Solo Episode: DC TV News, Geek Projects, and College Updates

You're tuned in to Steve Megatron on Altered

Geek Unlimited. Welcome to altered geek unlimited

episode 130 and I'm flying solo this week because

there were some things I wanted to kind of bring

up this episode That I didn't necessarily have

all of the key players in place To record it

this week. So I opted to push it back a week

And it was some kind of like altered opinions

kind of conversations And some things on on some

generalized subjects that uh It wouldn't really

play well by itself, so I kind of wanted to do

that. And then there were some other things I

kind of wanted to bring up, like I had my geek

desk project that I've been working on, I've

got some other things. I've got some graphic

stuff, I've got some gaming stuff, I've got some

kind of geek news, and some other fun projects

that have kind of come to light in the last few

weeks. over a various array of topics. So without

further ado, I'm going to jump into a segment

right here. We'll be back after this. You're

listening to the Altered Geek News Network. Welcome

back to the Altered Geek News Network. And in

this segment of the show, I'm going to bring

up all of the geeky topics that I've seen over

the past week. Starting out with... Sorry put

my hand over my face There was the teaser for

the Supergirl the flash world's finest teaser

kind of played out and it shows the flash running

around the The s logo and then you get to see

him running through an alleyway and Supergirl

lands at the end of it and that's pretty much

all of the the teaser that we get there but there

was however days later a post put out where,

and this will all be in the show notes, the cast

is on set and having to kind of fight Livewire

and Silver Banshee while Kat Grant is sitting

between them. So it's kind of an interesting

take there. The images, and I'm super stoked

for the episode and I'm kind of wondering how

it's gonna play into the flash if it does at

all. I'm excited for the crossover with Supergirl

in any case. So it's really cool that that's

actually coming apart. And then they've got the

promo of who's the fastest person alive with

them gonna race in it apparently. Maybe, unless

that's just, you know, fan wank there. Who knows?

So kind of getting into more DC Comics realm.

The CW renews every one of its DC Comics shows,

including everything else on the network. So

like The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow, iZombie,

Supernatural. I know there's other shows on the

network. I just don't watch any of them other

than those. So yeah, I'm pretty stoked that...

They've kind of unanimously renewed all of those.

In addition to that, and I don't have this article

pulled up in the show notes, but I am mentioning

it anyhow, Gotham and Supergirl were both renewed

for a new season. So it's a great time to be

a superhero fan right now because everything

superheroes is getting renewed. Daredevil is

debuting Season 2. As a matter of fact, my wife

and I both started actually kind of sitting down

to try and watch Dear Devil. Like I said, I made

a couple episodes in before and kind of fizzled

out for me. I'm not gonna lie, I still prefer

DC Comics as far as television is concerned.

But I'm giving it another shot starting over

and everything, so I'm thinking I'm on episode

three again now. So it's... Better than I remember

but I think that's because the Intense fan winking

on the show has kind of worn off not to say that

people aren't Loving the show for the right reasons

or anything because I know that people do I'm

not a huge Marvel fan and I do think that it's

pretty well done but I was kind of mentioning

some of the production values and stuff to my

wife and she was kind of Saying why it's more

gritty it looks like it's cheaper than some of

the other networks which is kind of true because

the other shows do look more shiny and more kind

of refined compared to Daredevil but that's kind

of the thing with Netflix is all of their stuff

is kind of gritty and kind of rough around the

edges compared to any other network like CW has

the you know the hotness you know factor going

on like everybody has to be attractive for the

most part and it's you have they're trying to

appeal to the the teen demographic and the young

adult which is definitely evident in everything

that they have however I do think that it still

resonates pretty well Supergirl you can tell

that has more of that shine and in flare that

CBS typically has and then you have with Gotham

you have that kind of gritty kind of grungy cheap

look of that Fox normally has but it's like more

cheap than Netflix so it's I don't know but I'm

pretty impressed with all the shows since they've

come back as far as Like Gotham agents of shield

I think that they're actually hitting it out

of the park now I think they're kind of doing

a lot better than what they were the first season

or two Depending on the show that you're talking

about flats agents of shield it's on three or

four or something now and Gotham it's on mid

to so Yes, surprisingly agents of shield get

renewed to which is kind of odd to me, but it

is doing better So I kind of get it now That

aside The latest episodes have been awesome Especially

with mr. Freeze showing up and then you get a

couple pot and dr. Strange that whole interaction

there It's it's been pretty interesting I have

to say I'm I'm pretty stoked and I can't wait

for all these shows to kind of come back that

are on break right now I'm really wanting to

see some of the crossovers and some of the repercussions

of some of these shows as they progress Moving

into more of DC stuff we have Sorry, there's

my cat She's sitting in the microphone. She thinks

it's fun to talk when I'm talking. Telltale Games

is going to be this Friday having a panel at

South by Southwest with the Batman Unmasked game.

