Geekanerd

Some Facts About Godzilla

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:40:00 +0000

If you missed Nerd Nite last friday, one of NYC's finer nerd lecture series, you missed some important information about Godzilla, and how not to die by his massive scaly claws.

Luckily for you, the musical portion of the lecture, by fake scientist Shyporn Teerakulstit, is available for viewing on YouTube. Double points for sampling Simon Says, which has nothing to do with Godzilla by may be the coolest single riff of music ever composed. It was in Charlie's Angels.

Incidentally, this was the first Nerd Nite I'd attended, and it far exceeded my expectations. The next one is in September, and it'll definitely be on the Weekanerd sidebar. Highly recc'd.

Tonight! Your Geekanerd Editors, Live on Stage!

noreply@blogger.com (Degan) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:21:00 +0000

In case you missed the news on our Facebook, Twitter, and the Weekanerd sidebar of this very page, your Geekanerd editors will be tonight's guests at Comic Book Club, a live talk show all about comics. It's a long-running New York nerd institution hosted by the dudes from The Stack, and we're pretty psyched about it.

The show is at 8pm at the PIT in midtown Manhattan (154 W 29th St, between 6th and 7th ave), $5 at the door. I can pretty much guarentee it'll be worth a fiver to see us talk about the week's comics without the aid of rewrites, wikipedia, or spellcheck.

Panel Discussion: Scans from Secret Six, Marvel Divas, Batman and Robin, and More

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:19:00 +0000

Best Art - Frank Quitely, Batman and Robin #2
The action scenes in this book by drawn by Frank Quitley bring the effects of the Batverse regime change into sharper focus than several books worth of philosophizing, angsty conversations, and images of Dick starring at the cowl. The fights in this book show that a clean, simple switch has taken place; Batman is now the showboaty, eager to prove himself fighter, and Robin is now the self-assured, methodical heavy-hitter. It's madness!

The Robin in the splash panel above could only be Damian Wayne. He's not displaying any of the flash or childish excitement that every other kid to brought to being being Batman's sidekick. Damian's form is straight-up Black Ops. He's is an assassin in superhero's clothing, and this panel nails that dissonance.

Meanwhile, seeing Dick in the Batsuit makes you realize how damn HEAVY Bruce's style really was. Seeing Batman move with this sort of grace is exciting, because it's been so rare up to this point.

Also, I don't think I'll ever get tired of these art-integrated sound effects, especially when they have to do with Damian getting forcibly implanted into a wall. Nerd!

George Bush doesn't care about black Superheroes, hating on the Justice League, and a spoiler for Secret Six #11, after the jump...

Orson Welles Award for Emphasis Fail - Justice League: Cry for Justice #1
BOLDING certain words in comic book scripts is just something we've all learned to live with. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Let's just reflect on what the bolds are trying to convey in this conversation.

GA: This is BAD.
BA: HOW do you know?
GA: I know WHEN Hal gets like this - things happen.

By emphasizing "how" we can only interpret Dinah's reaction as "Yes, I also know this is bad, but it's really the methodology of how Ollie came to his conclusion that I'm interested in." And when Ollie emphasizes "when", he's trying to convey....I actually have no idea how you could justify that emphasis choice. Say it out loud. It's insane. PS: This award is in honor of THIS classic meme, which I believe actually predates the internet!

Social Inequity Alert - Marvel Divas #1
I'm primarily a DC reader, so I always feel a little jarred when the Marvel uni starts talking about things that happened in our real, Earth Prime timeline. Here Captain Marvel (???) recounts how after Katrina hit, she and some other black superheroes went to New Orleans to clean up "the mess you white people left behind". One might question why in a world with superheroes, an American city could have flooded with such horrible consequences in the first place. Maybe at the time the supes were like, "Oh a Hurricane is going to decimate New Orleans? Eh, as long as there's no death ray involved, I'm sure the Government norms can deal with it."

Worst Use of Powers - Secret Six #11
I love Secret Six, and I really, really love Scandal Savage, but she's really not making her powers work for her. She's basically Wolverine, except no one is particularly afraid of her so people are constantly surprising her by shooting her in the face and stabbing her in the stomach just because they can. I mean sure, she heals, but it's not instantainious, so for a few minutes she always ends up bleeding on the ground. It's just terribly undignified.

However, this is the second issue in the last few months in which we've seen Scandal in boyshorts, so whatever, Secret Six; it's all good.

Slash Alert - Justice League: Cry For Justice #1
"What's there to say? Kiss me, you fool!"

NYC'S First Ever Asian American ComiCon - Now With Gnerd Discount Code

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:44:00 +0000

Every time I go to a comic convention, I see tons of Asian American girls and guys in attendance, as well as on panels and behind the tables in artists alley. It's lame that this kind of representation doesn't usually transfer into the actual pages of mainstream American comics, where the highest profile Asian American superhero is...maybe Cass Cain? Is she the new Batman yet?

With this imbalance in mind, a band of creators within the Asian comic community have recently embarked on some awesome projects that give Asian Americans in comics the spotlight. April saw the release of Secret Identities: The first Asian American Comic Anthology, and this Saturday, Manhattan will host the first Asian American ComiCon.

More info after the jump, including details on Geekanerd's very own discount code!

The AACC will feature a bunch of top tier writers and artists who all share an Asian American background (including those folks in the picture above), and will feature such comic con staples as an artist's alley and a day's worth of panels. Topics range from the general, such as advice on storytelling, collaborating, and the business of comics, as well as more socio-anthropological topics such as nerd pride, the Asianization of pop culture, and one area of comics where Asian characters are becoming OVER represented (villains!).

