Category: People

Legend now and forever: John Romita Sr.

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Comics, People

This week’s blog is sadly becoming a depressing trend on Some Geek Told Me; yet another titan of the comic book industry has fallen. On the 12th of June, John Romita Sr. passed away in his sleep at his home in New York, aged 93. 

Far better writers have already crafted beautiful tributes about Romita Sr. and his art, so I feel strange addressing this topic, however, I’m going to talk about what John Romita Sr. meant to this awkward, comic-loving Kiwi geek. 

John Romita Sr. (Image by Marc Stamas)

I have explained this before, but I like comic books. I enjoy them for many different reasons, but one of them is that they helped me to learn how to read when I was young.

There was a tatty old cardboard box under my bed, that was filled with old comics, that I think were donated by various family members and people in the community. The true origin of the box is a mystery to me, to be honest, and I like it that way.

The stories were exciting and outrageous, but it was the art that drew you into the story. The characters had colourful costumes, the backgrounds were detailed, and the drama, oh the drama! I remember reading some shabby, coverless comics with Spider-Man and various other Marvel characters, and I was enthralled with them.

One day I observed that some of the amazing characters looked very similar, like they were drawn by the same person. I discovered later on, that the artist’s name was John Romita Sr. That name didn’t hold any gravity with me, because I didn’t know comic history; I just knew I liked his work.

Time moved on and I learnt more about comics, but also about the people creating them. To me, that Romita guy’s art seemed to be everywhere! I knew that wasn’t the case, it just seemed that way.

And of course, much like millions of other people over the planet, I slowly fell in love with John’s art. It was always so gorgeous. Eventually, I started to understand what a powerhouse John Romita Sr. was for comics.

Even as the somewhat adult that I am, I still get surprised. I’ll be looking at some comic art from whatever decade, and I’ll start to think, “Wait, did Romita Sr. draw this?” I’ll check, and yes, yes he did. My next thought would always be, “How much art did he draw? It’s everywhere! Did he not sleep?!”

The stupid thing is that I’m crying as I’m writing this. I’m grieving about the death of a man that I never met, but has been in my life nonetheless. He created and co-created Wolverine, Mary Jane Watson, Brother Voodoo, Nova, and Luke Cage; along with Bullseye, Hobgoblin, Kingpin, and the Punisher, and many other characters. Who would Daredevil be without Bullseye and the Kingpin? Or Peter without Mary Jane? I have no idea, but it wouldn’t be what we have now.

The only thing left to say about John Romita Sr., is thank you. Your passion and dedication to your art, helped me to love a medium that has possessed my heart and soul. I send condolences to your family, but also gratitude, because you made this big old crazy world, a little bit brighter.

And with that, I’ll leave you. What’s your favourite art drawn by John Romita Sr.? Please let me know. 

Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. I’m also on Twitter and Mastodon, where I ramble on about whatever my social media consultant tells me to write about. 

Don’t forget to walk your dog; watch a banned movie; go and buy a comic book, and I’ll see you next week.

My wife’s thoughts on the Coronation of King Charles III

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

I want to talk about the Coronation of King Charles III. Why? There are two main reasons for this, and I think you can guess the second reason. Let’s back up and start with the first reason. The last British coronation was on 2nd June 1953, when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, after the death of her father, George VI.

Being a New Zealander and a student of history, watching the coronation of Elizabeth’s son, Charles III, was always a possibility. I mean, coronations don’t happen every week, do they? Maybe in Game of Thrones, but not in real life. The concept of the coronation was fascinating because, like billions of other people, I had never seen a live British coronation.

Image by Sir Jony Ive

Because of the time zone difference, the coronation would be screened live in New Zealand, on Saturday night. Now the thing about last Saturday night, there was no test rugby on; so I could watch the coronation. However would I though? This would require some things to happen: UMC1 and UMC2 would need to be asleep before the coverage began, but I’d also need my wife’s blessing.

You see we have made Saturday night our date night. And when I mean date night, I mean staying at home to either play board games, play a PC Lego game, or watch a movie or tv series. You know, the standard thing that extremely cool people do on a Saturday night.