It's got an image of the bat signal, of like

an altered bat signal, but it's going to be a

new game that's coming out. I'm kind of interested

to see what they reveal on that as this records,

it's on Thursday night, so I'm premature on knowing

anything about it too. I'm interested, but I

haven't been blown away by anything Telltale

Games has come out with at this point. I've even

played the Back to the Future game and it was

okay, but I'll take a look at it and I'll try

it, but I'm not guaranteeing I'll like it. I've

been spoiled for too long by Rocksteady. So it

to me to go to this this kind of Different company

or a different aesthetic that I can tell that

they're going to have or should have Based on

their previous works I may not like it, but I

again there's been nothing shown for it So it's

hard for me to make a judgment call on that on

either way. I just speaking on past stuff that's

come out I'm not enthused but They could surprise

me. So I'm kind of looking forward to that. Batman

vs Superman and Wonder Woman coins have been

revealed in the Canadian Mint for all different

dollar amounts from all the way down from the

dollar to the hundred dollar coin. Pretty sharp.

I am kind of wanting to get one, but I don't

want I want that hundred dollar one, but there's

no way in hell I'd spend that. So moving on from

that. A new Batman the Killing joke image was

dropped. And it was none other than Mark Hamill

that dropped the image. And he says, the, in

one tweet, killing, and then in another tweet,

and then in another tweet, he says, joke. And

he says, you know, everything can happen from

just one bad day. So it was it was pretty interesting

I am loving the aesthetic for that and I'm glad

that it's Mark Hamill and it's Kevin Conroy reprising

their roles to play this this ultimate icon staple

of DC history even though it's been kind of retconned

in the modern comics now And it never really

was a part of the continuity, but they somehow

squeezed it into continuity and now they're Re

-removing it from the continuity. So it's I don't

know DC has kind of their Birds feathered or

ruffled there. I'm not quite sure what's going

on There is a bonus to the comics though issue

50 the preview that's online right now for Batman

now that Snyder is not on the run and Capolo

is not on there even though he did one of the

covers they have Commissioner Gordon beaten and

bludgeoned by Some villain and he's about to

get ended by some guys You see Bruce Wayne having

a conversation mentally with the bat suit saying

it's time to return and You see him with like

the Batman Beyond suit you see him with like

his original year zero suit his year one suit

you see him with his Batman ink suit and then

you see like the 70s type of suit and then you

see the the one he had the new 52 before he stopped

wearing the cape and cowl and We don't exactly

know which one he's wearing because the close

-up when he shows up in this preview and he lands

on this guy and smashes his face into the bat

signal as The guy says you're you're not Batman

to Gordon and he's just masked and he's laying

on the ground beaten and bludgeoned Batman lands

on this the bat signal smashing this guy's face

into it and he says I am Batman And or but I

am or something like that and it's just it looks

epic and it looks almost Dark Knight returns

ish So it's I'm really pumped. I'm hoping that

this reinvigorates my my love of DC Comics and

Batman, but I'm It's too soon to tell So yeah

moving into some other territory we have the

Transformers deviations review allspark .com

It was supposed to be, what if Optimus Prime

never died? And my thoughts on this are, I would

have loved to have seen them take this to a totally

different dynamic. However, it sounds from the

review that I was reading, that they constantly

pick on Hot Rod, making fun of him. Prime is

there, and they try and squeeze all of the elements

from the movie in there still. Like, it's still

trying to hit all those notes. However, it doesn't

make any sense if they're gonna go that route,

because if Prime lived... Yes, some of the things

would still happen the way they happen. You know,

particularly with the Decepticons. But... And

then they call like Starscream Megascream, like

he makes a negotiation with Unicron, which is

to be absurd. The whole thing... I guess they

tried to hit too many of the beats of it. I Just

don't get it. Like it's I haven't read it yet

and I plan to read it but this is just going

off of what the review and I'm not trying to

sound like one of those guys that just Bases

things off somebody else's review, but the way

the story sounds to me is it sounds like the

it's way too Too safe so there's nothing really

like you have the opportunity with that one piece

of time changing, so there should be a butterfly

effect that everything changes from then on.

There shouldn't be any of the same repercussions

or same events. So I was kind of hoping to hear

that something along those lines would kind of

turn out that way, but who knows. We got news

from Disney that a new Indiana Jones has got

a 2019 release with Steven Spielberg as the director

and Harrison Ford as Indy. I'm kind of pumped

for that to be honest Not that I'm in myself

and in booth ninja we're talking about this on

Twitter he was saying more or less that The Indiana

Jones franchise didn't really do nothing for

him Which I'm kind of an agreement because I

it didn't really I don't see the appeal in it

necessarily It's not a bad series and I do enjoy

what I've watched of it, but I don't Feel like

I have to be attached There's nothing there for

me like I have no emotional attachment. I don't

it doesn't Doesn't bother me in the slightest

so I'm I'm enthused to see that Harrison Ford's

coming back to finish off another franchise But

I ultimately don't care in the long grand scheme

of things because I'm not like a die -hard Indiana

Jones fan, so Moving on we have Not that much

more news. I don't think I oh yeah, Tim Burton

confirms Beetlejuice 2 with Michael Keaton and

Winona Ryder So that that I'm really geeked about

because you can see Keaton come back and play

role that he created I'm super pumped for that,

but it's been kind of rumored like that for the

last couple years I'm just glad that if anybody's

gonna play Beetlejuice. It's still him Because

I think that he could play it and I think with

the way that the the film industry is nowadays

I think that the effects and a lot of the stuff

in the film could be ramped up a lot more than

what they had the capability for in the 80s when

the original movie came out, so It should be

pretty interesting And then the one last thing

that I got for the Altered Geek News Network

or AGNN is Amber Heard is confirmed now to play

Mira in Justice League, which for those that

don't know, that's the fish lady that is Queen

of Atlantis married to Aquaman. So I can get

behind that. I don't have any problem with it.

