Author Archives: BrothersGeekadmin

Twenty Eight: Holy Technical Issues Batman!

recorded on February 18th, 2015

Warning, we were having some internet problems while recording, so sorry for the poor quality and the choppiness, we suspect Hydra of this wrong doing of coarse

We report on Marvel Films and Sony Pictures reaching a deal to share Spider-Man in the MCU, first appearance will likely be in “Captain America: Civil War”

Seen:

“Jupiter Ascending” discussion. All argue; hilarity and hurt feelings happen in equal measure.

Chris and his wife Susan are rewatching “Stargate SG1”, nostalgia abounds.

Chris is binge-watching “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” which is really quite entertaining, hyper violence and hyper T&A.

Patrick re-watching “Star Trek: Voyager” with his Partners In Crime and Friends of the Show Shane and Gabby.

Read:

Andrew is current with “Batman: Eternal”. The series is wrapping up in the next few weeks and he is excited to see how it resolves.

Christopher is only slightly behind with “B.E” and is re-listening to the Dresden Files for the third time. They are his go-to audio books for the car.

Patrick has downloaded “A Dance with Dragons” on Audible. It is almost as long as Britney Spears’s first marriage.

Played:

Destiny Weekly Nightfall Stike is run by the Brothers Geek Fire-Team. We got that radiance!

Christopher plays “Evolve”. The game’s Monster vs Hunters clashes are satisfying, the controls are not immediately intuitive though.

Patrick plays “Forbidden Island”. His board game foray continues. He hasn’t encounterred a bad one yet.

Trivia:

Name all of Lord Voldemort’s Horcruxes. It’s too easy again.

We agree we must attend a bar trivia night and dominate.

Reflections of a New Gamer

By Andrew Schmaltz

Something happened recently, something I never would have expected to bring me joy or a sense of accomplishment. Something totally intangible but still completely weighted with the power of time spent and skill achieved.

This thing that happened that made me feel so good? I leveled my Titan to 30 light in “Destiny”.

I am not a gamer, in the strictest sense of the word. I have an Xbox 360. I pay the yearly subscription for an Xbox Live Gold Membership. I am a fan of the Halo franchise in that I buy the game and play the campaign. But I don’t clamor for the new Call of Duty. (Honestly I find those who play endless hours of PVP deeply annoying). I don’t even really like The Batman Arkham series. And I love Batman is almost all his forms.

So why has Destiny affected me so? It is not a perfect game, far from it. Level 30 isn’t even the level -cap so it’s not like I “beat the game”. Games like “Destiny” aren’t beaten, only played. And I have not developed a community of players to share the gaming with. The Brothers Geek don’t play together all that regularly (mostly a function of our differing schedules). And I wouldn’t even say I am that GOOD at the game. I don’t score the most “kills” when the Brothers Geek do play together. I die consistently more than my brothers. I don’t have the best armor in the game or the best weapons. I have never even been inside the Raids.

Is this addiction? Is it merely compulsion? I can’t just be that. I don’t get a dopamine hit every time I play. Is this why people play golf? No one will ever be as good as Tiger was, likely ever again. No golfer can honestly think they will be. But they still do it. They find joy in the attempt to push themselves to swing just a little bit better. So that might be it. I have had just enough success to keep me coming back. I have enough good swings to make the next round worth it. The next round, I’ll hit further and I won’t just par the hole, I’ll birdie it.

Or I just gave up and needed to contribute to the Podcast more.

Twenty Seven: Pustules are Abundant

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Recorded January 28th, 2015

We are joined by Special Guest Brother-in-Law Geek Shawn Bratton

Marvel News abounds!

We discuss and dissect the “Fantastic Four” trailer and argue, heatedly, about the Marvel Comics cross-over event “Secret Wars”

Seen:

Shawn brings it strong with “Battestar Galactica” re-watch.

Christopher honestly raves about “Helix” and “12 Monkeys”

Andrew syndromes about “Black Sails” Season 2 premiere

Patrick can only see the sexism in “Agent Carter” after last episode’s discussion.

Read:

Chris and Patrick love “The Martian”. Seriously, it gets uncomfortable for a minute.

Shawn talks about the only comic he is reading “Thor” and recommends “The Foundation Series” by Asimov.

Andrew has fallen deep into “Dune”.

Played:
Patrick continues his table top streak with “Pandemic”

Shawn gets great value for his money with “Clash of Clans”

Christopher plays lots of things. “WoW”, “Diablo” “Destiny” and “The Banner Saga” He needs to sleep more.

Andrew plays “Destiny”. All praise him for transforming into a damn Gamer already.

Trivia:

Two “Star Trek” films, “The Wrath of Khan” and “First Contact”, quote a Great American Novel. Name the novel and author. Turns out this is actually pretty easy.

Twenty Six: 2015 is going to suck!