So I was unsure whether I wanted to watch the coronation. Watching a historic event, or helping Lego Harry Potter to survive Years 5-6? Oh, the agony of making a geek choose. The interesting point is that the decision was actually taken away from me, because my wife suggested we watch the coronation together.

I was stunned at this because my wife is; and I’m quoting her description of herself as, “…a no-frills practical person.” A coronation was one of the last things, I would imagine my wife actually sitting down to watch, but she did it to spend time with her awkward geeky husband, so she scored some great spouse points.

Let’s set the scene, shall we? We’re in the bedroom watching the coverage via the laptop, with my wife sitting on the bed, and I’m in the swivel chair. After playing several games of Uno and waiting for the coronation procession to begin, my wife started her master plan. She knew I’d be listening and watching carefully to the coverage, so she started trying to be funny to annoy me, just because she could. Among many other statements during the coronation’s coverage, my wife set these zingers off:

If this is the scaled back version, I would hate to see what the full on version looks like.

If they were already in the car, why bother with the horses and carriage?

Is that a moat or a wet footpath?

What the hell?! Is that Richie McCaw?!

When the announcer introduced Liz Truss, as being the UK Prime Minister for a brief time, my wife and I both said, “What a burn!”

How many more people are they going to cram in?!

What’s with the Michael Jackson glove?

They would all be screwed if the cue card guy dropped the cards!

Elsa’s coronation wasn’t this bloody long.

A good excuse to wear robes, I guess.

When eating some cheese and crackers, she turned to me and said, “Wilt thou partaketh of these snacks?”

Where are they going? Out the back to sit down? They sat the whole way there and most of the service.

When the coronation procession ended at Buckingham Palace, that was the signal for us to go to sleep. Before we did though, my wife asked if I liked her commentary, because she said that she awesome. It is true, she is awesome; sometimes.

What did you think about the coronation? Was my wife correct? Please let me know. And with that, another weekly rant has ended; though we did have Star Wars Day and Free Comic Book Day.

Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Remember to walk your dog; read a banned book; eat French Vanilla ice cream; and I’ll hopefully see you next week.

Does everybody celebrate World Book Day?

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Books, Children, People

I want to talk about books. Why? Today in New Zealand, we have been celebrating World Book Day; well at least some of us have. This is a global event to promote and encourage reading, publishing, and books in general.

It’s a great day for a bibliophile. We get to discuss our favourite books, as well as to emphasise the importance of reading. 

Now I could do something predictable and list my favourite books through different genres; like the dictionary. I bet you can’t wait for that one!

I could also discuss what reading means to me and the importance of it, but that’s too easy. As tempting as it is to choose one of these amazing options; it would be like being involved in a movie marathon, where you have to choose between the original Star Wars trilogy and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. What is a geek supposed to do?

But before I could do any of that, I have to put my hand up and acknowledge something. I am a straight white male, living in a country that is 21st in the world for GDP per Capita, and 15th in the Human Developmental Index.

I understand that if I was born in a different country, or at a different time, it is entirely possible that books would be an unknown or rare commodity to me, or at least learning how to read would be an ability that would not be available to me.

So in fairness, and as much as I like World Book Day and believe in its importance and relevancy, I have to ask the question: Does everybody in the world celebrate World Book Day? Realistically, the answer is no. 

Image by Ahmad Ardity from Pixabay

Sometimes I feel people take reading for granted because they have access to books; whether through school or public libraries, and bookstores. You can purchase any book from anywhere in the world and have it delivered to you, though the cost of postage could be the same as the national debt of a small country. 

The issue is that a lot of people in the world don’t have access to books, or they can’t read. Over the years, world literacy rates have been rising. To the best of my knowledge, which quite frankly isn’t that great, New Zealand sits at 99%, which is pretty good. There are even higher literacy rates in Western Europe and Central Asia, which hit 100%, which to me is phenomenal.