I mean, typically she's a redhead in the light

fiery red in the comics, and she's kind of like

a strawberry blonde or whatever. But that's,

again, another one of those things that people

are going to nitpick about. which is kinda retarded,

or I don't know how you wanna call it. I think

that people are gonna nitpick regardless, but

I think that it's really cool. I think DC's got

a lot of good... Choices in the people that they

chose for all these roles And I'm just waiting

to see them all come play out on the future film

the only one I'm not happy about is the flash,

but again. I'll leave that be I'm not gonna be

one of them naysayers or anything and then in

clarification from last week's episode where

we were kind of talking about The the spider

-man element I I'm under the assumption that

And I've watched a lot of footage of it people

talking about the eyes thing and the mechanical

suit and And some people saying that they like

the new suit and then some people saying they

don't like the new suit I'm not a fan of the

The way that they get the boots thing set up

where it's got the like blue stripe in the middle

of it I think it's kind of odd looking and the

same thing with the arm Where it breaks it up?

But again, I don't know what kind of suit this

is. It's obviously new I'm I'm more of a fan

of the original spider -man suit and and then

the I Like all of them because they're not really

any that different for the most part. I mean,

they're all similar I like that the the mask

more so and the older ones compared to this suit

But again, I I think that because it's in a trailer

it's raw CG so you're not getting the full element

that you would if you were sitting there in front

of like a iMac screen so I'm not hating on it,

I'm not fond of it, and it does nothing for me,

like the suit, but I'm excited that Spider -Man's

in the movie, so I'll leave that where that stands.

And then Dan kind of revealed in the comments,

because we were talking about this, and I'm kind

of rolling the comments into the news network

here. The reveal of Spider -Man is not the same

ballpark as the spoilers to DC trailers with

Doomsday. For one, we knew Spider -Man was going

to be in the movie already with Doomsday being

a completely CGI character. It wasn't known at

that time, at least to the same extent, and the

reveal of Doomsday is not just a character reveal

but provides you insight into the plot of how

the movie is actually basically going to end.

Even though the film is built upon the premise

of Batman v Superman but showing the Trinity

teaming up. Definitely agree with them that I

think that's gonna hurt it a little bit But I

don't know to what extent doomsday is gonna play

a role because I think Luthor is gonna play a

bit I think he's gonna get his robo suit. That's

kind of my honest opinion there And I think that

because I saw some kind of another thing where

they were saying Lex Corps Learning or operating

system is basically going to be like Brainiac

in this universe Would be interested to see that

too, but I I'm not going to jump on that rumor

wheel at all But yeah, he kind of says continuing

on with what Dan says showing spider -man doesn't

nearly have the same effect It would it would

it be great if they waited till the film sure

But if they did it I bet you'd have the same

people complaining Why aren't they showing spider

-man like they did when the last trailer came

out? So yeah, it's either it can go either way

people are just We're geeks. We all complain.

It's it's kind of the way of things Brad Lincoln

says I get why Mike is saying with the comparison

of why stories that work for animated movies

should work in in live -action at times I myself

wonder why they don't just repeat the same success

and stick to the source material more Then it

says when you think about it more you get away

with a lot more in animated films and have to

explain a whole lot less you know looking at

flashpoint or the you know, Cyborg and Zoom and

the backstory and you don't really need all that.

However, Deadpool kind of breaks the mold and

says, you know, you don't have to explain everything.

Here it is. So, you know, it's it's it'll be

interesting. Then Eric Hutchinson says things

I haven't seen mentioned yet in the Civil War

trailer instead of project 42 in the negative

zone We get a play on the raft prison base He

says honestly, I think that's even cooler because

that's where the Thunderbolts were recruited

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned this number

two damage and deaths tolls on the screen during

the meeting New York equals 18 .8 billion in

damages 77 deaths Washington, 2 .8 billion, 23

deaths. Sokovia, 474 billion, 177 deaths. And

he says number six. Goddamn abomination. Well,

I think. Look, when Stark sucker punches Cap,

behind them is a massive cryo chamber of sorts

with a large being that appears to be sitting

in a chair. Lots of monitoring equipment around.

