So, during this challenge I will share with you all the movies, books and games I watched, read and played--all the influences that turned me into the writer I am today.
MOVIES
Alien (1979): I watched this between my fingers, though this is not the first movie I watched this way.
Aliens (1986): This movie had everything: the spectacular special effects, the tension, the cool characters, and the memorable one-liners, eg. ‘Game over, man!’
Anime: I first discovered anime at a comic book convention. The cartoon violence came as a complete shock at the time, but I soon realised anime had a whole lot more to offer. Movies include, Ghost In The Shell, Howl's Moving Castle, Cowboy Bebop, and a bunch I couldn’t name.
BOOKS
Amtrak Wars by Patrick Tilley (1985), a series of six books. I read mainly fantasy in my teens, but this was the first science fiction I completely devoured and loved.
Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn (2003). This is feudal Japan written in a light, enjoyable style.
GAMES
Asteroids, the arcade game released in 1979. I dropped many a coin into this one. No one minded the terrible graphics. Cutting edge! It’s a game that’s still well loved and can be played for free online now.
Air hockey, invented 1969-1972. This game was pure genius. I regularly came home from the arcade with bruises over my hands from the pucks.
Angry Birds, released in 2009. I never grew out of my geek. Game playing isn't even considered that geeky anymore. This game is horribly addictive and amusing.
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Did you ever hide your inner geek? Did you indulge in any of these? What are some other ‘A’ movies, books, games or activities you loved?
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A big THANK YOU to Arlee Bird who began the A-Z Challenge four years ago. I bet you didn't imagine this challenge would grow so big when you first began it.
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70 comments:
I don't hide my inner geek. I embrace it. I watched Alien and Aliens for a film class (and watched both between my fingers).
Air hockey is genius, and for a while I had a table in my kitchen.
And yeah. Angry Birds is entirely too addictive.
Hello from A to Z! I remember being a little freaked out by the Alien movies when I was a kid, but I can certainly see how a story about a strong woman as the leading character can be inspirational.
I got excited the other day because my email newsletter arrived on the topic of typography - think it's safe to say I get my geek on :)
Not so much a gamer though, never had the patience, I make up for that this week by watching retro Doctor Who episodes.
Alien was a winner, but I kinda wish they'd stopped at one.
Great post, you're off to a grand start!
Who knew geek would become so chic? I wonder if girls in high school all fight over the nerdiest guy in class.
mood
Moody Writing
HI Lynda,
I never seem to grow tired of Angry Birds either!
Good start to your challenge
Keep Calm and A-Z
An A-Z of learning English
Round the world from A to Z
May I be an honourary geek!!??! Yay!!! Happy A-Zing!! Take care
x
Happy A-Zing, Lynda. I am not much of a geek.
Aliens was almost my pick today!
Asteroids... ah the days of playing nothing but a little triangle.
And I think Vampire Hunter D and Akira were my first exposure to anime.
Off to an awesome start, Lynda!
Great post. Loved the movie Aliens and will still play Astroids if I can find a game.
I loved the Anne Of Green Gables series... aaah, that takes me back many, many, many years...
With regards to movies/games... I'm quite useless...
Happy A-Day!
Alien and Aliens are top choices! I've also spent many happy times playing air hockey.
Ghost In The Shell, Howl's Moving Castle, Cowboy Bebop are just a few of the top anime classics. Hope you have fun down the Anime rabbit hole. Those movies you picked are great choices. Keep on chugging Lynda.
My inner geek has very different taste than yours, until I got to the end of the list - Angry Birds are cool
I might be one of the biggest geeks on the planet--and fly that flag proudly! :D
Alien was one of my first SciFi experiences, and Asteroids on the Atari was a family hit. I've owned and/or played every video game system since then. :)
Okay...so being a geek as you describe it, I am not, but I'm so glad to be back on the A-Z blog hop!
A fun post!
Happy A to Z-ing!
I call it sunbaking too :)))
Good luck with the challenge! That's a lot of A's for one day...;~)I participated last year and had a blast!
Donna L Martin
www.donasdays.blogspot.com
Oh, I remember air hockey! I used to play it all the time when I was younger. And I've watched movies by covering my eyes, too, especially the scary ones. There are parts of the Scream movies that I never watched because I kept covering my eyes.
I cannot live without anime and Ghost in the Shell was one of my hits!
My nephew was the one who made me play Angry Birds. He's big fan and is only 4 years old. :)
My inner geek used to stay hidden , but thanks to blogging she comes out more and more. I love the Alien movies. Whenever I watch them I have to turn all the lights down, volume up, snuggle up with the duvet and enjoy. I'm going to have to do that again soon.
I look forward to more geek posts!
I used to spend hours playing air hockey. Thanks for the memory.
Hi, Lydia,
I never considered myself a geek, but I do like many of your choices! Writer's are not just geeks.... they have souls, passion, and MANY interests... Perhaps we all have an INNER GEEK! Nothing wrong with that. LOL
A very fun theme you chose!
Oh, I'm a geek alright!
Love those alien movies. I REFUSE to get involved with Angry Birds. LOL!
I'm participating in the A-Z Challenge, too, if you want to stop by my blog. I saw your Tweet and thought I'd check out your blog. All things Geek. Very interesting. Looking forward to your posts this month.
Yes, I hide my inner geek all the time. I'm a really really shy girl. I suffer from social anxiety so I really hide a lot of myself from people and that includes my inner geekness, but I've got some major geekness.
Favorite A stuff: author: Louisa May Alcott (as she is the spotlight on my blog today).
