Author: somegeektoldme@gmail.com

Who loves Christmas Movies?

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Movies

I want to talk about Christmas movies. Why? Over the last few weeks and with Christmas less than a week away, we seem to be drowning in Christmas movies. They’re everywhere, they’re cringey, and they’re terrible, right?

Well, that’s not 100% accurate. Apart from the fact that most Christmas movies are set in the Northern Hemisphere, with winter and snow; which to someone living in the Southern Hemisphere, means it’s not a surprise that I have a problem relating to these movies.

I mean watching an inspiring Christmas movie about people finding love and having a white Christmas, when it’s 28 °C outside my house, is quite surreal. A summer Christmas is where snowmen come to die, after all. Anyway, that topic is for a future blog. Can’t wait for that one!

Image by JamesDeMers from Pixabay

Now let’s get back to today’s rant. Not all Christmas movies suck, some of them I actually like and in some cases, I actually love them.

I thought about what type of Christmas blog I could write about, and this was the best one; though I have been known to being wrong in the past. From time to time.

Below I have a list of 16 Christmas movies, that I have judged worthy enough to be here, based on three easy criteria.

1.) I needed to have seen the movie, whether on television, DVD or at the cinema.

2.) The movie must be some kind of Christmas story, or at least, the story is happening at Christmas. This is regardless of genre.

3.) I need to actually like or love the movie.

I will give you some warnings though; not all of these movies are typical traditional Christmas movies. Also this list contains two stories that have been adapted into four movies; A Christmas Carol with two movies and How the Grinch Stole Christmas! with two movies. These movies still fit within my criteria.

For the sake of simplicity, I have sorted them by order of chronological release, not by awesomeness. However, the final entry is very special to me.

I have included the title and a trailer with each entry, because…I’m a geek. Please enjoy.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (1977)

Trading Places (1983)

Die Hard (1988)

Home Alone (1990)

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

(We watch this movie with UMC1 and UMC2, every Christmas Day)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

The Preacher’s Wife (1996)

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Elf (2003)

Bad Santa (2003)

Love Actually (2003)

Black Nativity (2013)

Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch (2018)

8-Bit Christmas (2021)

Welcome to the final entry, because in my very humble opinion, this is my favourite Christmas movie. I loved it then and I still love it now. Always.

Scrooged (1988)

So that’s it. What did you think of the list? Do you agree or disagree with any entries? I do realise I haven’t seen every single Christmas movie, so did I omit your favourite Christmas movies? Please let me know.

Since next Sunday is Christmas Day, I’ll be posting a short blog then, and not on the usual Monday. My aim is to spend some extra time with UMC1 and UMC2, so the blog will be smaller. I hope you understand.

Also congratulations to Argentina on winning their third FIFA World Cup. That was a batshit crazy game! Can you imagine the amount of hangovers that country is going to have?!

Anyway, thanks for following, read a banned book, walk your dog and I’ll see you on Christmas Day.

Professor Brian Cox’s HORIZONS – A 21st Century Space Odyssey

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People, Science

I want to talk about Brian Cox. Why? Oh this is easy! I attended Professor Brian Cox’s HORIZONS – A 21st Century Space Odyssey, in Dunedin on the 6th December. It was at the Regent Theatre, which if you have never visited ole Dunners, it sits in the heart of the city. No, not U Bar or the Bog, but the Octagon!

I wanted to see the show because living in New Zealand, we don’t get that many famous international scientists coming here and giving presentations that are open to the public. Having just said that, I’ve been very fortunate in the last five years, to see and meet Neil deGrasse Tyson and Michio Kaku. I do have some photos of me standing next to them, with Tyson and Kaku looking amazing, whereas I’m looking like a stunned deer trapped in headlights.

As I was saying, the Regent Theatre was actually pretty intimate, because I had managed to score a front row seat in the Upper Circle. I secured my precious ticket through pre-sales; I’m so predictable. Anyway, it’s quite funny because after being shown to my seat by an attendant, I felt like a vague minor celebrity, mistaken for someone far more important. To prove this point, I wore my Schrodinger’s cat t-shirt, as well as my Spider-Man socks, the pair with a hole in the heel of the left sock. What’s that you ask?, “How do I know which is the left sock?” My response is, “How would I not know?”

I’m sorry about the photo, I’m a crap photographer.

I promised myself I would purchase something from the presentation; whether it was a sticker, a book, or an old banana skin signed by Cox. And sure enough, there was a small table situated just inside the foyer. After looking at all of the items and comparing how much money I didn’t have because of my minor budget, I decided to buy the Horizons booklet. 

This of course was an entertaining read, while I waited for the whole thing to kick off. I would also like to mention that when I told UMC2 that I was going to a science lecture, he wanted me to ask Brian Cox if he knew anything about fossils, especially marine fossils. I told him that Brian Cox was not a paleontologist, so he probably didn’t study fossils.

UMC2 was not happy with that answer and politely stated in his own way, that Brian Cox couldn’t be a real scientist, if he didn’t know anything about fossils. There’s nothing like getting burnt by a 4 year old.

Anyway let’s talk about the actual show, to which I was quite impressed with. Among the different topics that he covered, Brian Cox talked about the general theory of relativity, black holes, Schwarzschild Equations, stellar evolution, world lines, Roy Kerr (New Zealand mathematician), quantum theory, quantum entanglement, Hawking radiation and virtual particles, and some other things as well. 