If that's not an abomination, then I'll eat my

hat. Random note, Cap's shield is always weirdly

jarring CGI in the trailers, but I've never noticed

it during the movie. Hopefully it's the same

for Spidey. I'm kind of thinking the same thing

as you with the shield and the... The thing with

the trailers compared to the movie I think that

because the trailers get rushed out in such a

fashion that they're trying to get all the footages

that they can squeeze in there into the The trailer

that it's not refined completely and I know from

doing feature film like or short film editing

There's a lot of stuff that even though we didn't

do trailers. There's a lot of stuff that When

you're doing a first couple edits look totally

different than when you get done. So, being that,

yeah, I'm pretty sure it's still set in stone,

there's still tweak time until, you know, mid

-April anyway. So, there is that. So that is

it for the Altergeek News Network. We'll be back

right after this. Welcome to the Wicked Radio

Network. Want to interact with the show? You

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And now, back to the show. video games as well

as board games. a switch in manufacturing along

the way. And they added some of their own money

with some Kickstarter funds so they could afford

to have a little more design work done. It says

they're pretty happy with the game feel. And

for those that got in on the Kickstarter, it

says... Because of the patience and everything

going on and the money they saved on the the

manufacturing they're manufacturing the expansion

pack, which is the 80s action and there's 30

cards for that and I think there's like 400 for

the regular game, but It adds more possibility

plus you get the awesomeness of action from the

80s, which is cool So you can put together your

own die -hard element to modern films with using

80s icons basically. So I'm really stoked. I'm

hoping that this comes out soon because they're

saying that they should have manufacturing proofs

videos and so on. I'm really hoping to hear more

back on this. I'm really pumped because honestly

I would like to use it on the show. I'm not sure

what capacity, but I think that I could alter

it enough that it could be used on the show as

a fun element to kind of play with Dodd and Blanchard

at times. So, there's that. There's also, sorry

for getting sidetracked, I was jumping between

windows. Microsoft is planning to let Xbox and

PC gamers play online with other platforms harmoniously.

Now my news to Xbox One is not like the actual

360 or anything, but they're saying it starts

with like Rocket League multiplayer between Xbox

One and PC, which honestly I think opening up

the doors like this is going to make a lot more

people want to play online. Yeah, you don't have

to pay online when you're you're on a PC, but

when you're on the Xbox you do I honestly would

like to see them kind of do away with that maybe

I Don't see like I used Xbox live don't be wrong

I used it for a month and I really really enjoyed

it because I get to play Battlefield with other

people online and that was for the times I'm

too lazy to get on my computer and play And I

love Playing I've gotten so addicted to playing

battlefield for that. It's disgusting But I find

that it's it's very There nights where I could

play it forever and then there's nights where

I'm like I just need to quit because I'm not

doing good at all But I've never been good at

that first -person shooter. I'm getting better,

but the there's some people that just do some

wild stuff and I've been watching Oh, what is

his name? It's something 64 but he he's got his

name is like Yolo for his squad and He's it's

pretty ridiculous the The way that this He does

some like live type of gaming stuff where he

pretends that he's he's actually playing the

game But uh, then there's there's times where

he He does like the best of of the week kind

of thing which I find funny If I can only remember

what the hell the name was Stone Mountain 64,

there we go. I had to pull up YouTube to find

it But I like watching that because I get to

see some of the crazy stuff people do when they're

playing the game So That aside Back to the original

topic. Sorry for the tangent I think that there

it's a really big nice window that they're giving

because I would be more apt to Like if I'm sitting

on my couch and I'm playing Save Battlefield

For the prime example, I have other games that

play networking online I just I don't I think

it would give me more incentive to buy Xbox live

if I knew I could play Battlefield with my my

squad mates and my buddies that are on the PC

version and Enjoy the game with them as opposed

to playing with randoms on Xbox live Because

I find that In this this is the weird thing.

I can play pretty well on the PC When I'm on

on the PC. I've tried playing on my laptop, but

something depending on the night the laptop either

performs You know perfectly or it doesn't perform

and I end up with a bunch of lag and I just have

to quit But when I play on the Xbox I use my

Xbox controller now I could use it on the PC,

but I'm not as fast on the PC version My my time

is not as the same but on the Xbox version my

timing is pretty well And I've got the the buttons

down pretty good so I can play the same level

of capacity I can on the PC just on the Xbox

so I mean I would be I can see where we'd be

prudent for them to keep the Xbox Live subscription

if you had the option to play with people you

could play with on the PC version. I would definitely

be down for that, so I'm hoping that that actually

takes place. Next article I have is Blizzard

just updated Diablo 2. Yes, Diablo 2. They have

a new update, and it's been years. Like, I haven't

played that game since before Diablo 3 came out,

and I played it in prep of Diablo 3. They finally

came out with an official new update for the

PC classic Diablo 2 which came out in 2000. 2016

year old game. The expansion came out in late

2001 and I've played the game years ago. But

what they added is, it adds a new installer for

Mac users as well as fixing a few compatibility

problems. It doesn't add anything to the game,

but just makes the game run smoother on newer

systems, basically like Windows 10 and OS X.

It wasn't running very well or installing very

well. It allows people to still play the game,

which is kind of nice. It's not really that much

different than Diablo 3, other than in fact Diablo

3 you play online more so than you play offline.

