced that there will be serious fines of up to £20,000 for anyone 'streaking' at the London 2012 Olympic Games if they are using their nudity or partial nudity to advertise any product or brand that is not already associate with or a sponsor of the Games. It is uncertain what will happen to people who just get naked for fun.
A century ago, the gold medals were entirely gold. The ones that will be awarded over the next two weeks contain just 6 grams of gold. They're mostly silver. They haven't been entirely gold since 1912.
For more interesting facts, check out CNN's London Olympics by the numbers. Who knew the U.S. has never won a medal in Badmitton, Table Tennis, and Handball? And no, it's not the same Handball that you played in Grade School.
That's the Fun Facts for this week. If you have a topic that you would like me to research and find little known facts for, comment on this post below or call Nikki, perferably between the hours of 1:00am-4:15am.
If you made it this far, congrats!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
The L.A. Complex: The Best Show That No One is Watching
...except me.
To be fair, the CW really didn't promote this show very well. I think I had heard about this summer series once before I accidentally stumbled upon it one Tuesday when nothing else was on. I was pretty lucky that I tuned in about 15 minutes into the first episode and it didn't take much to get me hooked.
The show tells the story of several young adults, living in the same apartment complex in L.A., and trying to make it in show business. The show does a great job of showing the different sides to making it in the industry from a comedian, a rapper, musicians, a dancer, someone who just landed a dream role, and two actresses competing for similar roles despite a noticeable age difference. The variation in the characters talents allows there to be a variety of story lines rather than constantly falling back on "I'm going on an audition today."
The first episode introduces the viewer to most of the characters. You begin with Abby Vargas who is leaving her native Canada (most of the characters are Canadian as that's where the show is produced) to try to make it as an actress in LA despite being completely broke. She quickly realized she will need to compete against Raquel (played by Jewel Staite from Firefly), an actress that had been well known but hadn't landed a role in ten years (the irony is not lost on this girl).
The show deals with many other issues that come up when trying to get a Hollywood job. From lacking the talent to succeed in your desired industry to dealing with the issues of being on the down low, the show tackles some heavy story lines. One of the most interesting plot lines occurs when one character has to repeatedly ask herself what she is willing to do to get ahead in her career.
This isn't your typical CW prime time manufactured teen drama. It gets gritty and dark and shows a better side of the behind the scenes of the industry than shows like Entourage have. Sometimes it's not all glitz and glamour. Show business is tough business and the LA Complex portrays the complexities of it. I didn't want to spoil anything so I'm not going to go into details but I can guarantee at least one of the story lines will shock you time and time again by going places that many television shows don't have the guts to.
The show just kicked off it's second "season" (the first was only 6 episodes) but previous episodes area all available on Hulu if you want to play catch up.
To be fair, the CW really didn't promote this show very well. I think I had heard about this summer series once before I accidentally stumbled upon it one Tuesday when nothing else was on. I was pretty lucky that I tuned in about 15 minutes into the first episode and it didn't take much to get me hooked.The show tells the story of several young adults, living in the same apartment complex in L.A., and trying to make it in show business. The show does a great job of showing the different sides to making it in the industry from a comedian, a rapper, musicians, a dancer, someone who just landed a dream role, and two actresses competing for similar roles despite a noticeable age difference. The variation in the characters talents allows there to be a variety of story lines rather than constantly falling back on "I'm going on an audition today."
The first episode introduces the viewer to most of the characters. You begin with Abby Vargas who is leaving her native Canada (most of the characters are Canadian as that's where the show is produced) to try to make it as an actress in LA despite being completely broke. She quickly realized she will need to compete against Raquel (played by Jewel Staite from Firefly), an actress that had been well known but hadn't landed a role in ten years (the irony is not lost on this girl).
The show deals with many other issues that come up when trying to get a Hollywood job. From lacking the talent to succeed in your desired industry to dealing with the issues of being on the down low, the show tackles some heavy story lines. One of the most interesting plot lines occurs when one character has to repeatedly ask herself what she is willing to do to get ahead in her career.
