After the shoot Felicia came to our table (I was placed with a very nice couple who I’m now friends with) to thank us for coming.  I got to tell her how much I loved the recently released Guild comics, so that made my day. 

If anyone ever gets the chance to be an extra for the show, I say go for it.  It made me all happy and fulfilled like to, in my own small way, help create something I heart so much.

The episode is called Awkward Birthday – and can be viewed here. 

 You can see a very very blury version of me behind Zaboo.  I have long hair, and that’s what the back of my head looks like.

Check it out!  +5CHA

+5CHA is for you if…

• You’re looking for like-minded, geeky friends
• You want support in reaching your fitness or weight loss goals
• You’re a squishy geek looking to get less squishy
• You’re a scrawny geek looking to get buff
• You want to set goals with other geeks who go to the same conventions as you
• You’re an expert or professional in food/nutrition/exercise/etc and want to help out!

+5CHA is NOT for you if…

• You’re not interested in getting fit

Your idea of a “geek forum” involves flaming, edition wars, or other idiocy. Our mods will have a zero tolerance policy for such posts. We want to keep a friendly and supportive atmosphere at all times, and besides, there are plenty of other places on the internet where you can “express your opinions” on hot topics.

After we booked our condo in Vegas, we noticed that one of the biggest “Star Trek” conventions was being held a few miles from our place — and while none of us are die-hard “Star Trek” fans, we’d be doing a disservice to our geek roots to not attend.

We didn’t stay long — Vegas in its twinkling, glittering glory was calling, and we had limited time together. But a few impressions and photos from our time at Star Trek Las Vegas.

The vendors:

The vendor room was chock full of anything you’d want. Our party invested in some noise-sensitive Tribbles for the kids back home (they chirp and wriggle when you clap). I picked up a Fruity Oaty Bar T-shirt for Mrs. Josh (there was a surprising lack of women’s-cut shirts).

And, of course, there were the standard collection of Limited Edition Star Trek Collector Plates, books, airbrushed t-shirts, vulcan ears, replica uniforms, phasers, and action figures.

Non-Trek fare had a showing, too. I had a nice chat with Richard Hatch on Galactica today versus 30 years ago, and actors of every stripe were represented (such as Dean Haglund from “The X-Files,” pictured at right, who starred in a favorite of mine, “Lone Gunmen”).

The people:

Patrick Stewart, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy on stage. Trust me... they're up there.

As with any mass gathering of geekdom, the camaraderie was woven through the fabric of the convention tighter than Seven of Nine’s jumpsuit. There were people in full Klingon regalia, Starfleet cadets, mirror universe personnel, and even a renegade from Khan’s forces.

C'mon, Shatner... just glance to the left...

At one point, a few people started snapping my photo, which prompted a few more to gather. When I asked one of them what was going on, she disappointedly deadpanned, “Somebody thought you were Wil Wheaton.”

Celebrity impersonations aside, the highlight, of course, was William Shatner’s appearance.

We were standing in the anteroom, when my traveling companion said, “Whoa — It’s Shatner!” I turned, expecting to see a huge throng of people, but it was just him, a camera and 4 attendees. We snapped a few quick photos before the crowd was too much to bear. I was impressed by how little of roast beef he smelled.

We ran into Shatner again while trolling through the vendor room. Him and the camera crew appeared a few feet away from us.

Me and Twitter friend @starfleetmom — I don't think I look THAT much like Wil Wheaton....

When Shatner later took the stage, he worked the crowd like a master showman. He catered to questions with ease and bantered with attendees with charm and flair. The applause was off the charts when he was joined by Patrick Stewart and Leonard Nimoy.

Nimoy and Shatner lapsed into their characteristic kvetching, and the audience ate it up from there out. Those two were like an old married couple on stage — the audience wanted to hear less about the socio-religious implications of the glowing light in Episode 51, and really just wanted to hear Nimoy and Shatner take potshots at each other.

Click the following photos to make them at least twice that of their current sizes!

A sweet father-son Trek moment.

Ah, Limited Edition Star Trek Collector Plate. A staple of any good convention.

A fellow conventioneer defending his purchase of two Tribbles.

I'm standing like 4 feet from Captain Kirk!

Not sure these uniforms are Starfleet regulation....

Me with Battlestar's Richard Hatch.

I had my arm around the guy on the left, and I needed to towel it off when done. These guys were SWEATY.

A Klingon and a cross-gendered Khan. Strange allies, but wow.

More on this later — The former Star Trek Experience part of the Hilton. Sad.

It has, however, totally put me in the mood to watch the 6 hour version the BBC made forevs ago.  Other things that put me in the mood to watch Jane Austen movies

-Any piece of British literature circa 1600s-1925

-Mad Men (because it is also a costume drama)

-Being in a group of more than 3 women (since that’s usually what I do with my shefriends and sisters anyways)

-Taking walks

-Playing lawn games

-Wearing anything remotely resembling an empire waist dress

So, I get in the mood to watch Jane Austen a lot, but now especially.  Husband has never seen Jane Austen, and therefore does not appreciate.  Christy and I have plans to watch P&P with him so he gets the full experience of watching the movie, because stereo chortling whenever Mr. Darcy does anything really makes the experience.