The graphics are a hell of a lot better and the

mechanics are better in Diablo 3 compared to

Diablo 2. But, it's kind of a nice nod. It's

showing that they support their old users, or,

you know, legacy users, so that's kind of cool.

On the next subject I have, J .J. Abrams is working

on both a Portal and Half -Life movie. Which,

meh. He says, not yet, but they're in development

and we've got writers and we're working on both

those stories. Nothing that would be an exciting

update, but the fact that they're going to be

coming is an interesting thing the half -life

has been around since early 2000, so that's That's

that's kind of interesting. I don't know the

story. I've just played the online part when

I was in High school and in skill center we used

to play LAN parties for the kids that had eight

always We used to have LAN parties once a semester

or marking period, what was it? I think it was

marking period. I always kept an A in there so

I always got to go on a Saturday and I get to

play and they'd have free pizza and you get to

play for like six hours. It was spectacular.

I've never killed my hand and loved the game

so much. That was probably the last time I played

besides Unreal Tournament 2004 or Unreal Tournament

3. I think it was the last time I played like

a battlefield -esque or first -person shooter

type game. multiplayer, like LAN type thing,

or with a group of people I knew. And I had a

lot of fun with it, I knew the levels, they were

really fun. Portal, I'm not familiar with Half

-Life or Portal's stories, but I know that they're

good, I know that people like them. But I would,

I think that if they could turn these into movies

and not make them as horrible as Doom, Houston?

We have a problem And this part of the show is

the altered geek reviews Last week. I actually

received a DVD from or DVD blu -ray digital HD

from DC Comics Warner Brothers home entertainment

and it is the Lego DC Comics superheroes Justice

League cosmic clash original movie and in this

movie you have all the superheroes you have Cyborg,

you have Batman, you have Superman, you have

Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Supergirl.

Fighting the nemesis of Brainiac. And there's

a couple other heroes on here as well from an

alternate universe, or alternate future. I can't

remember the name of them off the top of my head.

Basically, it says the description on the back

is, anything less than prehistoric peril to his

high seas showdown as it's never wise to miscalculate

the Justice League. And just in the same vein

as like Justice League Doom where you have Batman's

plan tearing the Justice League apart from the

villains, this one he's putting them back together

and Without spoiling anything Like you get Wonder

Woman in prehistoric times you get Green Lantern

in like the sea and then You know for a ship

high sea adventure, and then you get Superman

in the future, so It's interesting I watched

it with my son after we got it last weekend and

he freaking loved it and He was loving the fish

effect, that the Flash was in it, he was loving

the fact that Batman was in it. I noticed that

the voice for Cyborg is the same one from Teen

Titans. I could just tell by listening to it.

It was a pretty entertaining movie, and for a

grown man watching a Lego superhero thing, it

wasn't that bad. I actually find myself entertained.

