IN WHICH the Dude abides and mana is tapped.
Briana's pick: Lebowski Fest!
Okay, so here is a list of a few things that may be considered nerdy:
- dressing up in costume
- quizzes
- obsessively quoting and/or referencing a film
- bowling
Can you find a connection? If you said Lebowski Fest, mark it 8, dude. You’re entering a world of nerd.
Following in the tradition of Star Wars, Star Trek, and The Evil Dead, the Achievers over at Lebowski Fest central are in town this weekend to celebrate all things Lebowski. And by all things—I mean ALL things (marmot fling!). Now is your chance to dress up as your favorite character from the film (or better yet—take a line quoted by a character, mix in some existentialism, irony, creative stitching and bring it to life!), get together with all your Big Lebowski obsessed friends and bowl a few rounds while you’re at it.
Obsessing has never been so fun, and bowling has never been so cool. Seriously. Never. Admit it! The Lebowski Fest is a totally geek-stravaganza! GET READY TO ROLLLLLLL! (p.s. don’t forget to stretch first).
James' pick: Magic: The Gathering on the Xbox
About 15 years ago, I spent a little bit too much time and way too much money on a card game called Magic: The Gathering. It was the first "collectible card game," meaning that instead of typical card games, where the deck of 52 is the same every time, players build their own decks.
This had an insidiously addictive effect. The more cards you bought, the better your deck could be. And, the cards had varying levels of rarity. Imagine a card game played with baseball cards, where the rare Mickey Mantle card is more powerful than others because of its rarity. It's kinda like that, but with dragons and angels and swords and fireball spells and stuff. It's a really well-balanced game, it's smart, and it rewards creative thinking, i.e. putting together innovative card combinations (which are essentially infinite in number).
I gave up the game a long time ago – I have too many expensive habits as it is – but I'm like a kid in a candy store right now because they've finally made a good electronic version of it. And it's only ten bucks! It's an Xbox exclusive called "Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers" (if that's not a nerdy title I don't know what is). It's self-contained, meaning that you don't have to buy anything else. It's got a great campaign game, the interface is awesome, and it's just plain fun.
[podcast]http://archive.wfpk.org/Podcasts/20090710-nerdy.mp3[/podcast]