Who Watches the Watchers

As a nerd it is expected that I have seen certain movies, shows, series, etc.  An example of this expectation is the movie Watchmen. I have only ever really heard of this movie/universe in passing with the standard blue phallis jokes of the famous Dr. Manhattan. Aside from Rorchach and Dr. Manhattan's physical appearances I didn't know jack squat about it. Last night I was flipping channels when I saw that Watchmen had just started and I began watching a little. Holy crap was this a cool movie. Not only were the special effects great, it was incredibly self-aware for a super hero movie, including little tid-bits of slapstick humour that gave it a great charm.  Also, having watched Household Hacker on Youtube, I have the know-how to make a killer Rorchach mask for Halloween and Dragon*Con.

Having finally watched this paragon of nerd movies, it got me thinking of all of the movies, games, and series I haven't seen or played that I probably should have. This is mostly true for games I feel, because I don't like to play a huge number, and I usually just cycle between my top 10. The list of games I can think of include the following: Bioshock, World of Warcraft, Resident Evil, Zelda Windwaker, Dragon Age, and several more not immediately coming to mind.

The example I catch the most flack for stems from the fact that I am a HUGE Trekie! However, I have never watched the original star trek series... "Blasphemy!" is something I have heard, but I have a difficult time watching any shows from the sixties or earlier. Also, I have a hard time believing any Captain could be a better leader than "Captain Jon-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise"! I have seen and very much enjoyed J.J. Abrams remake movies of the original series, and I am an avid wiki reader on the fandoms I enjoy, so I definitely have a good understanding of the major plot points and especially the characters. I simply have not sat down to watch that series.

If you have a recommendation for your favorite Sci-fi or really any type of movie or series, let me know what I should be watching!


"We are all puppets, I am just a puppet who sees the strings." - Dr. Manhattan

You Are What You Write

I met a girl at the bar last night. I entered the bar just as she was finishing playing a song on the piano and singing beautifully. My friend (female) and I went to congratulate and say hello. As fellow musicians my friend and I appreciate real talent when we see it. The girls name was Beth and as my friend went to play a set of her own Beth and I started talking. She explained to me that she is a bartender, but she really wants to go to school for psycology. I asked her what her favorite psycological field was, and she answered handwriting analysis. Now I had always heard urban legends of CSI agents discovering everything about the serial killer by a single letter left in a note by the body, but I never put that much stock in them. This girl blew my mind though. She's only really read books on the subject, but listening to her analysis of my writing and my sugnature, I felt as though she knew almost every damn thing about me... From my signature she determined that I am a socialble creature that typically leans into people as opposed to away; that I have a questionable outlook on the future; and that I appreciate cerebral and logical thought over sentiment and feelings.

After her demonstration I had to know her secret to this analysis. She told me to read Sex, Lies, and Handwriting by Michelle Dresbold. I bought the book from the kindle store, and only an hour into reading, I have read about 32% of the text, and I have learned so much. The best part is that the knowlege I've learned is only the tip of the iceberg. You would be shocked to know how much you can learn about a person simply looking at how they write the letter "I". I plan to have a more detailed report of the book once I've complete the book, but I still highly recommend it at this point. It is a cool and interesting skill to develop, and it may save you a lot of time learning about someone before they have a chance to surprise you. If I have learned anything so far, is that you can act as a completely different person on the outside, but your handwriting will almost always betray your true self. Even a well practiced and "text book" handwriting speaks volumes.

One recomendation if you do read the book. Before even opening the first page, take out a piece of paper and write the following: your signature, the numbers zero through nine, the scentence "The quick fox jumps over the brown lazy dog" and the scentence, "I'm right". Write these before you know how to analyze anything, and then you will have an honest representation of yourself.


Bazinga

Let's Play Pretend

Geekdom. This field encompasses quite a wide variety of subjects. Most, if not all of these subjects are demonstarated in one form or fashion at the greatest place on earth: Dragon*Con. I say Dragon*Con is the greatest place on earth because I have never been to any other cons, and D*Con is right here in Atlanta where I live. One of the most facinating and fun hobbies my fellow nerds and I undertake while at any type of Con is the noble art of cosplay.