despite everything with the LEGO DC Comics stuff

and the Marvel stuff to be exact but the the

DC ones I've enjoyed more but again I'm a DC

fan so it's it's gonna come off like that. I

definitely love the special features they they

have like a gag reel they have all this other

stuff. The Warner Brothers has been really ramping

up their DVDs and their blu -rays as of late

because when they were coming out with beware

the Batman and the oh man I can't remember the

name of the show see it's this it's not the Batman

it's Batman the brave and the bold the DVDs had

no special features nothing to them now granted

I've never been a big one for special features

or anything to that extent but to have them over

not having them, I've enjoyed. But I always liked

gag reels, I always liked deleted scenes, I always

liked stuff like that or animatics. Something

that kind of pulls back the veil and kind of

shows things behind the scenes. I'm not a huge

one for not having features, but I'm really loving

The the way stuff's been kind of going down in

the Animated realm so that's my review. I would

give it The sound is great. The voice acting

was great. The plot was great. I know it's very

kiddish for a Lego film Lego films in general

or kid more kid -friendly than a lot of the other

ones And it's not like all death kill destroy

It's it's more manipulation and more, you know

Funny things kind of showing up. So it's a lot

a lot more kid -friendly and and to me that's

kind of important at this point because I have

a Three -year -old and a ten -month old So I

I kind of look at that now When I'm selecting

things that I'm going to watch with my kids So

that aside I'd have to give the movie like a

four 4 .5 out of 5 on the GCRN scale and I really

recommend it even though it's very kiddish, it's

very fun and entertaining to watch. It's not

too hair brained or too in -depth, it's just

something you can shut your mind off and just

have fun with it while it's going on. and not

concentrate on any of the semantics. So, yep,

that's my review. So check it out at Warner Brothers

Home Entertainment and DCKids .com. So we'll

be back after this. So I'm calling this segment

this week, What's Up? So you might be wondering

what this segment has anything to do about. Well,

the fun part is... It's been kind of interesting

for me. Over the past two weeks we got the office

done. Finally got the lights fixed in the office

on the wall. Now that my desk is on the opposite

side the video will actually commence. I bought

a green screen that I'm going to hang from the

ceiling. I just have to get a rod for that that

supports it because the other one that's over

there isn't heavy enough to support... the green

screen. It's actually pretty big. So I'm hoping

to kind of play on that soon and kind of see

what happens. Kind of moving on from there, managed

to get myself a laser printer scanner copier

printer. Works pretty damn good. I'm actually

kind of happy about that. Finally have a printer

that works and won't dry up. My desk is actually

pretty freaking big. I've got file cabinets it

we bought to support this thing we bought four

kitchen counter kitchen cabinets Two of them

have the drawers and the other two have the doors

on them The door ones are the ones that you'd

hang on the wall usually above the countertop

And they're only like 12 inches deep whereas

the other ones are 24 inches deep The problem

we were running into is kitchen cabinets only

run at 35 inches or taller and We needed the

desk to be at 30 inches There's a kickboard at

the bottom of it and you can knock the front

the back of the kickboard off But the sides you

have to physically saw them down to match the

other section So I actually had to do that on

those two pieces So I had to learn how to use

a saw funny thing is my table saw my blade. I'm

pretty sure it's bent or warped to some degree

because it had been used by somebody else at

some point. It was brand new when I got it, but

they had to use it when they were doing work

on our bathroom, getting it renovated. But it

actually now matches the height of the cabinets

that would hang above the countertop. So those

are actually like the L piece of the desk. I

got it all, like there's metal brackets holding

this thing together. It's a three quarter inch

particle board for the top. Which is kind of

nice and then I have there's this keyboard slide

-out piece that came from another cabinet that

my grandmother actually gave me and I figured

out how to mount that to the one cabinet and

then I put brackets underneath the other part

and it Serves my purpose pretty well. I'm quite

happy with it actually And then I've got another

file camera that's underneath my desk. The other

problem I kind of ran into is the outlet that's

actually underneath this new desk compared to

the other two and I was trying to figure out

why my Wi -Fi and my modem kept dying on this

thing and I thought it was because it was overloaded.

Well, the outlet's bad and I figured this out

because I plugged my computer in and I was trying

to start it up and then it wouldn't either turn

on or it would shut off about a minute into it

which tells me there's a short in the electrical

outlet there. So I bought a new outlet, I just

have to yet replace it. I just have to wait until

it's light out enough so I can shut all the power

off in the room, because I won't be able to see

otherwise, because there's no other light. So

I got an extension cord plugging into my power

strip that goes to the other wall that's on my

wife's side of the desk, because it's a giant

L desk. And I'll hopefully get a video posted

to this in the near future, because I plan on

doing AGUs. the youtube ones and i've talked

about that for years and i've never actually

gotten around to actually returning to them but

i really want to return to them because i had

a lot of fun doing them and they're the nice

five minute segment uh section kind of makes

it nice and i can kind of have random tangents

that i go off on on a regular basis and uh have

no rhyme or reason where it's going um and i

kind of want to show off my toy collection and

uh or lack thereof because i've traded in half

of it for store credit at tf source um Transformers

source I had a lot of transformers that I traded

in because there's the masterpiece optimus primal

coming out soon I don't know when it's coming

out, but they keep showing teaser images of the

production and final final copy of it I wanted

to have enough money in backup that I could buy

the figure if I didn't have any cash and so if

I do have the cash then you know if it's not

that much and and I have leftover of that I'm

gonna buy the 30th anniversary Rhinox figure

to put in my case as well with the Optimus Primal.

So that would mean I'd have the Optimus Primal

masterpiece, which would be the first Beast Wars

masterpiece, but I also have the first Transformers

masterpiece ever, which is MP01 Optimus Prime

that's in this cabinet. He's taller than the

Combiner Wars G1 Megatron, which I have in there,

and then I got the expansion pack to that figure

so that he looks more G1 -esque. It covers up

a lot of the robo kibble and it makes them look

like he's actually g1 even though he's a tank

so So yeah, I got that I got a bunch of Batman

figures in my case. I got a new batmobile. That's

hot wheels That all aside I usually got some

awesome Well, I got some crap news and I got

some awesome news my college I discovered and

I think this is kind of crap the teacher I have

for the media program He's a great teacher, I

really like him, but my problem with him is the

classes that he teaches are generally the ones

that are book classes, not the ones that are

actually video production, but the book classes.

You don't need the book, even though some of

them you had to buy the book. Physically, you

can pass a class without stinking book, which

is pretty much my entire college career I've

done without the book, even though I've bought

it every time because I didn't know if I'd actually

need it. I've passed them all with at least a

B. At least a B. Without even trying. Like, if

I want to give a little bit more effort, I can

get an A. It just depends on how I feel when

I'm taking that class or how bored I am. I go

through these phases where I have this intense

ADD and I just don't feel like doing anything

that's related to the course or I find it beneath

me. Or just like when I do this stuff on the

site, I get bored and so I have to like find

something else to get my creative outlet out.