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Happy Birthday to Christopher’s daughter, Kristin, who turned 15 the day before we recorded this episode!

Happy Birthday to Daniel’s daughter, Katelynn, who turned 13 the day of this episode!

Kristin received a “Supernatural” Con ticket from her parents for her birthday. She cried tears of joy.
We discuss the “Con culture” of Gold level passes for Supernatural Con.

We discuss the casting of Scarlett Johansson as the lead in “Ghost in the Shell” also we examine the lack of box office hits in the recent Oscar Nominations.

Seen:

All discuss “Agent Carter” We all enjoy it to varying degrees. Chris and Andrew are troubled by the heavy-handedness of the some of the show’s themes. Hayley Atwell is a delight.
Christopher watches the premieres of “Helix” and “12 Monkeys” on SyFy. “Helix” is particularly strong.
Andrew watches “Galavant” really because nothing is on on Sunday nights anymore.

Read:Andrew is caught up on “Batman:Eternal”. All applaud his diligence. The series has resumed its narrative momentum. Patrick finishes “The Fellowship of the Ring”. He loves the world of “Middle Earth”Chris reads Book two of the “Powder Mage” trilogy. Also he is current with “Iron Fist” story is strong. He is not impressed with the art style.

Played:Christopher has discovered “Banner Saga” for his tablet. He is very absorbed.Andrew gets a very rare weapon drop in “Destiny”. It requires copious grinding to upgrade. Patrick had it drop once before he didn’t know what it was and dismantled it. He is ashamed of himself. Patrick describes a table top game “Betrayal at House on the Hill” It’s intricate and rewarding.

Trivia: How many total minutes for all 6 films in the original and prequel “Star Wars” trilogies? Someone gets it right!

2015: The Year of Supreme Geekery?

We here at Brothers Geek obviously embrace our geekiness (it’s in the name, for frakking sake), but just what does “geek” or “geekery” mean to us? And why do I say that 2015 might be or should be the year of supreme geekery?Brothers Geek started with a simple premise – brothers, with shared strong interests, gathering to talk about the things that we like to talk about, marvel at, argue about, and express our heartfelt joy in each other and these worlds that we like to inhabit. Sometimes, ad nauseum…. (Yes, Andrew, I’m Syndroming.)

Therein lies the essence of “geek” for me – that shared joy, and deep exploration of common interests in things that weren’t necessarily “mainstream” culture (this, of course, is changing
dramatically. Things that were “geek” just 10 years ago, almost everyone embraces.) But, just
because you might use a piece of tech (smartphone or computer) or really enjoy something
(Avengers, Game of Thrones, Guardians of the Galaxy), doesn’t mean you are a geek.
Geeks take deep dives into those things we love.

We are not content to see the movie 3 times, we must read all the comics the characters are based on, read all the books, and encyclopedias, and fan fiction. We watch Japanese anime (by definition geeky), and learn about the tech of a sci fi world, magic systems governing the fantasy world, figure out the nuances of game design that speak to us, and generally we freak when a new Star Wars movie is announced and gets closer to release. Insert your interest here…
2015 can be the year of supreme geekery for us and you, because it is the opportunity to fully embrace those things that make our spirit move, engage our mind and emotions to extremes, and truly live by finding something we want to be geeky about. We’ll be along for the ride with you (or maybe not, if your stuff is too weird even for us) and hopefully, you with us.

And remember, Han shot first.

– Chris

Twenty Five: Loot Drops and the Font of Useless Knowledge

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New Year, same Goof Balls.

We discuss New Year’s Resolutions, goals for the next 365 days and the arbitrary-ness of the human year.

Seen:

Andrew gets caught up in a “Harry Potter” marathon on cable. He is powerless against it. Chris and Andrew discuss “The Imitation Game”. It’s entertaining high art. All the boys talk the most recent “Hobbit” film and the trilogy as a whole. We are all disappointed. Patrick finishes “The Legend of Korra” and finds its surprise ending a little too surprising.

Read:

Andrew is current with “Thor”. The story is great and art is flawless. Chris approves as well. Christopher continues to put us all to shame by being current on “Batman: Eternal”. Patrick is 10 hours into listening to “The Fellowship of the Ring” on Audible. he has 3,984 hours left. (That’s an exaggeration, but not by much).

Played:

Christopher is sucked into Garrison Management in the “World of Warcraft”. It’s fun but time consuming.

All discuss “Destiny” Andrew has gotten lucky with three Legendary drops in 10 days. It has renewed his affection for the game.

Patrick and Chris both received table top games for Christmas. They are excited to dive in.

Trivia:

The boys are challenged to guess the World Record completion of Crota’s End raid in “Destiny” The correct answer is astonishing.

New Album art! New Episode will be Posted soon! Art by Shane Moyo!

Twenty Four: Holiday Geekery, The Brothers Geek live!