Cox was also joined by his Infinite Monkey Cage partner, Robin Ince. He gave the audience some great pearls of wisdom for learning and understanding science. Ince was quite funny, so he’s why I want to revisit some of the Infinite Monkey Cage episodes now.

I believe that it’s the smallest things in life, that can give you the greatest amount of pleasure. Case in point, when Cox was explaining something or when it was leading into something, my Spidey-Sense was saying, “Yeah, I know where are you going with this. I understand it.”

When I say understand, I obviously mean not to the level of anyone with a PhD. I’m talking about grassroots basic science. It did make me think, “Wow, all these books I’ve read and the hours of watching science videos on YouTube, means I have not been wasting my life. Maybe.” It’s always nice to understand at least 10% of what a scientist is explaining to you in a presentation. Awesome.

Once again I’m sorry about the photo, I’m a crap photographer.

Overall the show had great special effects and amazing information, as well as excellent interactions with the audience. I really enjoyed it, because Brian Cox and Robin Ince were fantastic. It’s made me; dare I say it, fall in love with science communication all over again, because it’s something I really want to write more of. Sorry. Which is why I’m going to write more science based content. Though whether my work is good or funny, that’s for someone else to judge. Wow, what a cop out!

Speaking of more content, I’m already on Twitter, but I’ve also joined Mastodon; just so I can do more things, instead of sleeping that will actually help me. I post daily stuff on Twitter at 7 am (NZ Time) and 6 pm-8 pm (NZ Time) on Mastodon, so please visit me if you have the time. Let’s see how stressed I can get with this.

Thanks for reading and following Some Geek Told Me. Please walk your dog, read a banned book, and do yourself a favour; go and watch Croatia vs Argentina in the 1st semi-final this week, then Morocco vs France in the 2nd semi-final. They should be great, unless they’re not. See you next Monday.

A Geek Christmas Tree

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Children

This is a short and special blog post today; well, short for me anyway. We put up our new Christmas Tree late last month, after donating the other one, so I thought I’d share some of the geek related Christmas decorations we have on it.

Because this is the first year with the new tree, UMC1 and UMC2 wanted to change the centre piece decoration. Usually it would have been a Christmas star, sitting on top of the tree. However after a lengthy discussion with the boys, my talented wife, and one paper mache project later, we now have on top of our tree, a Christmas Death Star that is fully armed and operational.

The next two decorations were former Christmas presents and they’re easy to explain. I mean, what’s Christmas without the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel?!

UMC1 and UMC2 wanted to make some special decorations for me this year, because I usually miss out on putting the tree up. They used some modelling clay and their theme was Star Wars, because they know I love it.

Here is Yoda made by UMC1, age 7. Amazing!

This is R2-D2 by UMC2, age 4. UMC2 wanted to be extremely accurate, so he drew on R2-D2 to make him look real. This is what he told me. Fantastic!

So that’s it for today. Like I said, just a short and special one. Next week’s post will be about my trip to see Professor Brian Cox’s HORIZONS – A 21st Century Space Odyssey. I’ve been waiting for this, because I have a reputation of being a geek to uphold. Thanks for following, walk your dog, read a banned book and I’ll see you next Monday.

Happy Two Year Anniversary

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Blogs, Social Media

I know the world is a little crazy at the moment with the World Cup; climate change; interest rates and cost of living rising; Russia forgetting how to read a map; the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has survived past five weeks; and Twitter is doing what Twitter does best; trolling people.

Having said that, I just wanted to point out that this week, I’m celebrating two years of Some Geek Told Me. In the history of humanity, this achievement is not quite ready to be cemented into the history books, but that’s ok with me.

So looking back over another year, what have I learnt?

  • I’m still enjoying this, though my pay rate is still pretty bad. I mean after two years, I still haven’t had a pay rise. I’ll have to continue on with my $0.0 hourly rate.
  • Every time someone leaves a comment, I’m like a kid that has just been told the school has been flooded and I need to stay home.
  • My wife reading one of my posts, just to remind me that I’m not as funny as I think I am.
  • I still get halfway through writing a post, then realise that it’s not humorous at all.
  • I’ve created a list for future blogs, by writing down key words. I just need to remember what the key words mean.
  • Proofreading and editing my work at 11 pm is still a stupid thing to do, but I’m still doing it.
  • Various sports this year featuring World Cups, have greatly aged me, along with help from UMC1 and UMC2.
  • I told my parents about the blog and they wanted to know if I got paid for it. I changed the topic very quickly.
  • I’ve written about various people in pop culture that have died this year, but I failed to write about all of them.
  • I should do more reviews about different projects that I like, while trying to sound funny; emphasising on being funny.
  • I’m not reading enough content of the amazing bloggers out there.
  • I’m still trying to create some more entertaining science communication posts, but still sounding original.
  • It’s the Kiwi in me, but I’m still trying to promote the blog, without promoting the blog.
Image by Philip Wels from Pixabay

That’s it for today. I know this post was small, but I have another blog post coming out on Thursday. Thanks for reading, go watch the World Cup, walk your dog, read a banned book and I’ll see you on Thursday.