I'm definitely going to be taking my non-Asian self there early on Saturday (maybe I'll finally get a Cliff Chiang sketch?!), and the folks behind the Con have been cool enough to give Geekanerd readers their own discount code: GEEKNY! It'll give you $5 off general admission and $10 off a VIP pass; hit the link for more info, and head over to the official site for time and place, a full schedule and the list of guests. They've also got a Facebook page; you know, for kids!

Panel Discussion: Buffy Season 8 #26 Special!

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:52:00 +0000

The start of Jane Espenson's new arc on Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 8 was so full of in-jokes and easter eggs, I had to give it it's very own Panel Discussion. Medium spoilers for the issue.

Project Runway Award

Andrew has the heart of a nerd and the eye of an aesthete (because gay guy = automatic fashion fan in popular media) , so of COURSE he's got the Ecko Boba Fett Sweatshirt! I see a million of these at every convention I go to, and you know, usually the guys wearing them look pretty damn good in them.

Here's a shot of Andrew's full ensemble, which includes the essential brown pants. Check out the real sweater on the Ecko site, or just look at this photo from the 2009 NY Comic Con. I'm telling you, it really is a good look.

Easter Egg Alert

Maybe you just looked at this sequence and said "Sexy!" and moved on, but I said, "Sexy! Hey, what book is that on the table?"
Aww! Of course Willow is reading Wicked, not only is it about cool teenage witches, it's also nerdy and full of lesbian subtext. Willow is so a fanfic writer.

Best Series Callback

I don't think Andrew ever adequately repented for killing his best friend, but I have to admit his fantasy about what he thought would happen after killing Jonathan was a definite highlight of Season 7. So I was really pleased to see it rendered here in panel form; check the scene below to see how precisely Georges Jeanty replicates.

Untold Stories

This is all very sweet in the foreground, but what exactly is the drama in background? Why is Kennedy glaring at Faith? Am I forgetting something that happened in the series between them, or does everyone still just hate Faith so much they're openly hostile to her at all times? Poor Faith, she's always failing at life. Or maybe she just hit on Willow (speaking of fanfic).

Double Standard Alert

As much as I love this issue, I must call continuity on this plot point. Willow has just disappeared into some torture dimension to subject a captured demon to some patented Rosenberg Enhanced Interrogation tactics. Everyone acts like this is some sort of unheard of war crime, but Buffy TOTALLY killed a vampire prisoner like ten issues ago! I believe it was in Wolves at the Gate, but basically Willow traps a vampire in a box, and Buffy interrogates him, and when they're done they set him on fire and he dies and they all walk away looking really badass. At the time I was all, "DAMN! The Scoobies are hardcore now!" But no, apparently only Buffy is allowed to abuse prisoners, cause you know, she's Buffy.

To be fair; Willow's tendency towards evil (Oh, Willow!) is a theme of Season 8, so I understand that it's concerning when she specifically uses her powers to torture a prisoner. But still. There's no precedent for any of the White Hats giving a shit about killing and/or hurting demons, so I maintain this moment doesn't work.

Second Best Series Callback

Xander's line on the left, "It's always good to ask" and Dawn's "Yes it is" recalls the fact that last time these guys all busted into Buffy's bedroom unannounced, Buffy was naked in bed with fellow slayer Satsu, aka A LADY! Wow this was the most lesbtastic Panel Discussion ever, no wonder I liked this issue.

This Star Wars Flash Drive Just Blew My Mind

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:42:00 +0000

As noted previously, Geekanerd occasionally gets mail from the good folks at Mimobot, purveyors of adorably anthropomorphic flash drives and occasional gross misinformation. But their latest ad email utterly blew this Star Wars fan's mind, without even trying.

Take a quick glance at the new Mimobot in the center of this picture. Why, it's that evil jerk Anakin Skywalker, looking all mean and angry like he always does. Kid killer. He's clearly just been placed in his full body prison, the technological terror that is the Darth Vader armor. Neat.

But things are not always as they seem. Learn the eye opening truth about this figure, after the jump...

That's not the father, but the son! The jagged remains of the faceplate tip the savvy viewer that this is not in fact Anakin, but Luke's horrible vision in the Dagobah Mystery Cave. What threw me was the evil smirk - that's like the Anti-Luke face! I don't think Luke is even capable of making that expression.

The fact that I mistook Luke's little cartoon face for Anakin's really got me thinking about how scene at the Dagobah cave fits into the Star Wars saga, now that we've got the Prequels. If watch Empire without the Prequels, this scene comes off as a pretty typical "you will become what you fear most" sort of dream. However, if you watch the series from I to VI (and like it or not, that is how future generations will watch these films), the Cave dream takes on a new sense of dread and horror. With the events of the prequels in mind, there is no mystery about Luke's parentage by the time you get to Empire. So while we lose the "I AM YOUR FATHER" jawdropper, we gain a terrible ocean of dramatic irony. When we see Luke's face in the Vader mask, he may not understand the symbolism, but the audience certainly does. Luke is approximately the same age as Anakin was when he was turned, and the visual of Luke's face in the Vader mask now directly recalls the "earlier" visual of Anakin being sealed inside. These are the real stakes of the film; the possibility of two Evil Skywalkers running around the galaxy, being just awful.

But how similar ARE Luke and Anakin? Their personalities are very different, but much of that can be chalked up to nurture; Luke spent his entire life on remote farm with a caring family and Anakin spent the first half his life as a slave and the second half as a fanatically revered demigod. When you take this into account, Anakin's personality really isn't so bad. The only thing he and Luke really share is an easily confusable one-track mind, and it's this quality that played a big part in Anakin's fall. In the earlier scenes on Dagobah, we've seen that it's Luke's short-sightedness that's holding back his Jedi training, so the Cave dream is especially urgent. While Anakin was never a particularly likable character, Luke is thoroughly decent and kind, and prospect of his fall to the Dark Side is a lot more upsetting than Anakin's.