So just like with nearly everything, if you have Salt and Vinegar chips, the opposite will exist. I don’t really need to remind you about Sour Cream and Chives, do I?

There are at least 10 countries in the world, where the literacy rate for the population is under 44%. The bottom three are South Sudan 34.52%, Guinea 32% and Chad 22.31%.

There is a staggering 781 million people that cannot read or write in the world, with over 60% of them being female. Different factors that can contribute to this problem are poverty, religion, but also the geopolitical climate of the country.

So you’re probably thinking, “Ok Scott, do you even have a point?”

For me, the concept that somewhere in this world, a child will not have access to picture books in their native language, is difficult to understand and accept. But maybe that’s the point. Maybe we don’t have to accept it. I don’t know how to solve this problem, but you have to start somewhere, right?

I’ve been thinking about this, and I’ve come to two conclusions about what we can do about it. 

To address literacy rates, whether at local, national, or international levels, I think it comes down to two things; which are essentially the same thing: we have to give. We have to give either books or money. 

I know I’m not an expert, but I think everybody can help:

  • Cull some novels from your collection and donate to charities. 
  • Cull some picture books from your collection, and donate them to some early childhood centres.
  • If you buy a book, donate a book.
  • Become a member of your local library and enrol your children. 
  • If possible, volunteer in your local community with a organisation that promotes literacy.
  • Donate money to a group or organisation that promotes literacy.

There are many different international groups and organisations that specialse in promoting literacy. These can include:

There are also many more hardworking groups and organisations around the world, that are helping to promote literacy; whether with adults or children. Please help pass on your love of reading to someone else.

“What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. 

Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. 

Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.”

-Carl Sagan.

And with that, I’m done with another ridiculous blog. Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Remember to walk your dog; read a banned book; stay away from yellow snow; and I’ll see you next week.

Things that Donald Trump has taught me

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People, Politics2 Comments

I want to talk about Donald Trump. Why? Where do I begin? I honestly can’t remember when or how I first heard of Donald Trump. Maybe it was at primary school, intermediate or high school, but that piece of information has been lost to the sands of time, like someone’s PIN code.

I’m not going to sit in my cold and dark little room, and give a brief introduction of Trump. I mean, why would I?! If you haven’t heard of the 45th President of the United States of America, then I’m quite envious of you.

I’ve been thinking of writing a blog about Trump for a long time now. Not as long as Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet, because nothing is longer than that, but still a long time. However after his indictment last week, I thought now’s a good time to bust a blog out.

Image by Tibor Janosi Mozes from Pixabay

Over the years, many people with more literary talent and qualifications than myself, have written countless articles, reports, lawsuits and books about Trump. Because of this, I have some easy options open to me over what to write about.

  • Trump’s lawsuits.
  • Trump’s childhood.
  • Trump’s allies and friends.
  • Trump’s marriages.
  • Trump’s businesses.
  • Trump’s political career.
  • Trump’s tv and film performances.
  • Trump’s social media.
  • Trump’s two impeachments.
  • Trump’s indictment.

Even with these easy topics to discuss, here’s my Mum’s description of me to explain what I’m doing to do.

“If there’s an easy way and a complicated way of doing something, he will chose the complicated way, every single time.”

Sorry about that, Mum.

If you’re a sharp and clever person; like I know you must be, because you’re reading this blog, you would have noticed the title: Things that Donald Trump has taught me. I’m not talking about being a contestant on The Apprentice or having worked with him; no, I’m talking about living over 14,000 km away, while watching and reading about him. This concerns learning about people and life lessons; that I’ve learnt either directly or indirectly from Trump, that I will pass onto UMC1 and UMC2.

I’ve listed them in no particular order, however I did fight the urge to list them alphabetically or chronologically.

And with that, let’s do it.