Movies, shows, comics, cartoons, video games, books, or the world of imagination are all sources of inspiration for the cosplayer. I have seen everything from Jedi to Medieval Batman. From Twi'leks to Klingons, princesses, Stormtroopers, asari, Khaleesi, X men, superman, and many, many more. There is no law or rule that states you must cosplay if you go to a Con, but I would highly recommend it! Even if you think your cosplay idea is unoriginal or overused, you can use just a bit of imagination, tweak the idea slightly, and you have a whole different spin. Take Medeival batman for example. Batman in its own right, is a great costume. But so mant other people will be dressed as batman! Is there not only one Caped Crusader? Well this Caped Crusader may have actually battled the armies of Islam to reclaim the Holy Land of Gotham City. Really though, I love this idea and its something that with a little time and dedication can really make your Con a better experience.

Some people can use a simpler idea to make fun costumes. For the past two years I have gone to Dragon*Con as the Lone Wanderer from Vault 101. If you are unfamiliar with this character, it is from the game Fallout 3, a game that too many have forgotten about and is still freaking awesome! Admitedly, I have grown a tad boerd of the same costume and I have been thinking about tweaking the idea. But what can I do to tweak a post apocalyptic, futuristc, character that was born in a glorified basement and fights mutant insect and raiders? Well Steampunk of course! If you don't know about Steampunk, I wil have another post about it in the future, but in a short and sweet description, Steampunk is what modern and futuristic technology would look like if it were steam powered and built in the Victorian era. The picture to the right is just one example of the fashion styke if your typical Steampunker, but you can Google for much more reference.

But ya, I think I am going to end it there. Do yourselves a favor. If you go to Dragon*Con, Comic*Con or (insert nerdy thing here)*Con. Cosplay while you're there. And if you are boering, unoriginal or a spoil sport, at least wear a nerdy T-shirt of some kind. If you go there looking to have fun, you'll have fun. And the opposite is also true.



Beam me up Scotty.

Social Engineering

American Heritage Dictionary defines Social Engineering as "The practical application of sociological principles to particular social norms". According to Brian Brushman, host of my new favorite internet show Scam School defines it as "Using cheap, dirty pstcological tricks to get people to do what you want". I like Brian's definition and honestly, it is really fun seeing the effects social norms have on people in any kind of social situation. I discovered Brian Brushman's Scam School a littel over a week ago and I have now become a pasionate student and member of the "Con Club" dedicated to social engineering in the bar and on the streets. Amen. Ahem... Honeslty though, I have told you before that I have been performing amateur magic tricks since I was sixteen years old, but in that last week ir so of watching Scam School, I have learned more about the reactions and tendencies of potential audience members or 'marks' than I learned in the previous six years.

Its not about the trick, its about the show. People are dreadfully simple to distract, and the digital, multi-tasking world we live in has only made this easier. Most people are see the world as a "big picture" and muddle over the individual details. One would think if I were to perform a magic trick for you, you would engage some super detail selection software in your mind, but in all honesty, it is when you are being tested that you are most likely to fail this exercise. Because your guard is so high during a trick hoping to debunk the magic, youe mind will focus on the very first detail I hint is important, and seldom look anywhere else for the rest of the trick. There is a Youtube video where unkowing customers walk into a dealership to buy a motorcycle. During the sale the salesman who is in on the exeperiment periodically and very quickly changes an aricle of his clothing. Change his jacket, hat and in an extreme case, added an eye-patch. The customers who are so engaged in their purchase, almost always fail to recognize the changes in the salesman's appearance. This same blindness is what makes most tricks possible.

Knowing what people are blind to on a mental basis and what most people's goals are in a social situation can make you the proverbial puppet master when dealing with strangers at the bar or anywhere else. I have found in my experience, your friends are much less likely to be able to be fooled in such ways due to their innate knowlege of your social baseline. Any attempt to change your usual facade is an immediate red flag to those familiar to you that you are pulling a con.