Maybe I can butter him up by making him watch this

Sometimes I miss the heft of the corded telephone.

One of these in my house would make me so happy.  iRetrophone from etsy seller Freeland Studios.  Sadly, I don’t have an iphone.  Maybe if I asked nicely they’d make one for the EVO?

Also available in Steampunk, if you live in that alternate reality.

Despite my repeated carlisthenics (my patented exercise regimen), I’m still unable to contort into your carry-on. But don’t despair, my would-be roomie — I’ve discovered a way we can still see the unique sights and unforgettable smells of thousands of geeks packed into tight spaces in the baking San Diego sun.

I’ve assembled your very own Josh kit!

Print out your Geek6 Josh Facsimile (he likes card stock), mount it on a popsicle stick or ruler, and you’re set to go! Too lazy to print it out? If you’re going to Comic-Con, e-mail me your address, and I’ll send you a pre-fabricated Josh Kit!

Of course, without photographic proof, I won’t have any memories of my trip to Comic-Con, I’ll need you to take pictures of me at any panel, cosplay event, late-night romp or compromising position you can squeeze 2-D-Me into.

Send your pictures of me at Comic-Con to this address, and I’ll get them onto the blog pronto.

UPDATE: The person who provides me with the best “My Time at Comic-Con” photo gets a great hardcover “Art of Star Trek” book!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PDF!

I recently sat down for lunch with my friend Erik (@topfermented) to talk about his Kickstarter project, Mystery Brewing Company. I mentioned how all of the friends I know who are into home brewing have a relatively high degree of geekitude in common. Obviously, there’s a lot of science and chemistry involved, so there’s that appeal to geeks. But Erik had another idea.

Brewing beer is very much an RPG skill that you can add to your real life character sheet.

Editor’s note – I know totally want to know what other real life character sheet skillz people should have.  I currently have a +5 traffic patience and +2 cool knot tying abilities.  What do you guys think?

Here’s your list of mats:
1. Water
2. Barley
3. Yeast
4. Hops

That’s pretty much it. A quick google search will help you find a local homebrew shop where they can help you with the rest of the equipment and help you out with a slightly more comprehensive guide. You may also want to add a second type of starch, be it sugar, another grain (like rice, wheat or corn) or even something more exotic like juice, honey or Kool-Aid mix (for pink-headed beery goodness). Further trial and error with your recipes is possible to create new flavors and colors, and it’s there you will find the magic of home brewing. You can attempt all manner of science with potentially delicious and/or intoxicating results.

Home brewing takes a bunch of chemistry, some time, and some space. Your beer is going to need to sit some time while the science happens. Enzymes need to turn barley into sugar and then the sugar and yeast need time to ferment. This will take a few weeks and depending on the style of beer you’re going for, it could take months. I have seen friends use floor space in guest bedrooms, upstairs bathrooms, basements and garages. So if you have a studio apartment or share a place with roommates, you and your friends might need to get cozy with a giant bottle of proto-beer for a while. With some practice, I assure you it will be worth it.

Now, what are your other options? Whether or not you want to add brewing to your character sheet, you could opt to support my friend Erik. As I wrote on my own blog recently, Mystery Brewing Company will succeed. One taste of Erik’s beer and you would agree. In fact, he is now fully funded on kickstarter, but you can still be a part of Erik’s dream until July 23rd. Head over to his kickstarter page: Mystery Brewing Company and check things out. You don’t have to pledge a huge amount. Any little bit will still help him start a new company and live his dream. You also stand to get a few interesting rewards out of the deal. And if you do decide to try out home brewing, definitely follow @topfermented. He can help you out with all kinds of advice and ideas. Plus, if you donate enough to kickstarter, Erik will send you a recipe. You could brew some Mystery beer in your extra bathroom. Which would only be a little weird.

@nerdsherpa, not a beer expert, but a beer expert expert.
(I also know about a lot of other nerdy things. Check out my blog at nerdsherpa.blogspot.com. I promise you’ll like it.)

A glorious GeekSix 4th to you all.

So here I sit inside my house. In Utah. Where all the big fireworks took place yesterday because no one is allowed to do anything here on a Sunday I guess.

But from the upper balcony I can hear the whirl and whiz of the store bought variety of fireworks mixed with the occasional big bang of the illegal contraband that someone sneaked in from probably Wyoming. Yes Wyoming. Home of real fireworks and beer for those who live in Utah.

But it also has me thinking back on July 4th’s of the past. And for some reason one keeps popping to mind. A truly geekrific trip in all.

See a couple years back my friend was stationed at Fort Bragg in the city of Fayetteville, North Carolina. Or as they like to call it Fayettenam.  It really is a military town for the most part and everywhere you go you are reminded of that. And some how he got me on a plane to come visit him.

Wow you must be saying. Sounds awesome. I know right? Now before you tune out let me get to the highlights of my trip for you and why it is sitting in my frontal lobe as I type.