So I'm taking screenwriting right now and he

broke it down the other day and said, so what

would you like to see changed if there was a

future class of this even though we won't be

taking this class again? For the future generation

class, and making it an eight week course and

online. So I'm taking a 15 week class that makes

twice a week in the classroom. I'm a full time

working job person, like I work nine to five,

well actually I work eight to six every day,

like Monday through Friday. And I have to physically

cut hours out of the middle of my work week,

like during the day to leave, go to class, and

come back. And it's such a royal pain because

now I've gotten to this point where I have three

classes left. I started college in winter, January

of 2013. I'm not gonna get done until winter

of 2018. Why, you ask? Because they don't have

the classes, any classes that you need between

spring and summer session. They only have them

in fall and winter, and because I work full -time,

it's not conducive for me to actually take all

the classes I need. I have to break them up and

take them one at a time, or else I might as well

not work, and I need this job to work to make

money. So I find it infuriating that the book

classes that I could have taken couldn't have

been online years ago, or a year ago at least,

because I would have had them over this past

year, I could have taken them. At the same time,

in the winter and in the fall sessions, that

I would have needed these ones that are video

production classes, and I could have killed two

birds with one stone instead of taking one class

at a time, like I've had to do. I have a TV production

class that I have to do, I have a TV commercial

production class that I have to do, and I have

to do a documentary class. I'm taking screenwriting

right now. Don't get me wrong, I love the screenwriting.

I'm learning quite a bit in there. I like to

write. I'm pretty good at it. I've been writing

my novel or screenplay, whatever, of altered

generations at the same time while I've been

in there. Intentionally, I've been using every

little assignment that's not been given a direct

purpose. Like, they give you a theme. I've managed

to twist it around the story that I'm trying

to write anyway. And we have to write a short

film shortly. It's a 15 -minute short film. I

can't use it for that, but we're writing a TV

pilot that I'm gonna use my screenplay for, so,

and my story for. That all being said, I wish

that the class, because like I came to Discover

after I searched for an hour on their website

to get the schedule for next semester, and I

know it sounds like I'm nitpicking, I'm trying

to complain, I'm really not, it just irritates

me that it's gonna take me five years to do a

two -year degree. Because I'm being penalized

because I work full -time Because they have nothing

available in the evening when I get on the work

or even at like five o 'clock where I could just

leave an hour early and not take a lunch which

I would be perfectly okay with I just It's infuriating

if you work full -time because you get penalized

overall because you want to Further your education

you want to get a degree you want to you know

you want to try and make yourself you know more

presentable to the business world, but your Being

held back because you're Having some level of

success on the side of by making money It just

it bothers me and it's not right, but there's

nothing I can do about it So I'm coming to the

point now where I'm gonna have to look for you

know other opportunities And if one comes along

I'm gonna have to stop going which is not what

I want to do I want to finish the degree, but

it's kind of messed up that I can't Take more

than one of these classes at the same time because

if I do They're like three hour classes twice

a week And I can't afford to take two of them

during the same week because as it stands when

I take those classes I have to skip my lunches

throughout the week to make up the overtime.

I'm losing So it's very difficult So yeah now

that I've gotten off that soapbox I'm sorry about

that. It's just it really irritates me and I'm

I'm so frustrated because there's nothing for

spring and summer this year. So I have to wait

until fall to take the next class. So it's really

bothering me. So I was kind of down. I really

wasn't sure if I was going to record this episode

after I found that out because it was just agitating

me and digging at me so much. I was so down in

the dumps. TFD1 Mike called me earlier today

I was just kind of like not really wanting to

Converse because of that and I think that's kind

of why I wanted to do this solo is because I

can event I could get everything I want out I

can get all the news I wanted to talk about I

could kind of get all the little the little stuff

that's happened over the last week and You know

the ins and outs of it and it's it's you know

kind of sucked and then I got good news after

that Actually while I was getting ready to hang

out with Mike We I get an email from the Smithsonian

X online courses which For those of you that

don't remember it's the EDX org the Class of

the the rise of superheroes and their impact

on pop culture course that I took twice They're

in the third iteration right now, and I'm a TA

on there I haven't had that much time to actually

be a full -time TA like I was last time even

though I was doing the student work and being

a TA last time for the pop 1 .2x class, it's

pop 1 .3x right now. I wish they would do a second

level class, like a pop x2, where it's completely

different, like nothing's the same, it's like

a continuation, but in a totally different direction.

But I get why they're doing what they're doing,

it's kind of the way... They change the coursework

every term, so nothing's totally the same as

far as coursework, but the material that you

learn is the same. So that's the only... downfall

I find of it if you're taking it more than once

however if you're taking it more than once the

benefit of that is if you're creating the character

like I created a set of characters in the first

course and it takes place like in the future

like in a dystopian future and I kind of wrote

the intro to it in my screenwriting class inadvertently

through another scene that I had to write and

it clicked of how I could progress the story

from that. But it takes place at that 50 -year

point in the future, and then by the end of that

segment of the story, because it's more or less

a chapter of the book. I'm kind of giving a little

bit of a spoiler away when I'm writing, but it's

not really going to be that big of a spoiler

because the point of it is time travel. there's

gonna be a point that one of the characters goes

back in time by 50 years. And I use the second

course to write from that timeline, like 50 years

before the one I wrote in the first class. So

we got to create a whole new set of characters

and a whole new set of circumstances that as

things get altered, it changes the future. So

if the character comes back from the future and

he knows the future, he can help alter the future

so that would create an altered generation. That's

kind of what my thought process was on that.