I guess the whole point of this post though is that I may have found a way to overcome my shyness at the bar. My magic tricks are just gimmicks and flair. They are nothing to me if I don't have the nerve to go up to a pretty girl at the bar and say hello. With my limited knowlege of social engineering I think I can now attempt to meet a lot more people. I'm not saying I can manipulate people, nor would I ever want to. These new skills I am developing are only a way in which I can guage reactions from people, and hopefully steer the conversation in an interesting and new direction from which they are used to. Trust me, if you are interesting and considerate, most people are going to want to keep talking to you. And hell, if they receive a little entertainment along the way (with a magic trick or two) then who can complain?

Granted, I am only ankle deep in this new discovery, so I will let you know of my success (and failure) stories as I take this theory "into the field" so to speak. As always, I hope you enjoy my posts. Thank you for reading.


Live Well

Green Astronauts From Outer Space

When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut. And not like every other kid, I seriously expected when I was younger I would be in space at some point in my future. That dream ended up not coming true when I was diagnosed with diabetes at age twelve, but I have not lost my adoration of science and astrology. I picked up a game a while back after watching some gameplay from Duncan from the Yogscast on the Youtubes is Kerbal Space Program.

This game has improved my understanding of orbital mechanics more than any textbook ever could. Given this game has to seriously simplify the advanced calculations required to put an object in orbit, it is still one of the most challenging actions you can do without a lot of help from the internet. From designing a rocket to testing it on the launch pad to launching Jebediah Kermin into the ground at Mach two, this game very well may be the closest I will get to working for a space agency. If you are any bit as nerdy as I am, you have to add this game to your collection. It is available on Steam for around $20 US and periodically goes on sale for much less. It is a game that is still in development, and each update makes the game better and better. 

A small overview: You are the only decision maker over a small green species known as Kerbals on their home planet of Kerbin. Orbiting Kerbin are two moons: Mün and Minimus. In the Kerbol system there are several planets going from nearest the star to the furthest: Moho, Eve, Kerbin, Duna, Dres, Jool (with five moons) and Eeloo. Getting from Kerbin to these other bodies takes more than a green smile. With some research, hard work, and dedication you will find this game can be the most fun you can have committing genocide on a small, green alien race.

Fly Safe...

Conduct of a Good Audience Member

As I have stated before, I am a magician (of sorts). As an amateur conjurer of cheap tricks I have performed hundereds of times for a variety of different people, and I have learned a thing or two. Men are dicks. Women don't follow directions. There is no greater feeling than having a person beg for the secret to a good trick. Lets start with the first lesson.

Men are dicks. A shocker I know, but really, as a member of the male gender I like to think I am pretty nice and courteous. I have my moments sure, but I have never felt the need to put other guys down just to make myself feel superior. It must be evolutionary, but if I am performing a trick for a group of people and both genders are present; never ask the guys for help. They will always, without fail, attempt to sabatage the illusion. Sometimes by not follwing directions, other times by pretending to see a slight-of-hand move when the trick is math based. Guys will usually not let you succeed if you give them half a chance to mess things up. For example. I was performing a trick where I asked a gentleman to write down his middle name first and then a list of other possible names that I had to guess from. He elected to write a false name first and then his real name. Without giving away the secret, the effect was ruined. The only good to come from this was that his whole table turned on him. The women begged me for a chance to redeem myself, but I graciously declined and returned to my table. Later that night I saw the perpetrator sitting alone at his table whilst the women he had been talking to had all moved to different tables. I like to think I won that.