This isn't your typical CW prime time manufactured teen drama. It gets gritty and dark and shows a better side of the behind the scenes of the industry than shows like Entourage have. Sometimes it's not all glitz and glamour. Show business is tough business and the LA Complex portrays the complexities of it. I didn't want to spoil anything so I'm not going to go into details but I can guarantee at least one of the story lines will shock you time and time again by going places that many television shows don't have the guts to.
The show just kicked off it's second "season" (the first was only 6 episodes) but previous episodes area all available on Hulu if you want to play catch up.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Last But Not Least!
My name is Becca Canote, the third and (for now) final member of the Cinnamon Geek blog-umvirate! (Hopefully none of us will turn to political power grabbing and start a 3-way civil war....but if that happens, blame Nikki.)
Roman political digressions aside, its time to introduce myself!
If you didn’t guess it already, I love Roman history. Love it like a fish loves water, like a dog loves tennis balls, like a dragon loves hoarding dwarf gold away in its mountain lair. They were a deeply flawed and massively decadent civilization that I can't get enough of studying.
I also read A LOT. As in, when I’m not blogging for Cinnamon Geek or making a complete fool of myself, you’ll most likely find me with my nose stuck in a book doing my best Hermione Granger impression. From genre fiction to plays to non-fiction to Star Wars novelizations, I read it all. Expect more than a few entries from me on what I’ve been reading, and friend me on GoodReads!
Never fear, this love of the written word extends into comic books too! Grew up reading Marvel releases almost exclusively, and I will admit to a woefully lacking knowledge of the DC universe beyond Batman and Superman, but I’m working changing that! Titles by DC, Dark Horse, Marvel, etc all line my shelves and I get giddy as a schoolgirl when new issues are released.
Book history and hand printing have also found a home in my heart, and the Bay Area is full of small artisan printers who still do the whole shebang by hand. Thanks to some luck and happenstance, I’ve made a few connections with them and am going to be learning the art of letterpress printing this Fall. DEFINITELY expect a few entries on my experiences as a newbie pressman and many sad faces when I pie my first block of type.
Moving pictures are my anti-drug. Silver screen, the TV screen, the computer screen, it doesn’t matter. I'm currently catching up on Fringe and the 4th season of Breaking Bad, since I need to catch up on a few things before the laundry list of shows I watch return in the Fall.
On the other side of things, I’m hoping to make a career out of producing and currently work for a web series called ‘Sword & Laser.' My many (mis)adventures in this realm will hopefully find a home here, The series is a 'sci-fi video book club,' our set is a pub on a castle-shaped spaceship, and we have a dragon aka premium blog entry material.
What else can I say...
In all honesty, there’s are 1000 more things I could say here, but I tend to monologue when left to my own devices for too long so I’m ending this here.
While I didn’t mention them here, expect posts from me about sports, video games, and, if I can wrangle Will and Nikki into playing, tabletop games too! Munchkin is a friendship litmus test in my opinion.
Until next time, this is Becca, signing off.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Where There's a Will...
Hi soon to be loyal readers, (fingers crossed/knock on wood,)
My name is Will Kardas and I'm your friendly neighborhood overachieving underachiever.
Here is a little about myself.
I have an unhealthy obsession with superheroes, and even more so with anti-heroes.
I watch movies with the frequency most people watch the morning news.
I love the look of old and the work of new.
My entire body tingles when I see the latest and greatest science and technology. I absorb historical knowledge like a dry sponge and leak it out just as easily. I've even written several well published papers on the history of San Francisco.
I love facts! Love 'em. Especially those really obscure, hard to find facts that get lost in between the couch cushions, begging to be found and brought to the light again. Speaking of which, if you have been stalking me on Facebook, you know I like to do this little thing called FFF, which stands for Friday Fun Facts, or Fun Fact Friday, or Furry Fuzzy and Fizzy, or Funny From Finland. I really haven't decided what it should stand for, nor care for that matter, but it's basically a round up of interesting and little known random facts. Sometimes they are based on a reader suggested topic, say for instance a Merkin, (go on look it up, I dare ya!) Other times, it's something that has been rattling around in the ole' Kardas Kabeza and figured it would get you to put that 4th grade reading skill to use and fire up that hat rack of yours.