U.S. Elections: Exporting ideas to the World

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Geography, Politics2 Comments

I want to talk about the U.S. elections. Why? That’s a very interesting question, considering I’m not a U.S. citizen and not able to vote in their elections. So that being the case, why would I have an opinion or have anything at all to say about another nation’s democratic elections? 

That is another great question. Wow, I’m full of them today, aren’t I? 

The dust is still settling after the U.S. midterm elections, with the Democrats retaining the Senate and the Republicans taking the House, while Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock will be involved in a run off on 6th December, for the Georgia Senate race. Though if Walker does lose, it appears he has a back up job as a vampire-hunting werewolf.

I find the whole American election process quite fascinating, however this blog is looking at how the United States of America and their elections, actually exports ideas.

For context, I live in the South Island of New Zealand. If you don’t know where we are, find a world map and look down in the South Pacific Ocean. Though to be fair, we are getting missed off maps recently, so that doesn’t help. Anyway, with just a hop, skip and a jump to the North East and across the Pacific Ocean, is the United States.

Image by Mary Pahlke from Pixabay

Living in New Zealand is quite odd, because of how much American culture has been actually being incorporated into our own culture.

We have an abundance of American culture here. Some easy food examples of these would be McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Dominos, Pizza Hut, KFC, Subway, and recently Taco Bell; which I have to be perfectly honest, I really want to try. Not that I’m expecting too much of the food, but it’s just the fact that we have Taco Bell now, so I just want to tick that box off my list.

We also have a steady diet of American literature in the form of magazines, comics, newspapers and of course, books. A whole lot of books.

There’s also television and streaming services, where the majority of content on our limited amount of channels is American, with a dash of British, Australian, and New Zealand shows. It would also be pretty remissive of me, not to also mention the massive impact American cinema and social media has had on this country.

The uncountable information about U.S. movies that are locked in my head, serve absolutely no purpose to humanity other than, “Oh cool, that’s a nice fact. Thanks for sharing, Scott!” is quite astounding.

Another way American culture has influenced us is fashion; which let’s be honest, I’ve only had two blogs about that, so I need to up the ante on social media fashion trends. Though I feel old every time I have to ask my wife about the new trend.

Of course all of this babbling, is steering towards politics. America is a superpower in the world. It’s a global leader, whether you like that or not, it just is. America influences the world with it’s choices and ideas, but also food, literature, cinema, fashion, and the list goes on and on.

America export ideas. Now you can debate about which ideas are positive or negative, but that’s up to the individual or each nation’s government. It doesn’t matter, but what does matter is that America is a trendsetter; the world looks to America.

If America started a campaign to ban Sour Cream and Chives crackers for some good reason, you only have to start looking at other countries to see whether they would follow suit or not. I’m not a big fan of that flavour; as you all know, so if there was a campaign to ban them, I would probably be alright with that.

Even though America is not the world, the choices and policy decisions their local and federal governments make, ripple across the world; they really do. Whether these ripples are social reforms, book banning, tax cuts, abortion, military spending; it doesn’t matter, America is the world’s leader and the world takes notice of what they’re doing.  

Because they export ideas, you would have to talk to every country to determine whether they like those ideas as well or if they will reject them. Some of these ideas are not exclusive to America, just like the fight against climate change.

You’ll probably thinking, “That’s all well and good, Scott, but what’s your point?”

Another amazing question asked, thanks for that. After the U.S. 2020 general election, sometime in late December, I saw something that, I’ll be honest with you, completely stunned me. As I was driving to my local discount supermarket, I looked over and I saw a Trump 2020 flag flying in someone’s front yard. I’d never seen that before. The Trump flag didn’t offend me, it was more the fact that it’s a campaign flag from another country over 10,000 km away. It’s around the same distance from New Zealand to China for comparison.

For me, I’m a little bit nervous. Next year is our general election which we hold every three years. I’m worried because there’s a possibility that next year, whether it’s a political party or an individual candidate that has lost fairly, will now have a back up plan. They just need to start saying that the election was rigged, or it was stolen. I find it hilarious and horrifying that’s a real possibility now, but I think the general public would call them out.

I care about America and their elections, because America is a global leader. Whatever positive or negative policies that are introduced and supported through their law makers, the repercussions of those policies vertebrate through each country in the world. They look at them and decide whether they are going to implement similar policies or if they are going to reject them. This includes us, through discussions at work, home, gyms, parliament, schools, and social media; especially social media.

If I was a better writer, I would have done a far greater job at conveying my point, so I’m sorry about that. I’d love to visit the United States of America one day, because I have a mental list of the things I would love to do. However, I do need to check their policies on Sour Cream and Chives and save a whole lot of money.

This is my 101st blog post, which over two years is quite pathetic; however this ridiculous project does keep me off the streets and away from sports bars, just so my wife can watch me. She’s doing it right now, sitting in the same room as me, pretending to read one of the Outlander books, but I know the truth.

With Christmas less than a month away, take it easy on yourself. Thanks for following, walk your dog, read a banned book, and I’ll see you next Monday.

Kevin O’Neill, Carlos Pacheco and Kevin Conroy: Three more Tōtaras lost

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Comics, People, Television

At the moment 2022 feels less like a year, but rather like a twisted Pokémon trainer that runs around and collecting comic icons, instead of Pokémon. Not only did we lose Neal Adams, George Perez, and Tim Sale this year, but quite recently, Kevin O’Neill, Carlos Pacheco, and Kevin Conroy, also died.