The second lesson I learned. Women can't (or won't) follow directions. Most card tricks or illusions require audience participation. Pick a card; deal the cards down; don't look at the card I just handed you. For most girls I perform for I have learned not only do I have to be extremely specific in my instructions, I have to receive verbal agreement from the lovely lady that she understands explicitly and will not deviate. Far too often have I said, "deal the cards face down on the table" and the girl immediately deal a card face up. I just look at her and say, "well I guess we can do something else". I'm not sure if it is deliberate, or if women get too much into the 'helpless damsel in distress' that they lose their senses. Either way, anyone wanting to attempt some basic illusions need to aware of this, and be ridiculously specific in your instructions.

Lastly, there is no greater high than confusing the hell out of a group of complete strangers. People always ask, "How did you do it?" and I always respond, "Easily." They wiill beg for the secret, but for my big tricks I never reveal and I never repeat a trick. First time is a trick. Second time is a lesson. If you do plan to reveal a secret, make them pay for it. Have them buy you a beer. Get her phone number. Something that is worth inviting them into the world of illusions. 

Honestly, I love magic. It is one of my nerdiest qualities, but it never fails to impress. I hope you all take my complaining on the qualities of bad audience members, and strive to not be that. Let someone impress you, or at least entertan you. Be supportive of budding magicians and performers and offer constructive feedback. I mean come on. You can live with a little mystery.

Abracadabra!

Prepared for Mayhem

I have dreams. I mean we all do, but I have dreams of driving in the car when the emergency broadcast signal blares those ridiculous digital klaxon alarms, and I hear garbled messages of "rabies" and "outbreak". A smile creeps across my face. A sly grin at first, but leads to a broad grin. Zombies. I know, I am really, incredibly odd, but I find the idea of a zombie apocalypse to be a welcome new era. I have had many dreams of zombies. Some of them I am in a military group and we tactically and efficiently wreak through the zombie horde. My most recent dream was really odd though, and I am convinced it has something to do with all of the Last of Us I have been playing. (Definitely pick that up by the way. Thank me later.) But in this dream I was in the form of adolescent teenager. Oh, and I happened to be female. (Wouldn't Freud have a field day)

This has been the only dream I have ever had as a member of the opposite gender. I was in a group of two, the other was an older woman, maybe late twenties, and to put it frankly: we were totally bad ass. Destroying loads of the undead with, blade and gun, however the dream ended when my partner and I were being run down by what I can only assume was a group of raiders. I am sure we all know the fate of teenage girls when captured by raiders. The dream never got to that point, nor even close, yet the fear I experienced was absolutely real. Cold terror in every bone in my body. Once I awoke, felt the hair on my chin and the square in my jaw, I remembered who and what I was, but the fear, although distant, was still there somewhere. I eventually shook it, but it got me thinking. I am a man. A relatively strong man I like to believe. Even when I was diagnosed with diabetes, I never had a feeling of helplessness like I had in that dream. 

It has made me re-think slightly my idea of the zombie apocalypse. I still think as I am it would be a completely survivable experience for a while at least. I have firearms, ammunition, the skill to use both, medical and food supplies, etc. It could even be fun in a sadistic kind of way. The weird hangup I have had though is the effect the zombie apocalypse would have on people who cannot defend themsleves. Who do not have the capacity to kill/outrun a group of raiders. It may be what psycologists call a Messiah complex, but I have to believe that I would be driven to seek out those who would do harm to those helpless teenage girls, and destroy them all. The reason I don't dawn a cowl and cape and roam the streets now is that behavior is typically frowned upon by law enforcement groups. The reason we don't have vigilante heros is because they either get caught by the law or killed by thugs. 

Anyway, I'm not sure what this all means and maybe its just some shitty story I have decided to post on the good old interwebs, but I still think back on that dream even though it was over a month ago. Well I hope those of you who decide to read my word vomit enjoy it, or even decide to tell me what you think one way or the other. I am done talking for the day and I will talk to you again tomorrow.

Caldwell out.

