Friday LinkFrogging – 4/29/11

I came to a realization this week.

That realization?  That my kids are getting older and at some point I’m going to have to explain the noble pursuit that is GonzoGeek to them.

Sure, they understand that dear old dad and some of his friends have a website, but they don’t really understand what that means or involves.  It became even more apparent the other night when, upon looking at the forthcoming design of our update, they asked me why we had girls in bikinis on there.

That led us into a discussion of traffic and hits.  It also led to so seriously glazed eyes.

What?  Why yes, I did mention an update.  Thanks for paying attention.

We’ve been promising an updated website since the end of 2010 and now, dear reader(s), its arrival is imminent.  Imminent as in Monday I’m told.  When you drop by on Monday you should see a whole new look for us here at the ‘Geek.  Its a change we’re VERY excited about.

And that’s not our only big news. 

We are currently in discussions with a certain columnist.  If things go well, he’ll be bringing you his musings on all things sporting and entertaining.

But wait!  There’s more.

Just this very morning we got confirmation that a quartet of your favorite Geeks will be attending Comic-Con International in San Diego (Whale’s Vagina for all you German speakers out there) in July.  More details on that in the coming weeks.  Just know that we’ve been planning that one for a while and we’re all VERY excited about the chance to attend and report on the premiere Geek event of the year.

Don’t worry, we won’t forget to dance with who brung us.

Cheesecake anyone?

This week’s selection comes from Aamir.  Here’s what he had to say about her…

This week’s Cheesecake is Anna “Aya” Stefanowicz, vocalist for the Polish band UNSUN.  Aya is married to Maurycy “Mauser” Stefanowicz, who is the guitar player for UNSUN and ex-member of the highly lauded Polish death metal outfit called VADER.  She’s got a great voice, is very easy on the eyes, and has a really cute Eastern European accent.  UNSUN are easily and quickly tagged with the “Gothic-Metal” stamp, but I feel they are a lot more accessible than that.  The music is heavy, but the melodies and arrangements are rooted in Pop sensibility.  The latest UNSUN record is called “Clinic For Dolls” and was released in October of 2010.  The production is killer sounding and the songs are catchy, really fun and kinda kitchy too…but who doesn’t like a little bit of cheese now and then.

Well done, Aamir.  Well done.

On to the links.

Summer Movies 2011

Verily!

Every year about this time, we start to get more and more visuals about the upcoming summer movie season.

I love summer movie season.  I don’t have to think or worry about Oscar consideration.  I can just sit back, eat my popcorn, laugh and watch stuff blow up.

And, really, isn’t that what you want in a summer movie?

After reviewing my list for last summer, I can only hope this year’s batch is better (I’m looking at you Jonah Hex).  There are lots of spandex types and some good old fashioned raunchy comedies.

And monkeys in revolt.

Its gonna be a great summer.

Let’s take a look at my highlights, in chronological order.

Friday LinkFrogging – 11/19/10

There is nothing quite like a weekend amongst your own kind to really make you appreciate things like our little corner of the internet here.

Stephe and I will be reporting on our adventures in the wilds of the Austin Comic Con soon, but let me just say it was fun.  From aging television stars to costumes to fine tequilas, we had a blast.

It made the real world all the more difficult this week.

I’ve salved my soul with Bruce Springsteen‘s new release, The Promise, and the search for the perfect cheesecake for this week’s entry.

I thought about using the now “of age” Emma Watson, but let’s be honest, that still seems pervy.

A couple of movies opened last week.  There was Morning Glory starring candidate, Rachel McAdams.

There was also Unstoppable starring, Denzel Washington, Captain Kirk 2.o and Rosario Dawson.

I guess you can tell who won out.

I was conflicted so I discussed the choice with fan/handmodel, David Cantu (@davebot5k).  We agreed that Ms. Dawson had the higher geek cred.

Don’t believe me?  Check out her resume.

Kevin Smith movie?  Check.  Quentin Tarantino movie?  Check.  Rob Zombie movie?  Check.  Robot Chicken?  Check.

She’s also appeared in Men in Black II, Percy Jackson & The Olympians:  The Lightning Thief, Sin City and Josie and the Pussycats.

She’s made movies with Iron Man, the Rock, Stifler, Donkey,the Hulk and Bullseye.

All this and she’s a huge comic book geek, having created and published her own book a few years ago.

Yes, Ms. Dawson is a card carrying geek girl and a welcome addition to the gallery.

On to the links.

