There is a lot of cool stuff on the horizon this year, including a lot of great conventions. This week we talk to three local geeks to get the scoop on just a few of the events to look forward to. We have interviews with organizers from Crypticon, Steamcon and the Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival and the Oracle of Seattle Geekly, Isaac Alexander who collects and maintains the Cascadia Events and Convention news page for the Northwest Science Fiction Society blog.

As always, we also have the weekly geek news and Seattle area geek events.

Our Geek Week

• Finished Lucifer’s Hammer on audiobook
• Reading The Silver Ship and the Sea books by Brenda Cooper (check out our Author Spotlight with Brenda Cooper if you haven’t already)
• Downloaded the Kevin Smith iPhone app
• Read Peter Pan the Vampire by Seattle Geekly listener Gary Brantner
• Downloaded the digital version of The Goon #7 (featuring Hellboy) from Dark Horse
• Played around with Google Chrome
• Played Civilization IV on the PC. 5 years old and still one of my favorites.
• Read a preview copy of Solomon Kane: Death’s Black Riders by Scott Allie and Mario Guevara
• Had our Star Trek Trivia Night. There are some very cool things on the horizon with the Trivia Nights so stay tuned!
• We are joining the ranks of the PS3-heads! Mostly wanted a blu-ray player, games will be a bonus!

2010 Geek Preview

Con Preview with Isaac Alexander
Isaac has been a friend of the Seattle Geekly podcast right from the beginning. He found us early and has provided us with invaluable help and information over the last (almost) year. Matt refers to him as the “Oracle” of Seattle Geekly because, like the DC comics character, he is “a computer expert and information broker [who provides] intelligence and computer hacking services to assist other superheroes“. Unlike Oracle, he is neither a paraplegic nor the feisty daughter of Police Commissioner Gordon and as far as we know he has never dressed up as Batgirl. He has, however, almost been eaten by a shark.

• Cascadia Conventions and Events News maintained by Isaac
• Check our Conventions Page for more convention links

Crypticon/MIFFF


• Crypticon 2010
  

• 2010 Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival

SteamCon


• SteamCon 2010 official site
• Follow SteamCon on Twitter

Dare Shannon to Watch a Bad Movie

This week’s movie was Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (2009)

If you want to dare Shannon to watch a bad movie, e-mail us at seattlegeekly@gmail.com or call us at (206)201-2352

Check our Dared Movies Page to see what is on the list and what Shannon has already watched.

Next week’s movie will be Forbidden Zone (1982) dared by Ogre from the Stabbing Contest podcast.

News

• Seattle Geekly T-Shirt Sale! From today until February 15th our t-shirts will be on sale for $15 (down from $20) with free shipping to U.S. addresses!
• Director Marc Webb Hired for ‘Spidey’ Reboot
• Pilot for Walking Dead TV Series Gets Official Greenlight from AMC
• A rebooted Questor could be bigger than Star Trek
• Adult Swim orders lots of ‘Chicken’

Geeks With Heart

A fundraiser for earthquake relief in Haiti.

We received this e-mail from Jess at Geeky Clean

Need help from geeks!
Hi Shannon & Matt,
GeekGirlsNetwork.com and I started a charity for fund raising for Haiti called ‘Geeks with Heart’
Our goal is $2,500!! So far we have..$300! Which is great because we started Monday morning. The fun part that no one knows about yet is that everyone that enters is automatically entered into a raffle to win some awesome prizes from Geeky Clean, a signed print from Scott Johnson, caffeinated java brownie mixes, etc! TONS of cool things for geeks and gamers. Right now we just need the word out!

–Jess Geekyclean.com

Read more about Geeks With Heart on Geek Girls Network and follow the links to make a donation.

