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  It’s Only a Flesh Wound

Recently, several members of the #SQLFamily were discussing various aspects of geekdom.  We came to a consensus:  there are many among us who are self-proclaimed geeks who are only geeks because of the coolness factor.  This is the second part of our journey revolves around movies.  There will probably be a great amount of debate, but I think these movies are essential to the core of what makes a geek.  This is not a comprehensive list because there are tons of obscure titles that geeks turns into cult classics and there are many geek books that were ruined by main stream movie versions.

• Monty Python and the Holy Grail – Every geek can quote Monty Python with such memorable phrases as “It’s only a flesh wound” and “What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?” followed by “An African or European swallow?”.
• Star Wars: A New Hope – This goes without explanation
• Hackers and/or Sneakers – what geek would be complete without a movie espousing the virtues of being 1337?
• War Games – Matthew Broderick was the geek I wanted to be in this and Ferris Bueller.  I had played around with a lot of the technology he was using so to see him hacking into the government to play games made him our hero.
• Office Space – Stuck in your cubicle?  Have eight bosses?  Facing outsourcing or a case of the mondays?
• Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn – There are other Star Trek movies, but not many compare to this one.
• The Matrix – “Why oh why didn’t I take the blue pill?”
• Blade Runner and/or Tron – We are suckers for a good space film, are you seeing a pattern here yet?
• The Princess Bride – “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” followed by “Stop saying that!”
• 2001: A Space Oddysey – “Open the pod bay doors, HAL” followed by “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that”

I know there are many more excellent geek movies, however this is a list of baseline movies.  While compiling this list, I thought of thirty more such as Alien and Pi, but I had to stop somewhere.  Every geek should know these movies, end of story.  “Share and Enjoy!”

HHGG

Recently, several members of the #SQLFamily were discussing various aspects of geekdom.  We came to a consensus:  there are many among us who are self-proclaimed geeks who are only geeks because of the coolness factor.  Personally I decided to post a series of blog posts that espouse a minimum set of experiences that make up the persona of a true geek.  Granted there are many variations, but true geeks all have  a baseline set of experiences that I believe unite us all.  In other words, we all share a common set of core values that made us into the uber geeks that you see before you today.

The first installment of What Makes a Geek will be books.  Books shape a persons thoughts and personality from a young age.  This list is not comprehensive but like I mentioned earlier, it is a baseline.

• Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (aka H2G2 or HHGG) – Every geek should know Forty-Two, DON’T PANIC, and knowing where one’s towel is.
• The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbitt by J.R.R. Tolkien (aka LOTR) – This one might fall of the list thanks to the popularity of the movies, but was a standard for years as evidenced by how many guys named themselves Gandalf and Frodo in chat rooms and online gaming environments.
• Neuromancer by William Gibson – bonus points are given if you played the video game released in the late 80s (I had it on a 5 1/4″ floppy)
• Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein – All books by Heinlein are awesome, but this is the definitive geek book.
• Anything from Isaac Asimov – I used to always say I, Robot, but the movie ruined that for me.  Every child should read Asimov, end of story.
• Any and/or all of the Star Wars and/or Star Trek novels – Geeks have strong opinions about these two universes and I am no different, however out of deference to my friends I will begrudgingly include Star Trek in the list.  This does not include the silly movie books, this is the full universe of novels which for Star Wars has over 100 currently.  My point is that watching the movies does not a geek make!

I know there are many more excellent geek books, however this is a list of baseline books.  Every geek should know these things, end of story.  “Share and Enjoy!”