As if they don’t already have their own publicists and media machines, celebrities are often featured in popular song lyrics. While many songs today have a name-drop or two, it’s still rare to find a song inspired by or written outright about a real person.  I’ve decided to share a few of these gems via the magic of YouTube! Here are a dozen songs from mostly famous people written about famous people so you can soak up...

So the very first PAX East is over.1 I guess I’m a little late reporting about my experience, but I haven’t forgotten all the good parts.  I couldn’t believe that it actually sold out.  I hadn’t realized how popular PAX was, having never attended the convention held in Seattle, WA. 2  For the few nerds out there that haven’t heard of PAX: Shame On You!  No, I’m just kidding since I didn’t really know who or what they were...

With a title like that, you might think I’m about to talk about the differences between nerds and geeks or that maybe I’m about to give you a list of “geek” terminology. Nope, not gonna do that. I’m going to write about language geeks, and not people who we might think of as “grammar nazis” or budding linguists – those might be interesting, but they don’t really have a big practical impact on the vast majority of...

The ages long debate of which medium is better, truer, or more sustaining – especially with regards to characters – rages on. As geeks, I’m sure most of you have thought about whether a movie stayed true to the book, whether you would prefer reading the novels instead, or how blasphemous an adaptation was. I’ve done a bit of all of those over the years and I’m ready to make some conclusions. You may or may not agree, but...

Today’s last installment of my series on assimilating kids into geek culture focuses on the ultimate in geekdom: the gaming convention. I’d originally thought I’d do what I did last time and give some tips. As I started researching, however, things started to take a different turn. I’m going to give a few tips and also fill local parents in on what kinds of kid programming1 is available at your friendly neighborhood con. First, I...

If you think about it, children are natural gamers. From an early age, most children are able to immerse themselves in imaginary play. Your kid wants to be a pirate? Boom! This empty paper towel roll is a telescope. That big box in the basement? Now it’s a pirate ship. A few “arrgh matey” and “ahoy captains” later and you’ve got a full fledged pirate adventure happening right in your own living room. From there, it’s not much...