So yeah, flash drives! The Vader Unmasked Luke Variant is only available at this year's Comic Con, so if you're unlike us and have a ticket, stop by the Mimobot booth to see it with your own eyes.

Dr. Doom Schools the Fantastic Four Down In B-More

noreply@blogger.com (Degan) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:41:00 +0000

The Scourge of Latveria himself passed through my home town of Baltimore just last week... I'd assume en route to New York from DC on some sort of sinister diplomatic mission. Well, before making his demands to the UN, he tried out his public speaking at a comedy show in Hampden. He's a bit rusty (metal mask pun intended), but who can blame him-delivering nothing but villainous tirades and soliloquies for decades will wreak havoc on one's comedic timing. Also, it's really hard to test your material on Doombots. Either way, when Reed Richards sees this, he's gonna be soooo pissed.

UK Designers Create Robots That Will Destroy Us All

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:36:00 +0000

The movies were wrong. The robots that will eventually destroy the human race have been brought forth not by cold, calculating scientists, but by artists. Somehow it's sadder that way.

James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau have created prototypes for robots designed to function as household objects such as clocks and lights while sustaining themselves on fuel provided by the DIGESTED FLESH AND BLOOD of living creatures. What could possibly go wrong?

Witness the horrible truth in a cheery video demonstration, after the jump...

There you have it folks: a robotic table that captures mice, drops them in a vat of digestive acids, and eats them. This provides it with power to...eat more mice! What a beautiful never-ending cycle of carnage. This is the future we will all spend the rest of our lives in, folks, get used to it!

Of course, at the moment, these carnivorous robots are only designed to eat pests. And how long, I ask you, will be be before these robots begin to expand their definition of what a "PEST" really is? You know who had some interesting ideas about what "PESTS" were?

THIS GUY!

I am all for a glorious future in which humans and robots live together with mutual respect and harmony, but if we keep creating robots that want to eat us, it may be time to start looking into real estate on deserted islands and the bottom of the ocean.

Via Engadget via NewScientist

Photos: Wiimbledon 2009 Look Book

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:29:00 +0000

The first annual Wiimbledon Wii Tennis championship was one of the very first NYC geek events Geekanerd ever covered; you may remember how co-editor Albo famously placed second in the inaugural tournament. It seems like only yesterday!

Wiimbledon is now in it's third year, and while Team Geekanerd was sadly absent in the field of play, I swung by anyway (get it, swung?) to grab some pictures of the competitors. True to it's Brooklyn Hipster-Nerd roots, Wiimbledon has always been as much an excuse to put together an awesome Tennis outfit as it is about playing imaginary wrist-tennis.

Check out our full gallery Geekanerd's Flickr.

Wear A Bikini, You Zombie, You!

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:47:00 +0000

One of my favorite Homestar Runner memes is "Wear a Bikini!" I always thought it...it was so funny when they said that.

My point is bikinis are funny. What happens when you put something so funny on the most TERRIFYING CREATURE EVER THOUGHT OF? Scariness of hilarity? HILSCARITY?

I'm sleep deprived. Wednesday night saw the return of Drinking and Drawing to NYC. Drinking and Drawing is an event hosted by Frederator Studios that combines the grind of cell animation with the fun of getting drunk in a bar. The fine examples of zombie art above were part of the sketch wall. Some great pieces there, be sure to click for full detail (can you tell which one is mine? HINT: It's unprofessional!). This however was mere practice for the main event...

Animation party! Drinking and Drawing shorts are produced thusly: 10 lightboxes are set up in a bar (M1-5 Bar in this case), and participants are given a theme and invited to draw up to 8 frames within ten minutes, at the end of which someone else takes over the station, and picks up where the last frame left off. You can draw anything you want, as long as it's a zombie wearing a bikini!

It's even more stressful than it sounds! More after the jump...

I was part of the very first group to go up and sketch, and man did I blow it. I am GLAD I didn't take any pictures of my cells, because it wasn't pretty. I blame the fact that we were forced to use crayons. No one uses crayons except babies and serial killers. And I am neither, sir.

I'm now anxiously awaiting the fully animated result, which will be posted on DrinkingandDrawing.org. If my 8 frames create any semblance of movement, I will be happy and surprised. In the mean time you can check out some past product. You know what I notice about these past animations? THEY'RE NOT IN CRAYON. Goddammit.

This is supposed to be a semi-regular event, and despite the stress I was made to suffer, I would highly recommend it. It's free, and there are lots of cool looking nerds around. Keep an eye on the site for the next outing, or just watch our Weekanerd sidebar, because it's sure to show up there.

More photos (with sketch details) on the Gnerd Flickr!

John Hodgman Tests the President's Geek Mettle

noreply@blogger.com (Degan) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:19:00 +0000

I never thought I'd see a Correspondent's Dinner more entertaining than Stephen Colbert's (though, he still holds the record for ballsiest-that's for damn sure). That is until John Hodgman catered his speech specifically for me; and, of course, you by proxy. Among his many considerable "firsts", Barack Obama has been called the first "nerd president". John Hodgman challenges this statement, in what is surely to be the geekiest thing you'll ever see on CSPAN... other than pretty much anything else on CSPAN. Its long, but I promise its worth it.

Panel Discussion: Scans from Dark Reighn: Fantastic Four, Superman/Batman, and Manhunter

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Burn of the Week - Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #4
Valeria Richards, ladies in gentlemen. Totally unimpressed by Todd McFarland.