I don’t know what I can say about these three icons, that has not already been said before, by far better writers and journalists over the last few weeks. In saying that, I’d still like to say something.

Image by Emilie Farris from Pixabay

I can’t be sure, and it won’t come as a surprise; but I think the first time I saw Kevin’s art was with The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I do realise he had created a lot of art through 2000AD content, Marshal Law, and other material, but the League stands out to me.

I loved his attention to background detail, body proportions and facial expressions; so it meant that Kevin’s art was very recognisable. Have you ever seen a drawing of Daredevil, Green Lantern, Zorro, or any other character, and just by glancing at the art work, you could name the artist? Kevin’s art was like that for me, I could stare at a picture and realise, “Kevin O’Neill drew that, that’s Kevin’s.” I loved his art.

Kevin O’Neill, 2009. © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons

Speaking of loving art, I loved Carlos’ work for different reasons. His work grew on me, because I’d sometimes see his art ranging from Fantastic Four, Captain America, X-Men, Avengers, Inhumans, Excalibur, Green Lantern, The Flash, Superman, Arrowsmith, and so many more.

After discovering that the art I’m looking at belonged to Carlos, I would often comment about how he could draw anything, because it seemed like he was drawing everything on the shelf. I loved his range, but also his commitment to getting each panel to almost sing with positivity and direction.

Both Kevin and Carlos were masters of their beloved trade, and it showed through in the volumes of their work. They helped me to learn and discover new ways to appreciate stories, as well as being gobsmacked with stellar art work.

Carlos Pacheco, 2013. Abbyarcane/Wikimedia Commons

As for Kevin Conroy, well he was Batman’s voice, wasn’t he? I’m old enough to remember when Batman: The Animated Series was released, but young enough to have watched it. It was amazing and so was Kevin. Over the years, if I was watching an animated version of Batman voiced by Kevin, then I knew it was legit.

Through two decades and countless animated series and movies, coupled with his video game work and his live-action performance, Kevin was the definitive Batman. He brought more depth and range to the character than anyone beforehand, but also shone a spotlight on Bruce Wayne’s pain and compassion. He helped to flesh out Batman’s 2-D existence and dragged him by the cape, into our 3-D world. Damn it was glorious and it still is.

Kevin Conroy, 2021. Super Festivals/Wikimedia Commons

Thank you Kevin; Thank you Carlos; Thank you Kevin. I don’t know what else to say about three people that I never met, other than their work has brought a lot of happiness into millions of people’s lives and including my own; and will continue to do so.

This was another strange post to do, so I’m sorry about that. I’ll return to our regular weekly blog about nonsense next week. Thanks for following, go walk your dog, buy a banned book and I’ll see you next week.

Sport is Sport

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Sports

I’d like to interrupt my regular incoherent weekly blog, for the first of two special posts. The first one concerns sport, particularly rugby union, rugby league, football and cricket.

Whether you are aware of it or not; and I do apologise if you already do, but the 2021 Rugby World Cup1 was hosted by New Zealand, and the final was played on Saturday 12th November, between England and New Zealand, aka the Red Roses and the Black Ferns.

Running parallel to this tournament is the 2021 Rugby League World Cup2 which is currently being held in England. Also next year the 2023 FIFA World Cup will be co-hosted between Australia and New Zealand.

Now for those of you that are keeping score, I’ve just named three of my favourite sports, with the exception of cricket.

So what do these three tournaments have got to do with the price of milk and each other? That’s a no brainer, because all three tournaments are for female players. This is important; because I feel at least in my country, we’re at a point where women playing international sport that has been traditionally identified as male, is finally going to get primetime coverage, attention and recognition.

Firstly, the Black Ferns won on Saturday, claiming their 6th World Cup title. Along with England, they put on an amazing display of rugby, that showcases how fantastic the game is to the entire world. My wife, UMC1, UMC2 and myself have watched as many games as possible, and we have not been disappointed. This tournament has lifted the profile of the sport, maybe forever.

The Kiwi Ferns will also be playing England on Monday 14th November at 7.30 pm (local time) in the 2nd semi-final for the Rugby League World Cup. These games I’ve been watching via highlights because of the time zones difference; we’re 13 hours ahead of the United Kingdom. Added to the fact that next year, the best 32 football teams in the world, will travel to Australia and New Zealand to fight for football supremacy.

As a sports fan, a New Zealander, and as a human being, this is phenomenal. Across these codes; and yes, I am including cricket with this, these World Cups were only introduced recently; 1991 for rugby and football, 2000 for rugby league, and 1973 for cricket.

The Black Ferns celebrate winning the Rugby World Cup. (Source: Photosport)

What I’m driving at; and I’m going to sound corny, is that all of these players across these codes; are amazing. Simply amazing. Somewhere along the road, whether it was when they were a girl, teenager or as an adult, these players would have run into obstacles.

They may have been told that they couldn’t play their preferred sport, because it was only played by boys. It could have been they were told to just stick with sports, that are only played by girls, whether at school or at a club level. Maybe they were rejected for being the wrong size, height, or build.

