Galactic Watercooler

We dive into the realm of robots who want to be (or emulate) humans and how they serve as a mirror for us to look at ourselves, individually and as a society. And we run down the week in geek, including some interesting Star Trek news, the (sad) numbers posted by Dredd, and our strong [...]

We put the Robots arc on hold, as Audra is getting some well-deserved rest, so Sean and Chuck cover this week’s news. And yes, Audra will be back soon!

This week, we kick off a long-overdue discussion talking about robots: robots who want to destroy the world!

In this episode, we conclude our Villains we Love to Love arc, with Mel Brooks’ classic villain (of a sort), Dark Helmet.

We continue our Villains we Love to Love arc, with a look at Portal 2’s GLaDOS, her Louise-Fletcher-like chilling calm, nurture-less “mother” persona, and impressively psychotic ability to manipulate — plus the interesting differences in how we perceive female and male villains differently. And we run down the Week in Geek, discussing Joss Whedon’s upcoming SHIELD [...]

In this episode, we continue our Villains we Love to Love arc with the Venture Brothers‘ outrageously-costumed, insecure, high-voiced swinger and villain extraordinaire: the Monarch. We examine the Monarch’s unusual upbringing, creativity, and desperation to live the 1960s supervillain life, and the startlingly realistic, humble lives of the henchmen. We sneak a glimpse into Chuck’s [...]

In this episode, we kick off our “Villains We Love to Love” arc with a look at the sympathetic and narcissistic Doctor Evil, his pitiful, neutered grasping for power, and the important line between villains who are likable, heroic foils and villains who are just plain scary.  We also give props to the Brits’ sense [...]

In our final “B” movie installment, 1995’s bum-shell Judge Dredd, we enjoy talking cheesy design elements, the dearth of non-ridiculous flying motorcycles, British views on American violence and vigilantism, and the perils of using current technology (especially in the 90’s)  to approximate futuristic computer graphics. And we run down the Week in Geek, checking out the [...]

We continue our “B” movie arc with the epically cheesy 1990 sci-fi flick Total Recall and realize that Arnold’s mechanical acting is ideal for a robot or a comic straight man but less convincing in Recall‘s mind-frak thriller landscape. We discuss the evolution of profanity in movies from the 80s to now, marvel at the fact that Recall‘s [...]

We kick off our “B” Movie arc with the hilariously cheesy, sometimes campy, and all-around fun 1985 sci-fi action flick Trancers. We revel in laughter over the movie’s halfhearted future-car, zombie cross-dressing stunt doubles, the gunning-down of a possessed mall Santa, the young Helen Hunt’s portrayal of a woman unfazed when her boyfriend’s body is [...]

We review our favorite parts of this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, including bronies, ubiquitous butt cheeks, Sean’s awesome art acquisition, and hanging out with the small press peeps; and we feature a segment recorded live with a band of GWCers at the con! And we run down the Week in Geek, reviewing some newly-announced Emmy [...]

We give love to the table-top games we grew up with and appreciate their role in a world before widespread video games. Audra talks about early digging on Trivial Pursuit, her meticulous Mouse Trap setup, and getting stuck being the thimble in Monopoly. Chuck and Sean take a serious look at competition, conflict, and friendship [...]

We reminisce on our favorite childhood toys and delve into memories of specific character-building moments. Audra recalls the excitement of older cousins’ 1980 Hot Wheels City Play Set and Castle Grayskull fortress, and admits her own favorite toy was selected for its smell. Chuck and Sean geek out on Matchbox cars, model rockets, and the [...]

We revel in remembering some of the best (and worst) toys of our childhoods, give props to homemade toys, and realize how much toys shape the kind of people we become. We recall what it was like to polish your own rocks, struggle with the infernal spirograph, try to get any real speed on a [...]

We dive into a great discussion of Prometheus and the questions it raises about human creation and corruption; the colonization of ancient earth; alien warning frescoes; self-sacrifice vs. selfishness; why the Engineer may have been justified in wanting to Kill All Humans; plagiarized cave paintings; and why Jesus may have been way taller — and buffer — than [...]

We talk specifically about how the US space program affected us during our formative years, and we speculate on how it might play into the development of today’s young geeks. And we run down the week in geek, including new Spider-Man and Total Recall trailers, awesome Robocop casting news (on two fronts!), the current popularity [...]

We wrap up our growing up geek arc this week with some mixed discussion of how our various media selections fit together to make us who we are today. Also, we run down the week in geek, including Ray Bradbury’s death (and how Fahrenheit 451’s message still applies in today’s digital book market), the new [...]

We continue our growing up geek arc with the novel The Hero and The Crown, which provided Sean entry into the worlds of reading and fantasy. We discuss how his experience (and others like his) lead to lifetime learning, advocate for more flexible reading lists for early readers, and talk about the true purposes of [...]

This week we check out a media object significant to Chuck’s early development as a geek: War Games. We talk about the differences between getting “into” computers in the 80s vs. now, and each of us share some experiences with interacting with tech over the years. Also, as always, we run down the week in [...]

We kick off a new arc in which each of us choose one media object that had a significant effect on our development as a young geek. Up this week is Audra, who takes us on a tour of Flight of the Navigator. And we run down the week in geek, including the awesome Big [...]