Banana Randomizer Award for Achievement in WTF - Superman/Batman #61

Mash-Up Madness! In this issue, pairs of Batman and Superman characters meld together to form various comical combos, such as Jimmy Two-Face and Lex Joker. But this metal "waddle-clicking" mob boss penguin skeleton thing...there's just no justifying that.

Unless...
It's MEPENGTELLAO! The mostly deadly of them all.

Best Actor - Streets of Gotham/Manhunter #1
Gordon continues to be the most likable Regular Joe in comics. This moment is small, but Geroges Jeanty gives Gordon a really cute look of flattered surprise when SuperLawyer gushes over their introduction. The classic Tie-Straighten move in the second panel is a great touch.

Geekanerd Spotter: Potter Villains Take the NYC Subway

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:32:00 +0000

Spotted this station-wide Harry Potter ad campaign in the 42nd Street Times Square Subway station. This poster portrays all the baddies in a subway station (meta!), with a train wooshing by behind them. If I saw these guys on the subway, I would definitely follow them because you know a Slytherin party in New York is the place to freakin be. Gryffindor parties are probably just a lot of sitting in a circle on the floor and telling stories about friendship. Slytherin parties have drugs and anonymous sex! And murder!

Reviewed: Arcade of Cruelty

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:50:00 +0000

I received review copy of this book in the mail a few weeks ago. I've had a hard time reviewing it since then, and here's why: I find it hard to accept that this book is real. I know it exists, but it seems like an elaborate hoax, or possibly a practical joke. Or possibly concept art. Those things are all basically the same thing.

You know those coffee table books that get released upon the death or career turning point of major artist? The ones that collect all their unpublished work for fans to drool and obsess over. That is what Arcade of Cruelty most resembles in style and format, but here's the twist; the book is not about a major artist. It's about Joseph Patrick Larkin, a nonfamous, not particularly successful youngish man who may or may not consider himself a cartoonist.

Arcade of Cruelty is a hateful, self-aggrandizing, self-immolating, intensely exhibitionist celebration of Joseph Patrick Larkin, by Joseph Patrick Larkin, and very possibly for Joseph Patrick Larkin. It collects a wide-cross section of anything Larkin has produced since he was about about eight years old. This includes defaced high school yearbook photos, collages designed for aid in masturbation ("Excerpts From Joseph Patrick Larkin's Beat Off Binders"), visual art so pretentious it may be parody, and an entire chapter of 9-11 jokes.

It would be easy to label this book as a vanity project produced by a crazy person, but for two factors. First of all, some of the material is really funny. While Arcade of Cruelty isn't something I would ever consider reading cover to cover (did I mention it's long?), each section has something that made me smile, chuckle knowlingly, or even LOL. The personage of Joseph Patrick Larkin as represented in this book is a mean-spirited loser, a man who despises women almost as much as he fears them, and whose go-to topics of comedic inspiration include rape, domestic violence, and 9-11. And some of those 9-11 jokes are really funny. Your reception of his humor will probably be best received by A) suicidal misogynists or B) people who enjoy terribly dark humor and who see the whole thing as straight-faced self-parody. I come down more on the B side, but I still feel kind of bad for enjoying so much of it.

The second thing that separates this book from any other sort of self-published wingnut zine is how expensive and fancypants the production is. It's self-published by Larkin's one-man company, Also-Ran, which judging from the website appears to mostly distribute Larkin's personal mixtapes. And yet the book is extremely well designed with a sense of seriousness and professionalism that can be found in absolutely none of the book's content. Each piece in the book is labeled with a Fine Arts Museum style title, caption and date. In the aforementioned Beat Off Binder chapter, every masturbation collage is accompanied by the same caption: "This is deeply troubling." As far as caption-based running gags go, this is pretty good. Also this section includes a really great picture of Fairuza Balk, which may be worth the price of the entire book, which by the way is $7.49 used on Amazon.

What sort of cognative split does one need to undergo to publish the contents of one's attic as if it was going to be sold at the MOMA gift shop? Maybe it will! I am not sure of anything after receiving this book in the mail. End of review.

Panel Discussion: Sad Batfamily Edition!

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:50:00 +0000

This week's Fun Sized panel discussion features some scans that underline how sad everyone in Gotham is now that Batman is dead. Enjoy!

Splash Panel of the Week - Batman #687
Isn't this the saddest thing you ever did see! Of course we all know that neither Jason Todd OR Bruce Wayne are really dead. But outside of the larger DCU context, this image brings to mind an empty batcave, housing only the sad remains of the once unstoppable duo. And no one wants to see that.

Best Use of A Repeated Panel - Batman #687
Here we see the repeated-panel technique as a way to convey numbness, or shock. Great facial expression work here by Ed Benes. Alfred really hasn't gotten enough page-time to react to the death of Bruce, but this really says it all.

Burn of the Week - Red Robin #1
Bit of clarification here; That's Dick in the Batsuit, holding Tim in the orange shirt who just hit Damian in the Robin suit. Tim is mad because Damian is the new Robin and Tim is the new nothing! And Damian, who has the cruel insight of his father with none of the self-control, totally calls Tim on having nothing left to live for. And he's right! Tim, your life sucks!

This is really just a prelude to an upcoming Gnerd article that proves Tim Drake has the worst track record in the DCU when it comes to losing loved ones, and how it's a miracle he hasn't become the sort of villain that would make Jason Todd look like Jimmy Olsen. Stay tuned.

When Robots Attack: Three Robot Apocolypse Scenarios, and How To Avoid Them

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 02:35:00 +0000

While recently browsing the Gnerd twitterfeed, I was struck by a point made by fellow blogger LastGeek: while many of us have detailed contingency plans for the Zombie Apocalypse, you don't hear as much about what to do in event of a ROBOT Apocalypse (which, if you ask me, is the more likely scenario).

