Star Trek Beyond Trailer

Some how I missed the memo on the new Star Trek movie coming out this summer. I don't know how I managed it, but none the less it is coming, and it even has a teaser trailer! 

Civil War Preview

The first trailer has hit the interwebs. And I already feel bad for the characters. There is one scene in the trailer that is a literal shot to the heart.

The Professional Gamer - November 23, 2015

I must report that I may have fallen off the the wagon this week.  You see, I started reading The Lord of the Rings again.  When I was middle school and high school, reading through LotR was an annual ritual for me.  As I moved onto college and, later, a career.  I found it harder to keep up with my regular habit.  I think the last time I actually read through the books was during graduate school.  I still really love Tolkien's prose, and the slow unfolding of the plot.

At other times, I read a few more pages of The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage.  As I've written before, this is a really fun comic, with a fun blend of slapstick humor and discussion of the historic context via footnotes.

That's all that I have going on this week.  I'll see you all again next week.  Game on!

The Professional Gamer - November 16, 2015

Hello again readers! I've had one of those weeks with a completely normal load at work, but way to many things to do outside of work hours.  I'm a bit limited on what I can talk about this week, but let's proceed anyway.

I discovered Seven Deadly Sins this week.  I find that I'm a bit ambivalent about the series.  It provides some fun action.  But, for reasons that I don't entirely understand, the male protagonists fits the lecherous trope that tends to be rather common in anime.  In spite of my ambivalence, I've already watched more than 13 episodes.  The world building is good, and the secondary characters are interesting.  Its available on Netflix streaming, which means you won't waste any "real" money if you give the series a chance.  I think it is worth at least that chance.

In postal news, I received my copy of Eat More Comics, which is a collection of comics the were published by The Nib over the past few years.  I haven't had a chance to read through much yet, but the book itself is beautiful.  If you missed the Kickstarter campaign, the book is for sale on TopatoCo. 

That's all I've got for this week.  Have a great week and game on!

2015 Denver Comic Con Silent Auction

Are you already doing your Christmas shopping? Looking for a unique and one of a kind item for that special person on your list? Well have I got news for you then! Denver Comic Con has announced their 2015 Silent Auction. This auction will include "some of the signed memorabilia and original art that has been collected from Denver Comic Con and other organizational events as well as items donated from its partner organizations Colorado Rockies, Colorado Avalanche, and Denver Film Society".  Proceeds from the auction will benefit the non-profit group Pop Culture Classroom. So you can get some Christmas shopping done and feel good about yourself!

So when an where is this going down? Well you can find it at Breckenridge Brewery at 2990 Brewery Lane in Littleton, CO on November 14, 2015 at 7:00 PM.

The event is free for those the RSVP on the following site: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/denver-comic-cons-silent-auction-tickets-19267588877

The Professional Gamer - November 9, 2015

This has been an especially fun week for me, with two activities really dominating my geeky life this week.  For that reason, I'm going to change up my usual article format in order to focus more on those two activities. 

Mad Max: Fury Road: This movie came out earlier this year, and continuing in my long absence from the cinema (the only movies I've seen at a theater have been The Hobbit series).  This has to mark one occasion in which I am thoroughly ambivalent about missing a film in theater.  On one hand, the movie was a spectacle that could certainly be improved by a theater screen and sound system.  On the other hand, the whole thing could have become rather overwhelming very quickly.  Regardless, the movie was really great, with interesting character development among the protagonists.  I enjoy how, although they certainly share a common enemy, are not immediately ready to cooperate.  Also, the fact that there is a diverse cast really adds to the storytelling.  I especially loved the Vuvalini who make an appearance later in the movie.  The action is well paced, with periods of calm and narrative interspersed throughout.  If, like me, you haven't taken time for this movie yet, I recommend that you get to it soon.

Welcome to Night Vale Live: I also went to see a live version of Welcome to Night Vale.  The live performance included musical guest Eliza Rickman, who performed several songs prior to the main event, as well as performing as "The Weather".  Per request by the performers, I'm not going to reveal much about the plot of the episode.  I will only say that it involves murder most foul.  Keep an eye out to see if the WTNV crew is headed to your town, and pick up some tickets.  There was some great audience participation, and a whole lot of fun along the way.

The Welcome to Night Vale cast and musical guest Eliza Rickman.

That's all that I have for this week.  Have a great week and game on!

The Professional Gamer - November 2, 2015

I can't believe that we are already in November.  Thanksgiving will be here before we know it.  But lets not look too far ahead.  What have I been doing this week?  More of the usual, I have to say.

Watching:  I may have mentioned this earlier, but America's Test Kitchen is one of my favorite PBS programs.  I recently found out that last year's season of ATK is available on Netflix, and have been watching through that.  Netflix recommendations being what they are, I also discovered The Poisoner's Handbook, which is a wonderful documentary about the birth of forensic science.  I love seeing the evolution of science, especially in it practical application.  In this case, we get to see the development of methods used to detect poisons (or the metabolites of poisons) in the human body.  They also discuss the presentation of scientific evidence in court, and the challenge of convincing judges and juries about the degree of certainty in the evidence.

Playing: This week has again been a very limited gaming.  Just a small amount of Guild Wars again.

Reading: I haven't ended up with much time for reading this week, and have opted to read news and opinion articles, rather than fiction.  If you're interested in looking through my reading list, go ahead and follow me on Twitter or Tumblr.

That's all for this week.

The Professional Gamer - October 26, 2015

Hi everyone! I hope you all have had a great week and enjoyed your weekend. We're getting close to Halloween, which of course leads to this:

This week has been a lot of fun, watching some fun TV series and reading some great comics.  

Playing: In terms of gaming this week, all that I've done is playing a few hours of Guild Wars 2.

Watching: This week I spent time watching through the Green Lantern: The Animated Series that was produced recently.  It's very much a kid series, but is still a lot of fun.  As hinted above, I also re-watched the entirety of Over the Garden Wall this last week, and it is still an amazing series.

Reading: This week, I read the first volume of Mystery Babylon, which I purchased at Denver Comic Con due to a strong resemblance to The Slayers.  The series so far is a lot of fun, but I feel like I need to read some more to develop a more informed opinion of it.  I've also started reading The Thrilling Adventure of Lovelave and Babbage, a mostly factual comic of Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, the world's first computer scientists.  This book is dense, with lots of historical references and footnotes.  I've not even made it through one chapter yet, because I've had to spend so much time reading through all the notes.  But, I'm loving every minute of it.