There also could have been the issue of their school or community, not having the resources, staff, management or teams, to run a girls competition in rugby, rugby league, football or cricket. Maybe these players needed to travel hours to another town or city, to fit into a team that could take them in; committing to travel for trainings and games.

Whatever the case, they would have found an obstacle and discovered a way to climb over it, to go around it, and simply, to go through it. To me, sport is sport. You can have team sports like rugby, or individual sports like swimming, that deal in male or female competitions, and that’s fine. However, and it’s what I teach UMC1 and UMC2, there is no such thing as boys sport, or girls sport; there is only sport.

All of these players, regardless of their sport and country are inspirational. They are playing the sport they love; and they are also showing the current and next generation of players and supporters, that sport is for everybody, regardless of your ability and gender. They are role models for girls and boys to support and admire. Seriously, sport is sport.

So what’s next? Well, if you truly believe that sport is sport, you should do something about it. Demand more games from your broadcaster, so you can watch them; attend live games and if the case arises, buy tickets for the games; volunteer your time as a coach; buy merchandise like jerseys or posters; but just do something to support them.

I’ve taken my own advice, because I’ve purchased tickets for the FIFA World Cup next year. UMC1 and I will watch New Zealand (Football Ferns) vs Switzerland in Dunedin and we can’t wait.

Anyway, congratulations to the Black Ferns. Tino pai rawa atu! Damn, I love rugby.

Thanks for reading, go watch some sport, read some banned books, and I’ll see you on Monday for the second special blog.

1 Thanks COVID-19 for delaying it one year.

2 Once again, thanks COVID-19 for delaying it one year.

Remember, remember, the 5th of November

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, People, Politics

I want to talk about the 5th of November. Why? Failure is something we all have to live with. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve failed just this week alone. The point is, my failures have not changed the world; well, not yet anyway. But can you imagine failing at something, and 417 years later, people still celebrate that failure?

Guy Fawkes is synonymous with the Gunpowder Plot of 1605; along with a Alan Moore comic book, a Hollywood movie, a famous poem and fireworks. Lots of fireworks. But that’s not the whole story; it was a team effort. It’s complicated, but I’ve always thought that the 5th of November was akin to Dunkirk; victory from the jaws of defeat. You’re probably scratching your head thinking, ”Oh no, what in the hell is he ranting about now?”

Don’t worry, I’ll try to explain this as painlessly as I can, but no promises!

Remember, remember, the 5th of November,

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason

Why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, ’twas his intent

To blow up the King and the Parliament

Three score barrels of powder below

Poor old England to overthrow

By God’s providence he was catch’d

With a dark lantern and burning match

Holler boys, holler boys, let the bells ring

Holler boys, holler boys

God save the King!

Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

You and I haven’t done this in awhile, but let’s sit inside our heads and travel back in time to England, at the turn of the 17th century. This is a time before Brexit, reality television and three prime ministers in two months. This is the time of Shakespeare, the British colonization of the Americas and the First Polish–Swedish War.

Sitting on the English throne was the OG herself, Elizabeth I, from the House of Tudor. She reigned from 1558 to her death in 1603, aged 69. There are two major things to remember about Elizabeth; when she died, she had no children. Therefore, there was no direct line for the succession for the throne. The other part was that Elizabeth was Protestant. Remember that.

At the time, Catholics and Protestants worshipped the same God; they just argued about how do it. A lot. The main problem was that the English monarch determined what the main religion would be for the country; basically you could be punished for the worshipping in the wrong religion. This was an issue across Europe, and Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, made things worse by telling Pope Clement VII to stick it, and created his own religion; the Church of England, so he could divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.

This feud between the two denominations, has been passed on for centuries. Some of the best/worst examples of this feud, is currently in Northern Ireland, but also in Scottish Football, of all places, with Celtic FC traditionally supported by Catholics, while Rangers FC were supported by the Protestants.

Anyway, Elizabeth was succeeded by a distant relative, King James VI and I (VI of Scotland and I of England) from the House of Stuart. James was a Protestant, but he was quite tolerant towards Catholics. However, over the next two years and for various reasons; but mainly persecution, some Catholics were feeling it would be better if the Throne of England belonged to a Catholic monarch, and not a Protestant.

This is the part of the story where Guy Fawkes enters, but he’s not alone. The original group of the five conspirators were Guy Fawkes of course, Thomas Wintour, John Wright, Thomas Percy, and the true mastermind behind the whole project, Robert Catesby. This group later recruited other members like Robert Wintour, Christopher Wright, Francis Tresham, Robert Keyes, John Grant, Thomas Bates, Ambrose Rookwood, and Sir Everard Digby.

The Gunpowder Plot Conspirators. Source: Crispijn van de Passe the Elder, Wikipedia

Their plan involved two different stages:

1.) To kill King James, his wife and eldest son, along with Lords, Judges, members of Parliament, and other targets. They would do this by blowing up the Houses of Parliament, at the State opening on 5th November, 1605.

2.) To kidnap the nine year old Elizabeth Stuart; King James’ daughter, through a revolt in the Midlands. The idea was to place her on the Throne of England, Scotland and Ireland, as a Catholic Queen. This was provided her father and brother were killed.

To destroy the Houses of Parliament, dozens of gunpowder barrels would be used for the explosion. They would be positioned in a cellar, underneath Parliament. It was decided that Fawkes would light the fuse and detonate the gunpowder, then escape across the River Thames.