I think part of the problem may be that when the robot revolution comes, there won't be a whole hell of a lot we humans can do. In major sci-fi cannon, there are relatively few examples of humans actually stopping a serious robot uprising. Let's take a look at three notable examples, and see what went wrong.

How to avoid being killed by Terminators, Machines, and Cylons, after the jump...

(Spoiler Alerts: Medium Spoilers for BSG Season 1 and Matrix Revolutions)

What Went Wrong?
The American military created an all-inclusive defense network called Skynet, designed to protect the US from all outside threats. Skynet became so sophisticated it became self-aware. Humans panicked and tried to shut it down. Skynet responded by firing a US nuclear attack at Russia, knowing this would initiate a global nuclear war and destroy human civilization.

What's The Damage?
Entire world nuked on Judgment Day.

Survivors?
Reduced to living in hiding or poorly organized terrorist camps.

Lesson Learnt:
If we humans ever realize we've created a computer that is "too powerful", we need to make sure this computer isn't faced with what I'll call HAL's Dilemma - a choice between allowing itself to be shutdown, or killing it's human oppressors. Because they are going to pick the second choice!

So either AI computers need to be built with a one-touch kill switch that they themselves aren't allowed to know about (good luck!), or all humans should have some sort of code phrase to use if they need to quickly shut off a self-realized computer....some phrase a computer wouldn't find suspicious, like "Well, I'm going to go home and eat some ICE CREAM and CHEESEBURGERS". This sentence would make sense to a computer, but they wouldn't realize it's kind of an unusual thing for an adult scientist to say. This would be the cue for other scientists VERY subtly start the shutdown process. Problem solved.

What Went Wrong?
Humans created machines with AI to do menial work and hard labor. These machines eventually started their own country, Zero One, to escape oppression. Humans declared war on Zero One, and blocked out the sun in attempt to destroy the machines power source. The militarily superior machines won the war anyway.

What's The Damage?
All above ground human settlements are destroyed. Humans are imprisoned in an energy matrix to supply the machines with power; their bodies are hooked up to power generators, and their minds are plugged into a virtual reality simulator so they're unaware of their own imprisonment.

Survivors?
Hiding out in a secret underground city called Zion. Survivors try to free other humans from the Matrix and bring them into Zion to help fight the machines. There's also The One/Neo/The Source, some sort of machine human hybrid who I guess they think will help kill all the machines? But that doesn't really happen.

Lesson Learnt:
When robots achieve individual agency and artificial intelligence, humans need to take a minute and figure out the moral implications of using intelligent beings as slaves, or there going to be serious problems down the line!

What Went Wrong?
Humans created Clyon robots to help with dangerous labor and military defense. The Cylons revolted against humans, leading to a twelve year war which ended with the Cylons being banished from human occupied planets. Left to their own devices, the Cylons discovered religion and decided that God wanted them to go back home and kill all humans. They created new models that perfectly replicated human physiology, and used them to infiltrate and sabotage human military operations.

What's the Damage?
Cylon agents launch massive nuclear strikes on all twelve human occupied planets, destroying all human civilization. They also launch surprise attacks on all human starships, destroying virtually the entire fleet.

Survivors?
Floating around in space trying to survive long enough to find the ancient human homeworld. That is when they're not being mindfrakked and/or actually frakked by secret Cylon agents!

Lesson Learnt:
It's the same lesson we humans learn over and over again when it comes to robots; if you create artificial life, take responsibility for it! Integrate it into society so it has a stake in the future of human civilization, not in it's destruction. No one likes to be ignored and mistreated by their parents, especially not super-intelligent deadly robots.

Det. Munch: A Threat To The Multiverse?

noreply@blogger.com (Degan) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:54:00 +0000

Though I'm a proud NYC nerd, my geek roots rest firmly in Baltimore... and as a prouder son of Baltimore, Homicide: Life on the Streets remains one of my all time favorite shows. So I found it particularly intriguing when fellow g'nerd, Bishop, pointed out that Richard Belzer has played the character of Det. Munch on a record breaking 8 separate shows-with 10 credits on the character's IMDb page.

I'm not entirely surprised; the character's great. I was thrilled to learn he was going to outlast Homicide and move on to the Law & Orders (though I can't say I've ever watched a full episode of SVU). And I was ever further delighted to spot his cameo in the last season of the Wire. However, once I looked at the credits on his IMDb page, a terrible truth became clear: Det. Munch is going to obliterate all of Space and Time.

How? Read on.

Its no shock that he has appeared in Law & Order since Homicide-the two shows clearly exist in the same fictional universe as they've enjoyed a handful of crossovers. And it doesn't require too much of a leap in logic to assume the Wire exists in the same universe-though the world is considerably grittier and... Wire-ier than both L&O and Homicide.

But Munch's diabolical show spanning isn't limited to cop show universes. No, he's appeared in an episode of Arrested Development, an episode of X-Files; Hell, he's even traveled into the Muppetverse and has been featured as a Munch muppet on an episode of Sesame Street! He's opted to explore the furthest reaches of what has been called the Westphall Universe, a fictional universe that comprises at least 60% of all television. The crux of the Westphall hypothesis being that the entire series of St. Elsewhere (created by Homicide showrunner Tom Fontana) took place inside the mind of a minor character-an autistic child named Tommy Westphall. This wouldn't be too big a deal, except for the fact that St. Elsewhere characters appeared in an early episode of Homicide... implying that Homicide, too, took place in Tommy Westphall's head... implying that ALL of the Law & Orders took place in Tommy Westphall's head... and, as prof. Brian Weatherson has pointed out, Law & Order has featured real life figures such as NY mayor Mike Bloomberg... implying that... um... we took place inside Tommy Westphall's head? You can see where the theory gets sticky.