Books: Almost Heaven by Chris Fabry, Anne of Avonlea series, The Awakening by Angela Hunt
Movies: Amadeus, All About Eve
Games: Angry Birds (not as into it as some people, but when I get started it's hard to stop)
My blog: http://www.polliwogblog.blogspot.com
I've still not watched Alien, but love your theme! RomComs are my film genre and I must admit that in my diary are airshows and I can't wait to see the Flying Scotsman and Skyfall go up then down the east coast line..(yes, they're trains) oops.. geekdom here I come..
Games, movies, and books! I love the theme. Ha--Alien. I saw that with my aunt and uncle, and my aunt and I felt nauseous by the time we walked out of the theater. Erg!
Yay for geekiness! Awesome picks (especially Cowboy Bebop--so one of my favorites, along with Samurai Champlu!). Definitely props from this geek :)
Lynda, I love Air Hockey and Angry Birds but Asteroids was one of my favorite arcade games!! I just had flashbacks of playing when I read your post.
I guess I was and still am a geek. When I was younger, I tried to hide the geek in me but as an adult I let it all hang out. :)
Great theme! I was never a game-player, though. Was raising kids when the gaming culture took off. Love the movie choices.
Great post, Lynda :)
I'm with you on the geek front, and I embrace mine. I gave up trying to be "cool" a long time ago! I've watched Alien while hiding behind the couch.
My favourite "A" book is Anna Karenina, and my favourite"A" movie is "Avatar". I've never been into gaming.
Looking forward to reading your posts throughout the challenge :)
Joanne
Thank you for posting from your inner-geek. Seeing Across the Nightingale Floor listed here reminded me how much I loved the book. My movie A would have to be Amistad.
I adore the Alien movies! I've heard a lot of people like Angry Birds. I'll have to check it out. :-)
I have a very hard time seeing you as a geek. You are way too cool! Btw, it;s nice seeing you again. Been way too long since I dropped by for a visit.
Just stopping by from the A-Z Challenge. How about the "Andromeda Strain" from an "A" book? I thought that book was well ahead of its time. Looking forward to more of your posts.
Elliot
We Are Adventures
I loved Asteroids. I confess, I'm too much of a chicken to have ever watched Aliens. I liked Prometheus though.
Alien and Aliens, great classic movies. Astroids great classic game and I am addicted to Angrybird, too. Have you tried the StarWars version?
May A is an Author, Issac Asimov. His Foundation trilogy is the first Science Fiction I can remember reading (in high school) and for geek factor, I've read his two volume guide to the Bible cover to cover and his book of facts, cover to cover, more than a dozen times.
Love Alien and Aliens as well as PC Games like Skyrim and Fallout3.
You had an air hockey table in your kitchen!!! You're awesome!!!!!!
There are some awesome retro Dr Who episodes, and some really bad ones too ;) Retro-wise, anything including and before Tom Baker rocked.
Absolutely!!!! I dub thee geek for April!
It's funny, Akira is one of the better known animes, yet I've never seen it. Um-ah! There are some holes in my geekiness.
The link in my post goes to a free game for Asteroids ;)
Sounds like you're an anime fan as well
Personally I'm an x-box girl ;)
And a huge YAY for being geek!
What else is it called? ;)
smart move not getting hooked on Angry Birds. You'll have more time to write ;)
I'm a firm believer that there is a little inner geek in everyone.
Hi Leah, I'm super shy as well. I think that's part of why I became a geek. Being less social, I delved into books, movies and games, and especially in games, I could be anyone I wanted to be.
Oh, I love RomComs too! hehehe
Letting the geek all hang out is good for the soul
I was going to add Avatar in the list, but the list was getting somewhat long so I had to stop ;)
If you want time to suddenly vanish without a trace, then definitely check out Angry Birds ;)
Yep, I'm definitely back from my break.
And by the way, your comment made me laugh out loud... literally. Way too cool? I can't say I ever thought I'd hear those words. Ever. If only my teen-self could see me now! ;)
Oh my gosh! How'd I miss that one???? Good call!
I have a crappy old phone that can't play the newer StarWars version :(
Asimov wrote a guide to the Bible??? Wasn't he a self-proclaimed athiest? His foundation series was great though.
Skyrim, another addictive game. I've not played Fallout though.
I grew up in a rural school system, and I don't think the in-crowd differentiated between geeks, high GPA'ers, aggies, and the generally unpopular crowd.
So there was no reason to hide my Star Wars, Trek, and E.E. Doc Smith books. You'd flash a Trek cover in study hall, and the A-listers would just shrug. To them, might as well been reading something in Hebrew.
Speaking of A lists--I love yours!
Best,
Joe
http://www.josephwrichardson.com/2013/04/01/april-a-go-go/
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Angry Birds is the Geekiest Game I've ever encountered. Of course, I can't hit a pig from any angle, so maybe that's coloring my perception!
I love air hockey and play every chance I get. Reminds me of my college days.
I haven't played air hockey in years. We get a lot of Angry Birds in this house since my toddler is obsessed. A young geek in the making. :) Love your theme!
Ooh, ooh! I'm a geek, too! :) Love this theme!
Alien.... I remember that one like it hit theaters only yesterday. 'Mother!' Aliens: 'Why you put her in charge, man!'
Alien I'm familiar with, can't remember seeing it in its entirety though.
Yes, well at least an agnostic. However, because of his Jewish background he had an interest in it. It's very much a secular treatment.
Awesome blog!!
lol, my inner geek thanks you.
So much goodness in the A post!
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