The Magic of Socializing

I am a nerd. Therefore it should shock you to discover I used to be shy and introverted. I am going to give you a few seconds to absorb that. Ready? Good. Yes, I was a shy little fat kid who was bullied in middle school and joined JROTC in high school. Strangely. it was the infamous JROTC program that broke me out of my shell. I discovered I had a booming voice that was designed to scream orders at a group of scared teenagers and form them into a unified military unit. That was cool. Even though I learned to hold my shoulders high and let most hate roll off my aforementioned shoulders, I still had difficulty approaching new friends. More specifically the opposite gender.

It wasn't until the end of my sophomore year that I learned of my interest in magic. Not the Wiccan and Harry Potter magic. Street Magic. The kind that you know in your heart isn't real, but scares the crap out of you when an experienced magician is performing. I have a knack for learning eclectic skills. Magic is a rare example of a skill that I decided to keep up with over the years.  I still remember the first trick I learned and it is one of my personal favorites for the reaction it gets out of people.

The innate problem in an introverted teenager learning magic is once you've shown all your friends your tricks, they get very boerd of your need to keep performing them. The only solution is to show more people. Again a problem. After a particualrly succesful performance of a trick to the one friend who had not seen it, I seemed to have attracted some attention of others in the lunchroom. Before I knew it there were twenty plus people circling my table (mostly females) and I was performing every trick in my little book. When I had nothing more to show there was an audible "aaaawwwww" from many of the more attractive spectators and my heart lept. I felt valueable. I felt exhilarated. I felt good. I had actually impressed, no, excited a group of my peers with a skill I had developed and nurtured all by myself. It is similar to the feeling I get after a musical performance now, but back then I had not quite learned to sing yet. 

I guess the moral of this lengthy and long-winded story of mine is that I am a completely different person today because of a trivial interest I had when I was sixteen years old. I no longer identify as an introvert, in fact, I am most certainly an extrovert in most areas of my life. I still don't have a girlfriend, but that is a whole other kettle of fish... Again, if you are having trouble putting yourself out there, or need a boost to your self confidence; learn a magic trick. Learn twelve. put together a small show and approach strangers at the bar/coffe shop/restauant to perform them. If you practice enough, you will be shocked by the results and maybe start to believe you are a wizard Harry!

May the Force be with you.

A New Frontier

Alright. This will be my first time ever blogging on the interwebs in such an official capacity. The reason for the creation of this blog (or rather the catalyst) is for a Social Media Marketing course I am taking this semester at Kennesaw State University. (Hello Professor Burton!!!)

Anyway, I am allowed to make the blog whatever I wish so long as my professor does not blush so I choose to begin with my three primary interest: Guns, Games, and Geekdom.  Any who are uninitiated in the realm of Geekdom, or Nerdom, may find it a bit odd here and take a bit longer to get up to speed. with that disclaimer out of the way lets get on with it!

My name is Neal Caldwell and I am an alcoho- Nerd! ehem... right, I am a Nerd and I am damn proud of it! I have already purchased my membership for DragonCon this year and the cosplay possibilities keep running through my head. I have a Steam account where I play many different games in my spare time (of which I have less and less these days). The games I play most often at this time are Rust, Skyrim, and Kerbal Space Program. If you like science and being really frustrated please go and pick up Kerbal Space Program right now. You may thank me or curse me later. Rust is a game in early alpha that is oh so fun, its a survival PVP zombie game inspired by Day Z and minecraft. Again, you may thank me or curse me later...

As the blog title may suggest, I am also an avid gun enthusiast. *cough* redneck *cough* ehem... well, as I am Michigan born, and Georgia raised I do not believe I am a "redneck" mostly because of my wonderful grasp on what we call the English language. I currently own three firearms including an AR-15 which I built myself. As I type this paragraph, I am thinking that I will probably not be talking so much about my guns. It might be me just lighting a powder keg (pun not intended).

Ok, well I have been typing now for about thirty minutes and I think I am going to have lots of fun with this! I may even get back to making YouTube videos again (www.youtube.com/nealtcaldwell). I have always wanted to start a Vlog, but I never knew what to talk about. This is where I will test ideas and see what works. Thanks to all my future readers, fans and trolls.

Live long and Prosper