Friday LinkFrogging – 7/16/10

Freaky Geeky

  

Boys and girls, the dog days of summer are upon us.  

Its been a rough week in the world of Geek.  

First we lost Harvey Pekar.  The next day it was “The Boss,” George Steinbrenner.  Note to all you celebrities out there, the rule of 3′s is currently in play.  

The National League won an All-Star Game for the first time since 1996.  

And I discovered that IFC is rerunning Freaks and Geeks on Friday nights.  

That’s good news kids.  

The much lauded cult show never really got a fair shake a decade ago when it was on NBC, but it served as the career launching pad for Judd Apatow, James Franco, Seth Rogen and Jason Segel among others.  

If you haven’t seen the show, or want to see it again, tune in tonight for the episode entitled “Tricks and Treats.”  Its my personal favorite.  

And speaking of Freaks and Geeks, that brings us to this week’s cheesecake.  

Say hello to Linda Cardellini.  

She played the geek trying to become freak, Lindsey Weir, on Freaks and Geeks.  Watching her mathlete try to rebel against suburban Michigan (I’m looking at you Chris) norms formed the core of the series.  She went on to play Nurse Taggert on ER and Velma in the Scooby-Doo movies.  

You always knew Velma was a freak didn’t you?  

On to the links.

Friday LinkFrogging – 6/18/10

Heard you missed us.  We’re back.

That’s right, its time for another trip of the light fantastic through our weekly internet finds.  But wait, what’s that there on the left?

Why, its iToad.

What’s iToad you may rightfully ask.  Well, Stephe decided our regular feature needed a mascot and whipped up this electro-amphibian.  You’ll be seeing him each week when we roll out the LinkFrogging.

When I asked Stephe if there was anything he wanted to say about his creation when we unleashed him, he said:

Living in an app-addled, i-Mad world, it seemed only fitting that we have the right look for our little corner of cyberspace.  Classes the joint up, don’t it?

That’s right, we applied the old Arthur Carlson mentality to our top feature.  If its worth doing, its worth having a mascot.

But don’t think just because we got a frog we forgot one of the main reasons you came here.  We’ve still got cheesecake.

Say hello to the former Mrs. Lenny Kravitz, Lisa Bonet.

Why Lisa Bonet?  That’s a twisty tale dear readers.  Our original choice for this week was Marisa Tomei to coincide with the release of Cyrus.  Unfortunately, I could only find two kinds of picturs of Ms. Tomei.  They were either demure glam shots or full frontal shots.  Neither served our purposes.  So, then Stephe and I were talking about my dilemma and I, offhandedly, suggested we could use Ms. Tomei’s college roommate.  Enter Lisa Bonet, the black sheep of the Huxtable family.

It was about then that I realized that Lisa and Marisa had both appeared naked in movies with GonzoGeek favorite Mickey Rourke.

Kids.  We have a winner.

On to the links.

Friday LinkFrogging – 6/4/10

KILLER!

Back in the saddle again!

With all apologies to Gene Autry, I’m glad to be here once again to bring you our weekly linkfest.

Before I get too far along, I want to give a big thanks to Chris for covering for me last week.  I loved the coining of FOGG.  Well done sir.  Well done.

While I was unable to find any actual chupacabra, I did have a celebrity sighting of the 80s variety.  It seems the Bangles were staying at the same hotel I was and they ended up in the dining room with me and the rest of the expedition last Friday night.  Susanna Hoffs is holding up well true believers.

Before we give you the links, we have to give you a slice of cheesecake.  Don’t worry, I didn’t forget.

Say hello to Katherine Heigl.  Formerly of Grey’s Anatomy, Ms. Heigl returns to the big screen this weekend starring opposite Ashton Kutcher in Killers.  It will be interesting to see if she turns on Kutcher the way she turned on Judd Apatow after the success of Knocked Up.  Stay tuned, and in the meantime, on to the links.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine – the review

It's showtime...bub!

It’s summer movie time and the first one out of the gate is the (first) Wolverine solo movie.

First, I don’t know why they insisted on that ridiculous title.  Just call it Wolverine like everyone else.

I went to see this movie last Sunday night at the neighborhood theater.  I’ll admit to being curious.  I’ve got a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Canadian berzerker (huss!).

I loved the character of Wolverine when he was a man of mystery with a tenuous grasp on his humanity.  The more layers they added to his origin the less I liked him.  By the time they got to the ridiculous “Origin” story I was pretty much done.

Since “Origin” was the basis of this one, my expectations were low.