Everything was going well with the plot, but the truth is stranger than fiction, because a group of betrayers and plotters, were in turn, betrayed themselves. Tragic irony or poetic justice? At this point, does it matter?

On the 26th October 1605, a letter was delivered to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle; which has famously been known as the Monteagle Letter. This letter was a warning about the conspiracy, but the author has remained a mystery. A suspect is Tresham, because he was Parker’s brother-in-law, however Parker was a suspect also. Regardless of the author’s identity, the letter was shown to several people, before making its way to King James on the 1st November, and well, he was not happy.

James ordered the Houses of Parliament to be searched for any shenanigans on the 4th November; though at the same time, the conspirators were finalising the last details about the plan. Fawkes was going to light the fuse at an agreed time, while others were getting ready to kidnap Princess Elizabeth. What could go wrong?

After the first search of the buildings, Fawkes was discovered with firewood, within the undercroft. Mixing lies with the truth, Fawkes explained that the firewood belonged to Thomas Percy. Fawkes was let go and the report was given to the King James, whom demanded the buildings be searched for a second time.

The second search proved to be more successful, because Fawkes was discovered again in the undercroft, later that night. He had a lantern, coal, firewood, and the barrels of gunpowder; so he was quickly arrested and on the morning of 5th November, he was brought before the King. The rest of the conspirators heard of Fawkes’ arrest fled and regrouped outside of London.

Having going by the alias of “John Johnson,” Fawkes was interrogated and eventually tortured. He had insisted that he was working alone, but after being tortured, Fawkes confessed to the entire plot. The authorities had already a few leads on the conspirators and armed with Fawkes’ confession, they started to seek them out as fast as possible.

Some of the conspirators had fled, while others were held up at Holbeche House, Staffordshire. It was there where someone had the smart idea to dry some of the wet gunpowder they had, in front of an open fire. You can guess what happened, because the gunpowder exploded. After that apocalyptic clown show, more conspirators fled. There was only Thomas Wintour, Grant, Rookwood, Percy, Catesby and the Wright brothers left now.

On the morning of 8th November, 200 men surrounded the house and opened fire. According to the report, several conspirators were killed, with Thomas Wintour, Rookwood, Grant being arrested. Eventually the remaining conspirators were found, arrested and put on trial.

These are the fates of the 13 Gunpowder Plot conspirators:

Thomas Bates: Died on 30th January 1606, after being hanged, drawn and quartered in London.

Sir Everard Digby: Died on 30th January 1606, after being hanged, drawn and quartered in London.

John Grant: Died on 30th January 1606, after being hanged, drawn and quartered in London.

Robert Keyes: Died on 31st January 1606, after being hanged, drawn and quartered in London.

Thomas Percy: Killed on 8th November 1605, after being shot at Holbeche House. His body was later exhumed and decapitated. with his head put on a spike outside Parliament.

Ambrose Rookwood: Died on 31st January 1606, after being hanged, drawn and quartered in London.

Francis Tresham: Died from natural causes, on 23th December 1605, in the Tower of London.

Robert Wintour: Died on 30th January 1606, after being hanged, drawn and quartered in London.

Thomas Wintour: Died on 31st January 1606, after being hanged, drawn and quartered in London.

Christopher Wright: Killed on 8th November 1605, after being shot at Holbeche House.

John Wright: Killed on 8th November 1605, after being shot at Holbeche House.

So what happened to the most famous of all the Gunpowder Plot conspirators, Guy Fawkes?

Guy Fawkes: Died on 31st January 1606 in London, after breaking his neck, right before the execution. His body was still drawn and quartered though.

And that just leaves the mastermind behind it all; what happened to Robert Catesby?

Robert Catesby: Killed on 8th November 1605, after being shot at Holbeche House. His body was later exhumed and decapitated. with his head put on a spike outside Parliament.

Their legacy is Fireworks Night, Bonfire Night, or just Guy Fawkes Night; which is celebrated in various countries around the world, including here in New Zealand. But going back to the beginning of this blog, this is the victory I was talking about. Even though the 13 Gunpowder Plot conspirators tried to commit regicide and failed, they did end up changing the world. 417 years later and we still remember their names.

Thanks for sticking with me and subscribing to my weekly editions of verbal diarrhea, I appreciate it. Alright that’s it for me, go and walk your dog, read some banned books, and I’ll see you next week.

Movie Review: Black Adam-Banal and boring vs Brilliant and beautiful?

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Movies

I want to talk about Black Adam. Why? Oh this is quite easy! I saw the new movie last weekend, and I thought I would share my unbiased and unsolicited opinion, because why not? 

So let’s start at the beginning; Black Adam is the new movie released by Warner Brothers, starring Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, as the main character, Teth-Adam/Black Adam.

I’m going to establish a few things first. The movie we’re going to be talking about is not going to win any acting or writing awards, but winning set designs and special effects awards, are definitely on the table. I mean this is a movie about people with superpowers; it’s not an art house or an independent film. This film is designed to rake in hundreds of millions of dollars.

If you have no idea who or what Black Adam is, I’m not sure whether that is an advantage or disadvantage, though it depends on how you view  it. As for me I know the character, though I’m not an expert, but I do know him. My wife asked me who exactly Black Adam was, because she was unsure about seeing the film. The reason was because she was not familiar with the character and to be honest, who could blame her? Maybe me? Just kidding.