• I had never been to North Carolina. I flew into the Raleigh/Durham airport. And leaving the airport, being with miles of Duke, North Carolina, NC State and Wake Forest was pretty cool for the academic in me.
• Out of the four days I was there, I ate Buffalo Wild Wings three times.
• My friend, the one who ask me to come, asked me to make sure to sign for a package for him my first day there. Turns out that was porn he did not want his girlfriend to find.
• We had to go to South Carolina because that is where the good fireworks are. My friend dropped about $800 on that round of gunpowder. Sadly that is not his record.
• We proceeded to fire said fireworks in glorious fashion in a relative’s backyard…next to a bog. Part way through we started sending heavy smoke grenades and flash bombs into the bog to try and blow up bullfrogs. The fuses didn’t go out in water.
• The next morning I discovered four holes in the shirt I was wearing the night before. All burn holes.
• We went to Camp Lejeune with an old Marine to hang on the beach. On the way home it informed us we were probably surrounded by sharks the entire time and if we were above ourselves in a helicopter, we would have seen them circling.
• A bbq pit totally torched itself because someone forgot to empty the grease can. It caught on fire. No one knew how to put out a grease fire for some reason. Yes they did use water. I eventually told them they had to smother it.

That was a fun year.

Happy 4th of July everyone.

After 10 non-stop days and nights of toil, I emerged from my nuclear fallout shelter made of Clif bar wrappers and cans of Diet Mountain Dew to find the world a drastically changed place.

So, dear readers in this most hostile of foreign landscapes, if you’re like me, and have been away for a spell, here’s some of what’s changed over the past two weeks:

Nintendo made a gaming handheld powered by sorcery.

The new Nintendo 3DS hit E3 with more intensity than a platoon of booth babes. While attendees only got short stints of hands-on activity, most people were wowed by the realistic, glasses-free 3D. While I’ve yet to see a 3DS in the wild, I’m dubious of the dark arts that would allow someone to create an immersive 3D experience that doesn’t require ill-fitting and overpriced Terminator sunglasses.

Peter Jackson is pretty much going to direct “The Hobbit.”

Before I went into the cone of isolation, one of the last things that resonated through the nerdosphere was that Guillermo del Toro walked out as director of “The Hobbit.” It was an amicable split — as good as one can be when the director exits due to exasperation over the protracted schedule. But, even though it’s not confirmed, it looks like the one guy who vowed to NOT direct the prequel is going to step in. Although it’s not 100% confirmed, producer Peter “Should Have Been a Unix Admin” Jackson is looking like the likely replacement.

There is a cat that costs more than my car.

Someday, science will stop creating robots that can repair themselves and healing animals that would eat us if they could. Oscar, a three-year-old cat, got a pricey pair of bionic legs that allow him to walk, run, and presumably scratch the crap out of Science’s new sofa they totally overspent on. The news had to have been a blow to all of those vets I see shuffling around in dented wheelchairs who’ve been told there’s no money available for a pair of crutches, much less Lieutenant-Dan-Worthy bionic legs.

Futurama came back.

Also, in the greatest all-time comeback since “Serenity,” Futurama avenged the premature cancellation of shows throughout history by making an unprecedented return to TV. Also, I haven’t seen it yet, so if you spoil any it for me, I will kill myself just so I can come back as a ghost and haunt the hell out of your nightmares for all eternity.

Nathan Fillion may play Ant-Man.

Speaking of “Serenity,” the millenials’ Harrison Ford may get a spot in Joss Whedon’s “Avengers” movie. Marvel is betting a lot that Whedon doesn’t mess this up. I love the guy, but his total batting record ain’t exactly 100. Or 1000. Or whatever that term is in baseball that means perfect. At any rate, Our Captain Reynolds may get to play Hank Pym, better known as Ant-Man.

SyFy is giving people a chance to make their own crappy movie.

Tired of getting the shaft for creating classics like “Mansquito” and “Dinoshark,” SyFy is giving would-be-auteurs the chance to add another steaming pile onto the compost heap that is SyFy’s original movie vault. While this was a great idea in theory, calling the project “B Movie Mogul” almost guarantees that no good ideas will come of it, and SyFy will be able to walk away from the series feeling like nobody can create a better TV movie than their own writers.

Farmville hit the iPhone.

When I found out the Milky Way’s favorite time suck made its debut on portable devices, I was fairly surprised to have emerged from my workcoon (note to self: pitch this word as SyFy’s next movie title) to find that society was still as vibrant and abrasively annoying as always. There weren’t vast fields of humans staring at little screens, nudging chickens around with their fingers. Well, not any more than usual.

Vuvuzelas of Doom.

From my chrysalis of overtime, I heard a constant and grating buzzing. When I emerged, I found out the noise was coming from vuvuzelas, these horrible one-note trumpet things that resemble plastic beer bongs, but sound like an angry swarm of bees dry humping a didgeridoo. Thankfully, modern society has created at least one good use for the device, though: battling the forces of evil on an abandoned UAC base.