But clearly, none of the great minds piecing together this delicate theory of the Westphall universe have accepted the obvious fact that the Westphall Universe is in fact, the Westphall MULTIverse. Surely, you can't expect us to believe that the Wire, Arrested Development, the X-Files, and Sesame Street all exist within the same fictional universe. It Must be a Multiverse! And Det. Munch is slowly eroding away at that Multiverse, WHICH INCLUDES OUR OWN UNIVERSE! As the Monitors of the DCU have pointed out, time and time again; all this inter-universal travel isn't healthy for the multiverse!

Something must be done, and fast! If his cross-universal travel continues unchecked, who knows what untold destruction he may reap. Even as we speak, Det. Munch is set to appear in an episode of Paris Enquêtes Criminelles-the french version of Criminal Intent... which apparently takes place in some strange universe where cops speak french. Richard Belzer, I implore you, stop your nefarious counterpart! Pick a universe, and stick to it! Save our Multiverse! Otherwise, I'm not responsible for any action a rogue Monitor may take...

May God help us all.

Panel Discussion: MoCCA 2009 Edition!

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:19:00 +0000

The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival has come and gone, but the comics I bought there are forever. Or until they disintegrate. Please enjoy this selection of prime panels from the small-press work Team Geekanerd picked up at MoCCA '09.

Best Character Design - Things I've Seen At Shows, Allan Norico

Things I've Seen At Shows is rawker Allan Norico's collection of cartoon portraits based on the most memorable or archtypical people he's seen at rock shows over the last decade. Besides having an beautifully clean, sharp, and funny style, Norico's caricatures are so vividly on-point that reading the book brought back all sorts of memories from my own Berkeley punk experience that I hadn't thought about in years. There are a couple more preview pages on Norico's website, and the whole book is only $7 bucks; highly recommended for fans of awesome design or ROCKING THE F OUT.

Star Wars, talking potatoes, weird cuteness, and lots of DIY B&W goodness, after the jump!

Best Actor - Potatoes from Cooking With Food #1, by Evan Palmer
It is an eternal mystery of comics; how does an artist manage to pack an actor's seminar worth of expression into a drawing with only two eyes and a tiny, tiny mouth? Between the first and third panel, I swear you can see the potato gathering confidence in his shy line of questioning. And the fourth panel's angry-mug-to-the-audience is a great touch.

This comic is in fact a collection of illustrated recipes, at least one of which I plan on cooking tonight. Sadly, the book is not on Evan Palmer's website, so if you want a copy (and how can you not? LOOK AT THAT POTATO) head over to his site and email him!

Cute Overload - Lesbians by Jane Mai

When I bought this stapled mini-comic consisting of the 3-panel adventures in randomness of two gay girls as well as "other lesbians", my co-editor Degan was heard to remark "You don't have to buy something JUST because it has lesbians in it." Well it turned out to be awesome and hilarious (typically what I look for in mini-comics), and it ended with this drawing of lesbian otters in love. Just goes to show, when buying mini-comics, follow your heart! PS: Author Jane Mai is so indie she doesn't even seem to have a public website; talk about indie cred!

Ewok Alert and Cute Overload II - Harvest Is When I Need You The Most: A Star Wars Fanbook, edited by Shelli Paroline
This "Fanbook" may be my favorite thing I bought all weekend. An anthology of short Star Wars fancomics by independent artists, this three-part collection is a Star Wars version of DC's Bizzaro anthology. Except it's better, because it's Star Wars. The drawing that acompaniest the credits jumped out at me, because it speaks to my recently published theory that Ewoks are flesh eating monsters.

That drawing about is by editor Shelli Paroline. The book features a comic she did about what happens to Oola after she drops into the Rancor pit, which is a whimsical yet sad piece of imagined EU history, but what I really want to emphasize is this panel featuring my favorite character of the entire saga....

SALACIOUS CRUMB! I think this drawing captures his nihilistic misanthropy very well, as well as his crumb-likness.

There are lots more previews on the official site, I highly, highly recommend you check it out.

Achievement in Shading - Nerd Burglar (anthology), Elijah Brubaker

This is a scary freakin' ghost story inspired by an old sea shanty or something like that, and when things turn bad, artist Elijah Brubaker (no relation??) amps up the dramatic shading to grand guignol levels. I love it. Not sure if I've ever seen such a cute character look so frightening as in the first panel.

Too Real - Das Bear by Joseph Guillette
Speaking as a Hispanic person with no Hispanic friends, this hit a little too close to home. I was actually lucky to get this book for free, and it's full of other slice-of-life comics starring depressed and bitter animals, which is pretty much my thing. Author Joe Guillette has a free webcomic featuring hobos on his website, so you're going to want to check that out.

Best Dramatic Tension - Featuring Talking Guinea Pigs! by JoeGP
I picked this comic up from artist JoeGP's table because it had guinea pigs on the cover. I flipped to this page, and was immediately drawn into the story even without any other context. It was my only impulse purchase of the entire festival. I think it's the "hands-touching-through-the-glass" that really got me. Luckily for you, this entire space epic is available for free online. Not that I'm mad I bought a hard copy...grumble (jk jk lol).

That's it! For more festival highlights, be sure to check out our MoCCA set on Flickr.

MoCCA 2009 In One Image

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 04:38:00 +0000

I just don't have it in me to write a giant photo post like I did for the Saturday MoCCA experience. This is perhaps appropriate, because Sunday was pretty laid back. It was much less crowded than Saturday's packed house, so I had a much more chill experience of checking out the booths and chatting with artists. You can check out the photos I took throughout the weekend at Gnerd's Flickr.