Since I'm more of a visual person, why don't I show ya. With the general release of The Dark Knight Rises, I thought it would be appropriate to have some facts about the Caped Crusader, Batman.
*When Batman comics first came out, he used to kill bad guys all the time.
*While we all know Batman not only refuses to use guns, he absolutely despises them, in the earlier issues, the World's Greatest Detective used to carry a six-gun at his side during his nightly patrols. This eventually changed because Bob Kane, creator of Batman, thought that Batman wearing a gun didn’t “Feel Right”.
*Hugh Hefner started the 1960's Batman TV show...well, sort of. Hugh was a big Batman fan and in 1965 at the Chicago Playboy Club, he held a Batman themed party. He hired actors to play as the real Batman and Robin. Little did Hugh know that there was an executive from ABC at the party. The executive seeing the crowds positive reaction to the dynamic duo, he immediately called ABC with a pitch for the 1960's show that we all know so well.
*The very first Batman movie was actually made in 1964 by Andy Warhol. It was called "Batman, Dracula."
*While Batman originally took place in New York City, the writers chose to put the story in a more fictional setting so they could create a world around Batman. The name Gotham City, came from one of the writers looking in a phone book for inspiration and turning to "Gotham Jewlers."
*Who is Batman? Sure, it's been a lot of people. But who has been Batman the longest? It's none other than Kevin Conroy. Who in this writer's eyes, is the best Batman of all. He has been the voice actor of the animated Batman for over 12 years and has been in over seven cartoon series, 6 video games, and five animated movies.
So that's me in a nutshell. Tune back next time for another riveting installment by yours truly. Same Bat time. Same Bat...site?
P.S. I tend to lie when I get in trouble, about my publishing career, surprise birthday parties, length of introductions, and when playing poker.
Now, exaggeration, that's a whole other animal all together...
So What's a Cinnamon Geek Anyways?
...good question. I promise we will get to that later in this post... kind of.
Let's start at the beginning first. My name is Nikki and about two years ago I started a blog to keep track of my personal mission to do One New Thing a Week. I loved writing the blog and my challenge really helped me grow as person. I got to the point where I didn't need this goal anymore and with the posts running almost a year behind, it became a little tedious to try to dig up photos and memories. I loved writing a blog but this blog had run it's course. It didn't seem relevant anymore.
Another thing that had changed was that through coming into my own, I learned a lot more about my interests and passions. I started figuring out the kinds of things that I really loved and wanted to focus more on those. I would find myself getting into debates on forums or wanting to discuss a subject on end.
Do you ever get that feeling where a topic is so interesting to you that you just want to absorb all the information there is on it? Have you ever read a book that sucked you in so much that you wanted to dive deeper into that world? Have you ever seen a movie, video game or TV show that you could talk about and find idiosyncrasies in for days? I'm sure the answer to all of these things is yes, and that's what being a geek is. I was having this feeling about a lot of my passions and really, I just wanted a place where I could give my opinions on the things I geek out over.
I decided that I was going to start a new blog and it would be a "Geek" themed site where I could share my opinions and reviews about my passions, but I needed to talk it out first. I brought up the idea to my friend Will. He'd been wanting to start a few blogs for some time but couldn't get his feet off the ground so I thought he might have some perspective. He loved the idea and said that was the kind of thing he'd been wanting to do.... so I asked if he wanted to join in. We texted my friend, Becca, and suddenly we had a team.... but what about a name?
I really wanted to go for something along the lines of GeekyRamblings, GeekyRants, etc but the Blogger options were all taken. That's when this conversation happened:
Nikki: We need to think of synonyms
Will: Cinnamons?
Nikki: No, synonyms!!
Will: Cinnamons....?
Nikki: wait a second... let's just use Cinnamon!
Will: That's... GENIUS!
We locked down Geek Cinnamon and Cinnamon Geek and then made a sober decision about which one we liked more.
But what is a Cinnamon Geek? Well, everyone really. The biggest misconception about Geeks is that they're people with no social lives who love video games, sci-fi, and wear big glasses. Some might but really, a geek is a person who is really interested in a particular topic. That's what we are: people really interested in particular topics. Yes, mostly we'll write about video games or super hero movies, but I really like food, wine and museums so I might write about those too. We'd love to pick up a sports geek who can go into the numbers of the game. Since we want this to be a team with many unique writers, the possibilities are limitless.