People

News:

Thanks to Trump, I now know the names and faces of many reporters, anchors, talk show hosts, and journalists, across the media spectrum. I didn’t know these people existed before Trump, but I do now. This includes:

  • Fox News: Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, Brian Kilmeade, Kayleigh McEnany, Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Bret Baier, Jeanine Pirro, and Peter Doocy.
  • CNN: Don Lemon, Jim Acosta, John Berman, Victor Blackwell, Erin Burnett, Kate Bolduan, Alisyn Camerota, S. E. Cupp, Van Jones, and Abby Phillip.
  • MSNBC: Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist, Katy Tur, Nicolle Wallace, Chris Hayes, Ari Melber, Joy Reid, Hallie Jackson, Lawrence O’Donnell, and Stephanie Ruhle.
  • Talk Show Hosts: Bill Maher, Trevor Noah, Seth Meyers, Wendy Williams, Chelsea Handler, and Samantha Bee. And I can’t forget, Sean Spicer, Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos.

Politics:

Once again, I have to thank Trump, because now I know the names and faces of many politicians across the political spectrum. Again, I didn’t know these people existed before Trump, but I do now. This includes:

Republicans: Paul Ryan, Mike Pence, John Bolton, Devin Nunes, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Rand Paul, Rick Perry, Lindsey Graham, Mike Lee, Chuck Grassley, John Barrasso, Tom Cotton, Rick Scott, Adam Kinzinger, Ron DeSantis, Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Nikki Haley, J.D. Vance, Tim Scott, Ron Johnson, Marsha Blackburn, John Cornyn, Kay Ivey, Brian Kemp, Mike DeWine, Kristi Noem, Brad Raffensperger, Greg Abbott, Liz Cheney, Kevin McCarthy, Ryan Zinke, Paul Gosar, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, George Santos, Jim Jordan, Ronny Jackson, and of course, Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Democrats: Kamala Harris, Richard Blumenthal, Chris Murphy, Chris Coons, Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock, Dick Durbin, Tammy Duckworth, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker, Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, John Fetterman, Tim Kaine, Joe Manchin, Nancy Pelosi, Eric Swalwell, Stacey Abrams, Ilhan Omar, Hakeem Jeffries, Jerry Nadler, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Pete Buttigieg.

This also covers Bernie Sanders, Kyrsten Sinema and Angus King.

Others: Allen Weisselberg, Melania Trump, Tiffany Trump, Barron Trump, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Lara Trump, E. Jean Carroll, Samantha Holvey, Billy Bush, Jeffrey Epstein, Michael Cohen, Michael Avenatti, Herschel Walker, Joe Tacopina, Sidney Powell, Mike Lindell, Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Robert Mueller, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, William Barr, Jeff Sessions, Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis, and lastly, Stormy Daniels.

Every single one of these people, I know now because of Trump. I’m sorry if I’ve missed anybody out, but Trump’s been busy.

Life Lessons

  • Don’t open an university and name it after yourself.
  • A 76 year old male will never change, but its not too late for you to change.
  • Make sure you understand what the words “gaslighting” and “nepotism” mean.
  • During an eclipse, only look directly at the Sun with the correct eye protection.
  • Muslims are real people; but they are not coming to get you.
  • It’s possible to get a job that you’re not qualified to do.
  • Detonating a nuclear weapon inside a hurricane, is not a good idea.
  • Never name a brand of steaks after yourself.
  • You should never inject yourself with bleach.
  • You can only give someone a nickname, if you’re prepared to receive one; or if you’re 8 years old.
  • Even though you can hate it, it’s important to pay your taxes.
  • Always proof read and edit your social media posts.
  • It’s legal to make hush money payments in the State of New York, but it’s illegal to cover it up.
  • Members of the LGBTQ+ community are real people; but they are not coming to get you.
  • It’s not a great look if you’re on a social media rant, at 4.30 am when you’re the President of the United States of America.
  • If people quote or record what you’ve said, you can’t deny it happened when there is physical evidence.
  • Claiming you’ve never met a particular person, before photos being released of you meeting said person, is quite hilarious.
  • Take the time to learn about your country’s history; especially if there was a Civil War and the causes behind it.
  • If a Neo-Nazi or the Ku Klux Klan agrees with your views of society, you’re doing something wrong.
  • Reading is fun.
  • If someone is writing a book about you with your consent, and they’re following you around, please remember they are actually there.
  • Don’t call your favourite media talk show, to decry the media.
  • It’s important to learn world geography.
  • Vaccines are some of greatest achievements in the history of humanity.
  • Just because someone disagrees with you, doesn’t make them wrong or evil.
  • If you’re going to create a new word like bigly or covfefe, you can’t just use it once; you need to use it multiple times for it to catch on.
  • A Sharpie is a quality marker.
  • Children being killed at school through gun violence, should never be acceptable.
  • Understanding how the impeachment of a president works. (Twice).
  • Never conduct interviews, with a helicopter in the background.
  • Just because you don’t like what someone else says, doesn’t make it fake news.