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A very special episode. Patrick is in Phoenix! We record live before an audience of family, we share nostalgic holiday memories, we recap our year in geekery, we all drink, and most importantly, Brother Daniel joins us and out geeks us in an unexpected way.

Discussed:

All share favorite holiday memory, classic holiday movies are discussed, nostalgic television is revisited, and Daniel and Christopher recount “King of the Mountain” on Grandpa Hanson’s farm. They are lucky they survived.

Favorites of 2014

Seen:

Andrew continues his love fest with “The Force Awakens” trailer. His love of Star Wars has been re-awakened. (That’s an unfortunate pun, but necessary.)
Daniel watched the “Power Rangers Mega Force” series finale with his son Joey. Dozens of past Rangers appear and take on the forces of Evil.

Christopher loved “The Winter Solider” also “Guardians of the Galaxy”. Both were particularly special in the MCU

Patrick will miss “The Legend of Korra”. He is behind in episodes (the series finale is online now) but is sad to see the show go.

Read:

In just three issues Christopher is loving Walt Simonson’s “Ragnarok” comic.

Andrew’s favorite is “the Queen of the Tearling” The boys still make fun of him thinking it’s a YA novel. He takes it because he knows they are wrong.

Patrick sings the praises of “Dune”. He calls it “life changing”

Daniel brings it strong, impresses with my management geekery. He read business and management books. He schools us and we appreciate it.

Played:

Daniel played “Skylanders” and “Mario Kart 8”. He drives Toad, plays the original kart, equipped with the rainbow parachute.

Andrew describes hite story mission in “Destiny”. You get to swing a big sword. He’s happy.

Christopher raves about “Diablo III”. It hits all the right notes.

Patrick also discusses “Destiny”, the co-op aspects are strongest for him.

Trivia:

How many total minutes have we recorded this year? Christopher is right!

From all of us at the Brothers Geek, have a wonderful and safe holiday season. We shall see you all in 2015!

Episode Twenty three: Do the Fremen celebrate Christmas?

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Discussed:

Our collective Man-Crush Benedict Cumberbatch will be Doctor Strange. He’s never bad and usually extremely good in everything. We approve.

Marvel projects on Netflix will be abundant. Is over saturation approaching?

“Terminator:Genisys” trailer debuts. It has a unpronounce-able name, a crusty old Arnold and Daenerys Targaryen with brown hair. We remain skeptical.

Correction: Andrew identified the “not ugly” woman in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” as Eliza Taylor when in fact her name is Teresa Palmer.

Seen:

Comic Book show Mid-season finales are discussed in detail. Some are stronger than others, however, we remain hopeful for all. Patrick continues his Netflix/Anime trek and reports on “Sword Art Online”. Christopher and Andrew are intrigued.

Read:

Patrick finishes “Dune”. It’s amazing. He will continue the series. He has started “Storm Front” on his Audible app.

Christopher is current with “Batman: Eternal”. It has become an act of will.

Andrew read Invincible #15. Battle Beast returns and he remains bat-sh*t.

Played:

Christopher has level capped his “main” on WoW. He is enjoying building his garrison. He has followers. It’s all terribly MMO-ey.

All the Boys play “The Dark Below”, “Destiny’s” first expansion. We are enjoying the new content. The Quest missions are challenging.

Patrick describes the new raid, Crota’s End. The words “insane”, “hard”, and “fun” are all used in different combinations.

Trivia:

Name the highest grossing “Christmas” film ever and it’s box office take.

The Boys are nowhere close.

Twenty Two:Midichlorians Not Needed for Us to be Awake

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Twenty Two: Midchlorians Not Needed for Us to be Awake

Patrick gets us off and running with a new introduction. We still laugh at him.

We have a deeply moving Thanksgiving recap from all three of us. We are brothers after all.

Discussion topic

STAR WARS EPISODE VII TEASER DEBUTS AND IT’S AWESOME AND YES I AM YELLING AS I WRITE THIS! We dissect it shot by shot.

“Jurassic World” trailer debuts. It evokes the fun and wonder of the original “Jurassic Park”

Seen:

Christopher and Andrew watch “The Walking Dead” mid-season finale. Gut-wrenching death is discussed. Patrick watched “Big Hero 6”. Its sparked an interesting discussion of gender roles in animated films.

Read:

We all have stacks of comics to catch up on. Christopher continues to work hard on “Batman Eternal”

Patrick and Andrew report on “Dune”. Chris does not relent. We must read “Lord of The Rings” also to meet his definition of “geek’

Played:

Christopher reports on WoW expansion fun. Resource Management sounds lame but it’s a fun aspect of World of Warcraft.

Andrew is farming Upgrade Materials in “Destiny”. As the least experienced Gamer, he finds this incredibly tedious. Patrick has reached the level cap of 30. Fireteam Brothers Geek still has not run the Vault of Glass.

Trivia:

How many daily players does “Destiny” average? The boys both overshoot