I have this huge storyline that I've kind of

scripted out. In doing so, I've got these grandiose

ideas. I don't know how many of them I'll actually

use because there was one where I was going to

incorporate a story from high school where I

had these guardian robots that this founder placed

on Earth to create the modern Earth through elements

and everything. And I was gonna use that as the

intro to the actual full -blown story, and then

the more I think about it, the more I'm like,

it's too convoluted to jump into that and then

never revisit some of that stuff. And then it

was too hard to try and figure that out and fit

it in there, so I just scrapped that whole idea.

I may turn it into something later in a later

iteration if I do continue this as a book series,

it just depends. But long story short, the Smithsonian

Acts emailed me earlier today and they said that

they're putting together a book. superhero book

selection. And they said, you know, thank you

for participating in the rise of superheroes

and impact on pop culture. As you know, we've

been in the process of creating a print on demand

book featuring projects from both the pop 1 .1

and pop 1 .2 versions of the course. Your work

from the pop 1 .2 has been selected by our Smithsonian

team to be one of the featured projects in the

book. It says that the book has been in the design

phase, but now we're ready for students to begin

creating their own copies. Before we let other

students customize their books, we need to collect

high resolution images and text from the students

that we have selected to feature in the book.

In other words, they're letting you create like

add your own, like they're giving everybody templates

still anyway to create their own. character one

or or whatever to put into the book but the point

is that these 20 projects between the two classes

are going to be in all of the books even if you

add yours to it yours it's all gonna be the same

so they attach like different templates that

you could choose with you know varying degrees

of images and text I'm still in the middle of

writing the text for it but I have all the images

high -res images selected and then yeah they're

gonna they're gonna create a I don't know how

much of it they didn't say I couldn't say anything

so I just I'm spilling the beans on it but yeah

I I submitted I'm like yeah I definitely want

to do this so I can't wait to see the final project

of this it's it's got me kind of really really

stoked and I I love the whole concept and I love

the fact that it's gonna be all one giant story

kind of put together and so I mean that that

was pretty cool and then there's something else

that happened and it's in the convention front

and I submitted and I'm not gonna mention which

convention or anything and I gotta keep it hush

hush for right now as far as like the total what's

going on with it but I submitted some art to

a convention that's kind of local with me and

They were doing an art contest and they started

beginning of February or something maybe late

January something something like that anyways,

they were looking to redo or have people design

their their brochure covers and their convention

badges and they wanted art, but they didn't I

Think I didn't read it clearly enough or they

didn't specify or whatever, but they wanted,

they didn't want a mascot, but they wanted something

that conveyed the purpose of the convention to

people. And I designed two different designs,

one of them for the badges and one of them for

the brochure. And they were very similar, but

it was a lesser degree on the brochure. and I

put a lot of stuff that I saw on their site and

kind of like I pieced it together and kind of

made it fit them really well and They kind of

Didn't hear anything about it and then earlier

this week. I was gonna email them and then funny

enough hours later they emailed me and informed

me that they were going to use my brochure cover

one and I was like Oh really, that's awesome.

So I'm gonna get to be a, I won the contest for

that so I get to go to the convention as a, you

know, kind of a guest type of scenario. So it's,

and I'll have my name plastered on the brochure,

not to sit here and gloat or anything because

I'm not, I'm just, it's really excited that.

Two things I've done artistically have turned

out well. I'm also doing a project on Fiverr.

I don't know if you've heard of it, f -i -v -e

-r -r .com. And I am doing freelance graphic

design is more so what I meant to say. And I'm

hoping that... Can make a little bit extra money

by doing that I'm not sure how much but I'm I'm

hoping that it turns out pretty well Because

I honestly would like to do I love graphic design.

I love designing logos. I love designing graphics

I just redesigned the geek cast radio comm Graphic

for the new site that I'm building that I haven't

told anybody about till just now I'm gonna redo

it again. I'm not happy with the current design.

I really want to do something different with

it So I'm kind of going for a totally new look

and I think that people will like it pretty well,

so we'll have to see. But yeah, I think that

about rounds it out this week. I've had a lot

of fun conversing. I hope you guys have had a

lot of fun listening and hope that there have

been some things that you guys have been interested

in. What was your favorite part of this episode

and What's something you'd like to hear next

week? I know that when I get the other guys on

I'm gonna talk about something with podcasting

It's been it's been partially fleshed out We

have There will be an episode next week and it

will be pre Batman v Superman I Meant to talk

about that a little bit on this show But I'm

kind of gonna save it for next week because it's

gonna be the day before it comes out And I'm

gonna be going the night it comes out with Booth

Ninja, Mike Booth Ninja, so it's gonna be fun.

I can't wait to see the movie. I'm pretty geeked.

I love anything Batman, so despite what I complain

about with the new movie, I'm gonna see it. So

yeah, until next time, get Altered Geeky with

the Altered Geeks.