I could go on, but UMC1 and UMC2 would have fallen asleep by now. But seriously, the biggest life lesson Trump has taught me, is this: Never lie about something, that can be fact checked by a person using their phone, during their toilet break.

Has Trump taught you anything? Please let me know. Anyway, I’m done with Trump tonight, but not forever. I need to sleep, because Daylight Savings has finished, and my body is rebelling against it. Thanks once again for reading, following and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me; it means a lot. Remember to walk your dog; watch a banned movie; stay away from variant comic book covers; and I’ll see you next week.

So how did St. Patrick drive every snake out of Ireland?

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, People

I want to talk about St. Patrick. Why? Well since this blog has gone up on 20th March, and given that St. Patrick’s Day was on 17th March, many people around the world, will still be nursing hangovers or trying to find their way home. St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland and his day, 17th March, go together like alcohol, green wigs and vomitting.

It’s a day where millions of people from different ethnicities and nationalities, all put on a green hat and pronounce that for the next 24 hours, they’re Irish. Or until the money or alcohol stops, whatever comes first.

But what about St. Patrick himself? Patrick would have been a green loving, snake driving Irishman, that helped convert the pagans to Christianity, right? Well, yes and no.

Image by Squirrel_photos from Pixabay

The problem is there are a lot of misconceptions about St. Patrick and 17th March, that to a student of history and geek like myself, I think are quite…fascinating. Below are eight myths and misconceptions about St. Patrick and his day, that you may or may not know.

So, let’s get the craic started!

1.) St. Patrick’s name was Patrick.

Quite possibly of all the information on this list, this is the most outrageous. We all know that St. Patrick’s real name would have been…well, Patrick, right? In a reality with no Flat Earthers, this would be correct. Sadly however, we do have Flat Earthers in this reality, and St. Patrick’s real name was not Patrick. In fact it was Maewyn Succat. This can be explained with the second myth.

2.) St. Patrick was Irish.

Maewyn Succat was not born in Ireland or even Northern Ireland, for that matter; though Northern Ireland didn’t exist until 1921.1 Maewyn was born sometime during the late 4th century (maybe 385 CE or 386 CE); though different sources offer different dates. As for the location, it was Roman Britain, either in Wales or Scotland; though quite possibly, Wales.

3.) St. Patrick’s colour was green.

This fact is just bizarre. The Irish and Emerald Isle seem to have always been associated with the colour green. The flag, shamrocks, leprechauns and St. Patrick’s Day have added to this association. But the truth is stranger than fiction, because St. Patrick’s colour was blue.

The colour known as St. Patrick’s Blue, has been used in artworks depicting St. Patrick, where he is wearing blue robes. It can also still be observed on old Irish flags, sports uniforms, coat-of-arms, ribbons and armbands.

4.) St. Patrick drove all of the snakes out of Ireland.

You should never let the truth get in the way of a good story. That old saying is perfectly reflected in this fact, because according to the story of St. Patrick, he drove all of the snakes out of Ireland. This is a metaphor, since St. Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland and converted the pagans, the snakes represent evil or the sinners.

The punch line is that Ireland; and just like New Zealand, has never been home to native snakes. Ever.

5.) The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in Ireland.

Since St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish event, you would think that the first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held somewhere in Ireland. If you were a betting person, you would have lost.