The other benefit of a team is that we may have overlapping interests but very different opinions so Will had the idea of doing podcasts with transcripts for those times when we want to have a debate on a topic. Geek culture, like anything else, is also not without it's controversial topics. The benefit of having a team of contributors is that we can tackle these from different angles and share varying opinions on something.
I am very excited to see where this goes! Hopefully some of you are coming from my last blog and hopefully some of you have gotten here through Will and Becca. Speaking of those two - they'll get a chance to introduce themselves next.
Welcome to Cinnamon Geek!
Note from the team: Seeing as this blog is meant to cover Geek culture, we thought it would be appropriate to give our condolences to those in Colorado that were affected by the Dark Knight Rises shooting. It is always sad when innocent people lose their lives and our hearts and prayers go out to them.
YY5XX9DJDKH3
Let's start at the beginning first. My name is Nikki and about two years ago I started a blog to keep track of my personal mission to do One New Thing a Week. I loved writing the blog and my challenge really helped me grow as person. I got to the point where I didn't need this goal anymore and with the posts running almost a year behind, it became a little tedious to try to dig up photos and memories. I loved writing a blog but this blog had run it's course. It didn't seem relevant anymore.Another thing that had changed was that through coming into my own, I learned a lot more about my interests and passions. I started figuring out the kinds of things that I really loved and wanted to focus more on those. I would find myself getting into debates on forums or wanting to discuss a subject on end.
Do you ever get that feeling where a topic is so interesting to you that you just want to absorb all the information there is on it? Have you ever read a book that sucked you in so much that you wanted to dive deeper into that world? Have you ever seen a movie, video game or TV show that you could talk about and find idiosyncrasies in for days? I'm sure the answer to all of these things is yes, and that's what being a geek is. I was having this feeling about a lot of my passions and really, I just wanted a place where I could give my opinions on the things I geek out over.
I decided that I was going to start a new blog and it would be a "Geek" themed site where I could share my opinions and reviews about my passions, but I needed to talk it out first. I brought up the idea to my friend Will. He'd been wanting to start a few blogs for some time but couldn't get his feet off the ground so I thought he might have some perspective. He loved the idea and said that was the kind of thing he'd been wanting to do.... so I asked if he wanted to join in. We texted my friend, Becca, and suddenly we had a team.... but what about a name?
I really wanted to go for something along the lines of GeekyRamblings, GeekyRants, etc but the Blogger options were all taken. That's when this conversation happened:
Nikki: We need to think of synonyms
Will: Cinnamons?
Nikki: No, synonyms!!
Will: Cinnamons....?
Nikki: wait a second... let's just use Cinnamon!
Will: That's... GENIUS!
We locked down Geek Cinnamon and Cinnamon Geek and then made a sober decision about which one we liked more.
But what is a Cinnamon Geek? Well, everyone really. The biggest misconception about Geeks is that they're people with no social lives who love video games, sci-fi, and wear big glasses. Some might but really, a geek is a person who is really interested in a particular topic. That's what we are: people really interested in particular topics. Yes, mostly we'll write about video games or super hero movies, but I really like food, wine and museums so I might write about those too. We'd love to pick up a sports geek who can go into the numbers of the game. Since we want this to be a team with many unique writers, the possibilities are limitless.
The other benefit of a team is that we may have overlapping interests but very different opinions so Will had the idea of doing podcasts with transcripts for those times when we want to have a debate on a topic. Geek culture, like anything else, is also not without it's controversial topics. The benefit of having a team of contributors is that we can tackle these from different angles and share varying opinions on something.
I am very excited to see where this goes! Hopefully some of you are coming from my last blog and hopefully some of you have gotten here through Will and Becca. Speaking of those two - they'll get a chance to introduce themselves next.
Welcome to Cinnamon Geek!
Note from the team: Seeing as this blog is meant to cover Geek culture, we thought it would be appropriate to give our condolences to those in Colorado that were affected by the Dark Knight Rises shooting. It is always sad when innocent people lose their lives and our hearts and prayers go out to them.
YY5XX9DJDKH3
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