Events

Conventions
• January 29 – 31, 2010 – Conflikt – Seattle, WA
• February 5 – 7, 2010 – Gotta Con – Victoria, BC Canada
• February 6 – 8, 2010 – BeyondCon – Gig Harbor, WA

Events

• Jan 22 – Feb 20, 2010 Annex Theatre 1100 E Pike St, Seattle – Alecto, Issue #1. A troubled heroine with an incredible power discovers that the popular superhero team she’s joined has questionable notions of good and evil. Alecto, Issue #1 translates the world of comic books to the stage, mixing social satire, physical spectacle, sly comedy, and an imaginary pig. Performances Friday and Saturday at 8 pm and Monday February 8 at 8pm
• January 24, 2010 7pm Theater Off Jackson 409 7th Avenue S, Seattle – Radio8Ball with Levi Fuller and Celebrity Skype-In Guest Andy Dick. Part experimental theater, part rock and roll cabaret, part mystic mind-expansion. The Radio8Ball Show is a night of live rock and roll divination hosted by Andras Jones featuring a different live musical guest every night. In the stage show the songs are chosen by spinning a large wheel that determines which song the artist plays as the answer to the questions posed by audience members.
• January 26, 2010 7:30pm Town Hall Seattle 1119 8th Ave, Seattle – Jaron Lanier reading and signing. Computer scientist Jaron Lanier, known as the father of virtual-reality technology, was among the first to predict the revolutionary changes the World Wide Web would bring to commerce and culture. In his latest work, You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto, Lanier says the Web’s first designers made crucial choices (such as making one’s presence anonymous) that have had enormous—and often unintended—consequences, including elevating the “wisdom” of mobs and algorithms over the intelligence and judgment of individuals.
• January 26 7pm University Book Store 4326 University Way NE, Seattle – Robin Hobb signing. Local author Robin Hobb reads and signs her latest book Dragon Keeper: Volume One of the Rain Wilds Chronicles
• January 29 – 30, 2009 The Egyptian Theater 805 East Pine St., Seattle – Midnight Movies at The Egyptian: Ghostbusters
• January 29 – February 4, 2010 AMC Southcenter 16 3600 Southcenter Mall, Tukwila – Zombies of Mass Destruction. Your chance to see Zombies of Mass Destruction, the hilarious, politically charged zombie horror-comedy that was a hit at the Seattle International Film Festival and Revenant Film Festival last year. A must see for zombie fans! Call the theater for show times.

Contest!

Stephen King’s The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born Giveaway!

“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” With those words, millions of readers were introduced to Stephen King’s Roland – an implacable gunslinger in search of the enigmatic Dark Tower, powering his way through a dangerous land filled with ancient technology and deadly magic. Now, in a comic book personally overseen by King himself, Roland’s past is revealed! Sumptuously drawn by Jae Lee and Richard Isanove, adapted by long-time Stephen King expert Robin Furth (author of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower: A Concordance) and scripted by New York Times bestseller Peter David, this series delves in depth into Roland’s origins – the perfect introduction to this incredibly realized world; while long-time fans will thrill to adventures merely hinted at in the novels. Be there for the very beginning of a modern classic of fantasy literature!
–Amazon Review

We have a BRAND NEW hardback copy of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born to give away. This volume collects the first seven issues of the comic and is a perfect way to start catching up on the series.

This contest runs from now until Sunday, January 31 and the winner will be picked Monday, February 1. We’ll ship the book to you via USPS.

“How do I enter?”
Please register / log in to our website, and leave a comment on THIS POST. You can just say “hi” or whatever! One entry per person please, we’ll delete any multiple or offensive posts. Make sure you use a valid e-mail address when you register so we can contact you if you win!

“How will you randomly pick someone?”
We have D&D dice of all shapes and sizes, even a 100 sider! We’ll roll and see who wins!

Music

Music this week was The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton. He and Paul & Storm will be coming to Seattle to the Moore February 26th, at 8pm. Tickets are only $23 each and still available!

Next week’s show will be “I didn’t know THAT existed #2”. Great interviews with purveyors of zombie valentines, a new iphone game, geeky cookies and more!