The first recorded parade honouring St. Patrick’s Day was held in what is now St. Augustine, Florida, USA. Records show that a St. Patrick’s Day parade was held on 17th March, 1601.

6.) St. Patrick was a saint.

Vulcans embrace them, but what we are talking about is a technicality. St. Patrick is known as a saint, but he’s actually not. Well, not yet anyway. He’s a not a saint, because he was never canonised by the Catholic Church.

7.) St. Patrick’s shamrock.

St. Patrick is said to have brought Christianity to Ireland through preaching and explaining how the religion works. Legend says that one way he did this, was to use the famous shamrock leaf. He demonstrated that the shamrock was like the Holy Trinity; with each leaf representing the Holy Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, to show that the three different religious entities could be separate, but still be part of the same whole.

8.) The reason why St. Patrick’s Day is 17th March.

We all know that St. Patrick’s Day is 17th March, but why is it? Even though St. Patrick was not technically a saint, he was still revered as one. In Catholicism, the day when a saint dies is considered a holy day, and is treated as such. According to legend, St. Patrick died on 17th March, hence the celebrations.

Basically, millions of people around the world, wear green and get hammered on 17th March, because it’s the anniversary of St. Patrick’s death. It’s a roughly 1,500 year old never ending wake.

Was there anything on the list that you didn’t know? Do you know anything else unique or a misconception about St. Patrick? Please let me know.

Alright, that’s it for me. It’s raining at the moment and the house smells of wet dog, because Indy thought he would be brave and go outside; and let’s just say that he regretted that life choice. Next week, I will continue with our Tour of the Solar System, with the third chapter featuring the rivalry of planets vs dwarf planets. Can’t wait!! Anyway, thanks once again for reading, following and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me; walk your dog; read a banned book; stay away from Sour Cream and Chives; and I’ll see you next week.

Image by Lisa Larsen from Pixabay

1 That is a story for another day.

My favourite ERB videos

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, People, Social Media

I want to talk about Epic Rap Battles of History again. Why? A few weeks ago; though in the life of a parent, it was a couple of decades, I wrote a blog about Epic Rap Battles of History or ERB. Because of this shoddy piece of literature, I thought I’d follow it up with another.

If you haven’t read the previous blog about ERB, it mainly centres on what’s it all about, why I like them and discusses some rap battles involving people I had never heard of.

That being the case, and just like fireproof matches, I thought it could be a good idea to discuss my favourite rap battles from the different seasons of the show. I thought about having a top 10 list of my favourite rap battles, but what would the criteria be? The number of insults? The number of references that I understood? Or maybe the best soundtrack? Though to be honest, I would probably just break the criteria, even though I made them.

So in the interest of keeping things simple, like Trigger from Only Fools and Horses, I decided to list my favourite ERB videos per season, but only one winner per season. Along with naming the runners up, of course.

Like I said, this is an easy one for us, so let’s do it.

Season 1

Albert Einstein vs. Stephen Hawking

There are some gems from the first season, like Napoleon vs. Napoleon, Justin Bieber vs. Beethoven, and Dr. Seuss vs. Shakespeare, but the winner is Albert Einstein vs. Stephen Hawking. The rap battle has some brutal lyrics, but Hawking’s burn about the observable particles in the universe, is so good, I can’t stop singing and smiling at it. This rap battle is cruel, but funny as hell; even if you don’t know the references.

Season 2

Cleopatra vs Marilyn Monroe

Season 2 had some runners up like Season 1. These include Mozart vs. Skrillex, Batman vs. Sherlock Holmes, and Nikola Tesla vs. Thomas Edison. However even though my favourite rap battle is only 1.46 minutes long, it’s a knockout. From the opening bars, Cleopatra vs Marilyn Monroe is another brutal encounter, but it’s gets personal. Really personal. In all honesty, I think it could be one of the savage rap battles, because even though the two women are separated by about 1,950 years, they hate each other.