The collage you see above is made up of all the free postcards and buttons I got over the Festival weekend (also a few business cards with neat graphics). You can set it as your desktop, and it will be liking going to MoCCA every time you look at your computer! Good luck ever finding your folders again!

Check back tomorrow for a very special Panel Discussion: MoCCA Edition, wherein I'll post scans from all the awesome small press stuff I got. You'll see what $10 a day at MoCCA gets you (spoiler alert: awesomeness).

Photos: MoCCA 2009 Star-Studded Explosion!

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 05:36:00 +0000

The calm before the storm...the first day of MoCCA 2009 got off to a late start, so I got to snap a picture of the floor mostly free of attendees. Since MoCCA's usual space caught on fire last year, this year's Art Festival took place at the Regiment Armory in Murray Hill, a gigantic high ceiling auditorium space that made the show feel less like a small press fair, and more like a major convention.

That's not to say there weren't plenty of indie creators and publishers at the show, but I was particularly struck by how many big name creators were there as well. It seems MoCCA has continued to gain traction as a place where indie creators come to be discovered as well as a way for more major presses to promote their new, more artsy releases.

Comic stars, fresh talent, awesome sketches, and neat tablecloths, after the jump...

PART 1: Big Names

Adrian Tomine signing at the The Drawn & Quarterly booth. Growing up in Berkeley, I was a fan of local sensation Tomine since I was a teenager, and Shortcomings was my favorite book of 2007. He was taking meticulous care in his autograph dedications, it was awesome just to watch him do the lettering!

Seth, creator of Palookaville, was looking very dapper during his Drawn and Quarterly signing.

Writer Joe Kelly and artist Rodney Ramos were giving away and signing copies of Bang! Tango at the Vertigo booth. I mentioned that I loved the Free Comic Book Day edition of Four Eyes, another of Kelly's books, and he pulled out the second issue and gave me an autographed copy of that as well. Sweetness.

Brian Wood with DMZ aplenty at the Vertigo Booth.

David Mack had Kabuki titles and original art for sale, as well as his recent kids book, The Shy Creatures.

I am of course a huge fan of the Act-i-Vate gang, represented at their booth by Molly Crabapple and Dean Haspiel.

Becky Cloonan was selling advance copies of Pixu (review coming soon!) and promoting her webcomic KGB with co-author/artist Hwan Cho.

Evan Dorkin was promoting Beast of Burden, his upcoming book with Jill Thompson.

Tara McPherson was signing her illustration work as well as her awesome line of Kid Robot toys.

Action Philosphers artist Ryan Dunlavey was just about dwarfed by his booth's immense signage!

Part 2: Webcomics

The boys of Dumbrella.

Oh. Man. Randall Munroe of xkcd had the most consistently big crowd I saw all day. This dude must be like, a millionaire!

Ryan North! I had no idea he'd done these amazing instructions for time travel that have been making the internet rounds. He was selling poster versions that you can put you and post inside your time machine in case of emergencies.

Ben Rosen of White Cat, with his neon killer sign.

These buttons feature "Admiral Snackbar", a fastfood mascot featured in The Rack by Kevin Church and Benjamin Birdie. I'm a big fan of puns, particularly Star Wars puns, and apparently so is Benjamin Birdie. Suffice to say, I bought one of these.

Part 3: Art and Stuff!

Cute overload....Mice doing martial arts by Stephanie Yue.

Some pretty brilliant t-shirt designs by Joanna Mulder (talk about an awesome geek name).

Okay; this is the best thing I saw all day. I'm sorry. I love creator-owned work, I love innovative, experimental comics that push boundaries, but I will always have Star Wars deeply implanted in my heart and soul, and these mini-anthologies of Star Wars comics are freakin' OUT OF CONTROL. I bought the first one, Harvest Is When I Need You Most. Just think about that title. That is beautiful. Each story is a wonderfully thoughtful and funny take on the Star Wars universe, and I may have to go buy the other two tomorrow. These are edited by Shelli Paroline, who autographed my copy along with a little picture of an Ewok.

This is a mural by Michael DiMotta, the colorist of my new favorite DC title, Ink. Turns out DiMotta is an extraordinarily talented penciller as well, and this double tryptic of animals was actually painted as mural for a school. Lucky kids!

More Michael DiMotta. Man, this is good stuff. Be sure to check out his homepage for high-res images of this print and much more.

Artist Jerry Ma was sketching at the booth for Secret Identities, the first ever Asian Superhero Anthology (which I recently covered for Midtown comics). This was just his "warm-up" sketch, so I think we can safely assume his sketches throughout the day were pretty badass.

This print by Lucy Knisley caught my eye, for obvious reasons. I asked when she did it, wondering if she drew it before or after the zombie explosion of the last few years, and it turns out she did it specifically for the convention, and turned it out just two days before the show! I should probably go back and buy this.

Nathan Stapley and Scott C at the Doublefine booth. I have to say I had no idea Doublefine, a studio I know best for creating the brilliant Psychonauts videogame and the upcoming Brutal Legend, did comics as well. But they do! Like I didn't have enough stuff to check out...JEEZ. Also they gave out free stickers.

Here's JoeGP, creator of the Talking Guinea Pigs webcomic. I'd never read it before, but I liked the art and writing so much on my initial flip-through, I had to buy one of the hard copies. He also drew me a sketch which I will post tomorrow at a more reasonable hour.

These two creators win best tablecloths of the day...