The terrible point that I’m making, is that I’ve always viewed Black Adam as a character very similar, if not running parallel to Namor from Marvel. They are both leaders of a country, both are slightly less arrogant than Batman and both have a wobbly moral compass, that is extremely brutal and dangerous.

I don’t write a lot of movie reviews, because as you can see, I’m only a few paragraphs in and I’m only just starting to talk about the movie. However more importantly, it’s rare for me to actually go to the cinema. That’s because sitting in the dark with random strangers, eating whatever food I want, while watching a movie, is something I don’t do enough of.

Image by Igor Ovsyannykov from Pixabay

Anyway, let’s actually get around to discussing the movie, shall we?

Warning, major spoilers ahead. If you haven’t seen the film and you don’t want to know about it, please stop reading now. No, I really mean it. If you do stop reading, you can go and read some of my other blogs, because that would be really handy, even though I don’t get paid.

Let’s start with the Sour Cream and Chives portion of the movie.

When we first meet Teth-Adam, he’s speaking in what I only assume is some type of ancient Arabic language. The next time he speaks and I could be mistaken about this, is when he is in Amon’s bedroom, where he speaks English. I thought this was kind of weird considering Teth-Adam was taken out of the world for around 5,000 years, so how did he learn to speak English? 

I know what you’re about to say. He’s got the wisdom of Solomon; though to be technically correct, Teth-Adam actually has the wisdom of Zehuti. So it is technically possible that Teth-Adam could speak a language he has never spoken before, or the fact that this language had not been invented 5,000 years ago, because of his magical abilities. It is possible, I just would have liked to have see that explained, because it just didn’t quite fit or feel right. Does that make sense to you?

And speaking of 5,000 years, I think it would have been quite fascinating for the viewer to be looking at the world through Teth-Adam’s eyes. I mean he’s over 5,000 years old. Entire civilizations would have risen and fallen, with technology, politics, medicine, philosophy, music and science would have all been developed to modern standards.

However by the end of the film, Black Adam seems to have completely adjusted to his new world. I just feel it would have been a bit of a stretch for that to happen, because he’s got 5,000 years to catch up on, so it’s going to take him a long time to adjust to this new world. Yes, I know he’s got the godly magical abilities and they could possibly help him to adjust, but I feel like the film makers could’ve had a lot of fun with it, but also being serious at the same time. Or maybe Black Adam just didn’t care enough about the world to learn about the last 5,000 years.

I think there’s another thing to consider with Black Adam; he’s a difficult character to relate to or at least like.

I mean is Black Adam the protagonist, or just another antagonist in the film? Is he the villain or the hero, or maybe he’s exactly what he’s supposed to be in the comics: an anti-hero.

The thing is, Batman is an anti-hero as well and people love him; but the character is pretty brutal. The difference with Black Adam, is that the brutality is dialled up to 11. He’s not hiding behind a mask, that’s just who he is and he does not give a damn whether you approve of his methods or not; you’re beneath his attention.

I think this is one of the things that they’re going to have to work really hard on, if they want people to care about the character or at least, care what happens to him. Or maybe they don’t need to. Maybe he’s exactly the way the film makers want him to be, sitting in the middle of a Venn diagram of good and evil.

As for the Justice Society, I would love to have seen them being fleshed out a lot more, but when you have an ensemble cast, everyone is jostling for the spotlight and it would make it extremely difficult for everyone to have their time to shine.

Having said that, I thought Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan) was pretty cool. I think he was the very first superhero magician, I had ever read about. From the helmet to his costume, I thought he was awesome. I discovered Doctor Fate, before I discovered Doctor Strange, so when Fate was in full costume for the first time on screen, there was a small part of me that was yelling, “It’s about time!”

I really hope they flesh out Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) as a character, whether it’s through more movies or television shows, because I think he has left us with more questions than answers, which is a positive thing.

Ok, I want bring balance to this review, just like the Force.

I thought the special effects were amazing. I also think they did a great job of mixing practical effects with CGI. The scene where Black Adam was floating down the staircase in the apartment block, was outstanding. I could be wrong about this, but it sure looked like a practical effect!

As for Black Adam himself, I thought it was very brave that DC made this film, basing it on an anti hero/villain. What I mean is the fact that the main character is going out of his way to murder people. He’s not holding back, he’s doing what needs to be done and very similar to Namor.

Black Adam is not Superman or Captain America or Wonder Woman or Black Panther. It was very interesting to see a character like this, to use their abilities in a twisted and demented form of altruism. Some of those death scenes were funny, but some of them were very brutal and gruesome; but that’s the whole point of his character.

Another aspect of the movie I liked, was the use of geo-politics. I’ve heard this example used before and it’s the best one I can think of: One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. This example fits exactly into the Black Adam mythos. There is a scene with Adrianna (Sarah Shahi) arguing with the Justice Society.

They are claiming that Black Adam is a villain and a killer, that needs to be stopped. However to Adrianna and the citizens of Kahndaq, Black Adam is a saviour, a liberator, a hero. Who is right and who is wrong? Is it possible that the Justice Society and Adrianna can be right and wrong at the same time?