Season 3

Goku vs. Superman

In ERB’s third season, the quality of the rap battles were getter better. Whether it was the writing, acting, singing, costumes or special effects, or all of them, Season 3 was amazing. For me, the runners up were Sir Isaac Newton vs. Bill Nye, Bob Ross vs. Pablo Picasso, and Michael Jordan vs. Muhammad Ali. As for the winner, it was Goku vs. Superman. The lyrics were funny, the costumes were great, and the track was scarily catchy. But who won? Goku or Superman? The answer was the viewer.

Season 4

Zeus vs. Thor

This season was very close, for various reasons. The runners up were Romeo and Juliet vs. Bonnie and Clyde, Eastern Philosophers vs. Western Philosophers, and Steven Spielberg vs. Alfred Hitchcock. You’ll notice a collaborative theme with those rap battles. A special mention goes to the Jim Henson vs. Stan Lee battle, because; at least to me, it made sense that the two of them would stop fighting.

But speaking of fighting, the winner is Zeus vs. Thor. It was a genius idea to have the rap battle as Lego animation. It was outstanding, but so was the track and the lyrics. Zeus and Thor were both getting burnt for our entertainment and it was glorious.

Season 5

J. R. R. Tolkien vs. George R. R. Martin

For me, Season 5 was absolutely deadly, because just like the other seasons, the quality of the series was increasing. The runner ups for this season were Gordon Ramsay vs. Julia Child, Frederick Douglass vs. Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander the Great vs. Ivan the Terrible. They were awesome, but there was only one to rule them all: J. R. R. Tolkien vs. George R. R. Martin.

The make up for Peter and Lloyd was excellent, along with the soundtrack. Every time I hear the lyrics about the Tolkien’s tree branch and C.S Lewis, I can’t stop smiling, because they’re hilarious. I think they have three verses each; just like Zeus and Thor, which makes it more of an argument. I love it.

Season 6

Guy Fawkes vs. Che Guevara

This was extremely close, because the rap battles were mean, just mean. The runners up were Harry Potter vs. Luke Skywalker, Thanos vs. J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Mother Teresa vs. Sigmund Freud. A special mention goes to Ronald McDonald vs. The Burger King, because it was vicious and the funniest of the season.

However, the winner is Guy Fawkes vs. Che Guevara. I loved the rap battle, because it was packed full of historic and cultural references, as well as the special effects and costumes were superb. I’m a student of history, so this was, well, epic.

Season 7

John Wick vs. John Rambo vs. John McClane

Currently there are only four rap battles in this season so far, but I have to go for John Wick vs. John Rambo vs. John McClane. Jokes about dogs, Vietnam and marriages, along with the background and costumes, make this quite memorable. I’ve seen all of their films, and the ERB crew did a cracking job at bringing them to life.

Are you a fan of ERB? Do you agree with my choices? What are your favourite rap battles? Please let me know.

Alright, that’s another blog finished and my reward is to watch Last Week Tonight, and to think about next week’s blog. I’m sure something lame will come to me.

Thanks for reading, go walk your dog, watch a banned movie and I’ll see you next week.

Epic Rap Battles of History and the people I had never heard of

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, People, Social Media

I want to talk about Epic Rap Battles of History. Why? ERB is one of my favourite YouTube channels for all of the best reasons. History, music, pop culture and burns. A whole lot of burns.

If you don’t know about ERB, don’t worry, I used to be just like you. ERB creates videos that have two or more individuals involved in a rap battle. These individuals are either fictional characters from books, movies, tv shows, video games, and comic books; or real people from history, whether they are living or dead.

The first ERB video I saw was Batman vs. Sherlock Holmes and I loved it. I mentioned it to my girlfriend at the time (later my future wife) and she was dismayed that I had only just discovered it. Because of this, she mentioned some insult about my age that I can’t remember 1.

The series was created by Nice Peter (Peter Shukoff) and EpicLLOYD (Lloyd Ahlquist) and has evolved from a sketch in an improvised show to legendary status; at least to me. The first rap battle was released on YouTube in 2010 and since then, the channel has had multiple guest actors, performers and writers.

My ERB black t-shirt

Apart from the fact that the rap battles are as funny as Wile E. Coyote failing, they do actually educate people; especially concerning historic icons. With each new rap battle, my wife and I will sit and watch it together, because you know what they say…the couple that watch rap battles together, um…watch rap battles together.

Anyway, I love picking up subtle references with the lyrics, so I get to polish my geek badge after each rap battle. Well, that is not entirely true. Now I love history. I love learning weird and bizarre things about historic people and events, because it keeps me semi-sane. To prove a point, while my classmates were going to school dances, I was at home reading the oldest set of encyclopedias, humanity had ever seen. Why? Because some geek didn’t tell me about history, so I had to learn about it myself.

Coming back to ERB, there have been some rap battles where I have looked at one of the historic or pop culture figures in the opening credits, and had no idea who they were. This would mean I would have to quickly research the person before the rap battle started, so I had an idea on what to expect.

I’ve decided to list them in order of release and for your entertainment. In my defence, the five people listed are all Americans, and being a non-American myself, means I don’t know everything about America. Yet.

Season 1

Billy Mays vs. Ben Franklin

I had no idea about Billy Mays, I had never heard of him. I understand he was a salesperson on the Home Shopping Network, however I did know about Benjamin Franklin, so that’s a plus! I felt like I should have known about Billy Mays, but I didn’t; I let the team down.

Season 2

Mozart vs. Skrillex

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was easy, but Skrillex?! Skrillex?! Since my musical appreciation ended about 2000-2005, I really didn’t know of any new bands or artists. My future wife at the time; whom is 9.5 years younger than me, was shocked that I didn’t know who he was. Leave me alone, I’m old. I thought Skrillex sounded like an antidepressant, so after researching him and watching the rap battle, I considered myself educated. Not like the Tories.2

Season 3

Bob Ross vs. Pablo Picasso

I knew of Pablo Picasso, but never met him, because….he died before I was born. Yeah, that’s the reason. Anyway, my issue was with Bob Ross. I knew of some artist that taught people to paint happy little trees on television, but I didn’t know that guy was Bob Ross. After matching the name to the face, I now know about cadmium yellow.

Season 5

Gordon Ramsay vs. Julia Child

Now before you get excited, yes, I have heard of Gordon Ramsay. It’s Julia Child, I had never heard of. When the opening credits for the video started, I said, “Who the hell is Julia Child?!” My wife had worked in the food industry, so unknown to me, she was the perfect person to educate me. Upon wondering how I had lived my entire life having never heard of Julia Child, she told me all about her. The rap battle made a lot more sense because of that, even with my beloved ignorance.

Season 5

Frederick Douglass vs. Thomas Jefferson

Out of the five entries on this list, Frederick Douglass is the one I’m the most ashamed of not knowing. As soon as I read the title of the video, I realised we didn’t know a single thing about Frederick Douglass, so my wife and I paused the video and researched him. As I was reading about his life, it reinforced the concept that even though I knew some things about US history, there are equally as many things that I didn’t know. Because of this, it quickly became my favourite rap battle for Season 5.

I love ERB and I will write more about it. Eventually. Do you watch ERB? Has there ever been a rap battle with a person you had never heard of? Please let me know.

Well that’s it for me. I’m still making my way through Star Trek: Discovery. I’m at the halfway point of Season 4, so wish me luck. So thanks for reading, go watch some football, walk your dog, read a banned book and I’ll see you next week.

1 I lied, I remember exactly what she said.

2 Sorry, I couldn’t help it.

Merry Christmas 2022

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Blogs, People

On behalf of UMC1, UMC2, my wife, and all of the staff at Some Geek Told Me1, we hope everybody has a Merry and Safe Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Octagon, Dunedin, New Zealand

Thank you for reading, following and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. I’m on WordPress, Twitter and Mastodon now, so it means a lot to me. I’ll see you on 2nd January 2023! Cheers!

1 The entire staff of Some Geek Told Me, still consists of only one guy, that battles ice cream propaganda from his children and needs to invest in some new socks.

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.

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.