I thought it was very powerful and meaningful for Adrianna to be pointing out, that after so many years of Intergang controlling Kahndaq and the world not caring about them, it was only until Black Adam appeared, that the world gave a damn about them. I thought that was extremely important and profound; but hey, what do I know?

I could keep talking about this film, but basically it has several good and bad points, just like any other film. To be honest, I liked the film. It’s not perfect, but that’s ok with me. For a superhero movie, I was entertained and that’s one of the biggest compliment I can give.

I know there is a criticism that this movie was only made for comic book fans; but isn’t any adapted film made for old fans, as well as new fans? I mean isn’t the whole point of adapting films to bring in new audiences also? I mean imagine if there was a disclaimer that every time you wanted to see a Harry Potter film, you were only allowed to see it, if you had read the book? Imagine if going to watch a new Stephen King film, you were only allowed to see it, if you had read the book first? It doesn’t work like that and it shouldn’t.

The point of this completely disjointed review about Black Adam, is that you shouldn’t listen to me about the film and don’t listen to anyone else. If you’re curious about the film, go and see it and make your own mind up. It’s the same for any product, whether it’s a movie, TV show, book or music; don’t worry about what everyone else is saying about it, if you’re interested, go and read it or watch it or listen to it. Make your own mind up about it, because that way you’ll know.

And that’s a wrap from me! Thanks for stopping by, now go walk your dog, read some banned books, and I’ll see you next Monday.

Six catchphrases my family says

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Children, Parents

I want to talk about catchphrases. Why? My family uses a few of them for different reasons, like the Penguin does with his umbrellas. Some are funny, while others are very practical in nature; though they are not exclusively used by my wife and I, we all know what they mean.

Let’s look at them, shall we?

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

1.) Calm the Farm

This gem came from my late mother-in-law. It refers to when there was a ruckus on the farm, the farmer would try to calm the situation down.

We break it out when UMC1 and/or UMC2 are becoming too loud, too excited, or when they’re fighting over some extremely important reason; like someone ate more chips than the other one; so we say, “Calm the farm, guys, calm the farm.”

2.) Team Indy

As some of you know, our dog is called Indy. We often joke about how our team was formed, basically like our origin story. First there was Indy, then he decided that living with my future wife was a good idea. The two of them went on a recruitment drive for a new team member, and I was asked to join. The three of us then added two more members to the team, thus giving us a team of five.

But what is the name of your team, Scott? Easy, we named it after the original team member.

The catchphrase is like a rallying cry in a way. Sometimes when a team member is having a bad day or when things have gone worse than Edward Scissorhands visiting the Museum of Paper, we try and regroup and remind ourselves, “Hey everything is going to be alright, we can do it. We’re Team Indy!”

3.) Toilet Drama

Toilet drama is what my wife and I call all of the arguments and negative experiences, surrounding UMC1 and UMC2 going to the toilet. Whether it’s about a roll of toilet paper being pulled off onto the floor; the stool being kicked over; denial of needing to go to the toilet, when they obviously need to go; or not washing their hands aka dunny hands; as well as everything else not mentioned.

If there is any drama connected to the toilet, then it’s Toilet drama; and we DON’T do Toilet drama.

4.) Roasty Toasty

This is an easy one, because it’s all about being warm and snug. Roasty Toasty is a catchphrase we say to UMC1 and UMC2, when we are putting them to bed; especially during late Autumn, Winter and early Spring.

The boys sleep in the same room and since the house is over 110 years old, it can get extremely cold. So when the boys go to sleep, we make sure they’re wearing winter pyjamas and several blankets, so they will be; and say it with me, Roasty Toasty.

5.) Being a Master

Firstly, this is not a Doctor Who reference, though that would be pretty cool. What I’m talking about, is giving the boys a job, where they can be the master of something. It sounds odd, but I’ll give some examples.

Say I need some help putting out or bringing in the rubbish and recycling bins. Asking if there was a Bin Master to help, will get a far more positive response from UMC1 and UMC2 than anything else. Other masters include: Washing Master, Shoes Master, Plate Master, Vacuum Master, Trolley Master, Lego Master, Duplo Master, Tidying-up Master, and the ultimate master this family has; the Biscuit Master.

Each week, some new Team Indy member becomes the Biscuit Master; which means they are the Master of Biscuits. They get to select the biscuits from the supermarket, regardless of any other person’s preference. We work on a rotation system, so since a new Biscuit Master is chosen each week, and UMC1 and UMC2 take this job EXTREMELY seriously.

6.) Kick in the guts

This is a classic catchphrase from my father-in-law; Kick in the guts. So, there is no stomach kicking involved here, just some oddly placed words. Kick in the guts means to wind something up or to finish something. We mainly use it when we are getting the boys ready for bed. After they’ve had some books or done a puzzle or drawn some art or played a board game, and all that’s left is to brush their teeth and go to bed; well, then it’s time to Kick in the guts.

We also use it when it’s time to tidy up; finish getting ready in the morning; or when it’s time to leave somewhere and go home. It’s time to Kick in the guts.

Does your family have any special catchphrases? If you do, what are they? Please let me know. Right, I’ll off to watch Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor, with my wife because we’re geeks. Thanks for following me, read some banned books, place your bets on the next UK Prime Minister, and I’ll see you next week for my Black Adam review.