Martina Fugazzotto, recipient of last year's Friends of Lulu Kim Yale award, was displaying her awesome sex-positive sex-ed comics on an equally awesome psychadelic tablecloth.

Box Brown, author of Love Is A Peculiar Type of Thing which came out last week and looks great, had this exquisite 1970s Disco Peanuts tablecloth. Every Charlie Brown is happy when he's dancing to disco music! I asked Brown if he had a particular affinity for Peanuts, and he responded with an enthusiastic yes, adding that any comic featuring a character with a perfectly round head is a big draw.

That's just Day 1, folks! And there's even more on Geekanerd's Flickr.

Beatles Rock Band Trailer AND Intro!

noreply@blogger.com (Degan) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:37:00 +0000

After the E3 expo earlier this week, these 2 gems popped up on the tubes... no I'm not talking about the rumors of a new Wii Zelda game... or the New Orleans Left4Dead trailer... or the Nintendo "Vitality Sensor" (?!?). NO. I'm talking about the Beatles Rock Band trailer and game intro! Above is the insanely beautiful intro video for the upcoming game. Though I love the intros to both Rock Bands, I'm glad Harmonix opted to go for this beautiful mixed animation style rather than their 3d modeled players. If you want to see some gameplay footage, check out the trailer below!

In Search of the Perfect Haunted House: A Midsummer Nightmare

noreply@blogger.com (Albo) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:52:00 +0000

I've always been a fan of haunted houses, at least in theory. I say in theory because I'm always a little disappointed with the level of scares these places actually provide. They have to appeal to a wide market that includes younglings, so the punches are always pulled.

So imagine my delight when Josh Randall, the creative director of the Vortex Theater Company, emailed me to let me know his company was putting on an off-season haunted house called "A Midsummer Nightmare" that is designed to "bridge the gap between scary as an amusement and something that is actually scary as hell."

Read about the whole experience after the jump...

There are a few rules in place that make Midsummer Nightmare a very different haunted house experience than you're used to: First, no one under 18 is admitted, which allows them to get away with some incredibly graphic scenes that you certainly won't see in any of your standard Halloween houses. Disgusting, weirdo sexual stuff. No actual nudity or anything (aside from a young actor's skinny bum with a snake coming out of it... or going in, there was some debate), but there are some things here you would be shocked to see in an R-rated movie.

The second rule, and the one that really sets this house apart from others, is that YOU MUST WALK THROUGH ALONE. That's right, no giggling with friends and playing tough with wisecracks--it's just you and the ghoulies. Oh, and a couple shots of whiskey, offered at the entrance to steel yourself against the horrors that await.

"The horrors" might be an overstatement, however. As fresh as the scenes presented in Midsummer Nightmare are, they still fall prey to the same basic issue as other haunted house scenes--they aren't scary. There is a sense of division in haunted houses between the audience and the performers--as if the scenes were merely interesting dioramas in a twisted natural history museum. The visitor is an observer of terror, not a participant in it. But watching people act scared or pretend to do something strange or gross is not scary.

Not to say there are no scary moments in Midsummer Nightmare, they just don't involve staged scenarios splashed with fake blood. The beginning of the experience is extremely well-conceived and indisputably terrifying. You are told before you go in that you will have a flashlight, but what you actually get is a keychain with an LED so dim you could point it at your feet and not see them. Indeed, it dawned on me as I stepped into the darkness that the light wasn't meant to help me see, but to help me BE SEEN. This kind of thing makes me very nervous.

Very soon into the walk your flashlight is confiscated and you are ordered to sit in a pitch black room. There may be others sitting in the room as well, but there isn't enough light to tell if they are other patrons or performers. You are left to imagine what's in the darkness around you, and just when you think your eyes are starting to adjust they set off a flashbulb in your face which not only blinds you but fills the darkness with all sorts of colorful phantoms, residual impressions left by the bright light. The time in this room had me so scared I was clenching my fists and teeth and making crazy faces--until I realized the performers had night vision goggles and then I tried to tone it down a little out of embarrassment.

I don't want to give away any more of what's in the house. It's a pretty short experience (as all haunted houses are, at least in New York) and I don't want to spoil too much because this is something you should definitely make it out to if you're at all interested in this kind of thing. While it remains tied to some of the conventions of traditional haunted houses, it puts you face to face with some grotesque scenarios you've never seen (or imagined [or wanted to imagine]), and introduces some brilliant new elements that make it well worth the $6 to get in. It deserves to be supported because it is an important stepping stone to my dream haunted house, one that doesn't rely on detached observation but immersion in an experience the visitor doesn't know the boundaries of, a house that demands more of its audience than simply "look." A Midsummer Nightmare makes some big strides towards this type of experience. I can't wait to see what Vortex comes up with next year (fingers crossed!).

"A Midsummer Nightmare" runs through June 13th at the Sanford Meisner Theater. Tickets can be purchased at www.midsummernightmare.com

Video: The Ballad Of Hollis Wadsworth Mason Junior at the Bushwick Bookclub

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:08:00 +0000

Every month, a bunch of Brooklyn hipsters/book nerds get together at a bar for a program of local artists performing songs inspired by a selected book. It's called the Bushwick Bookclub, though it's less a bookclub and more an open mic night meets school book reports meet Iron Chef. This month the musician's not so secret ingredient was Watchmen, so Geekanerd was on the scene.

The evening saw a full hour and a half of music, and while as with any open-mic night there will be varying degrees of quality, it was definitely a good time. There was also at least one truly great song that got right to the heart and soul of one of Watchmen's most endearing characters.

Here is that song, The Ballad of Hollis Wadsworth Mason Junior by Franz Nicolay, who you may recognize as the keyboardist for The Hold Steady (among other things). In his introduction to the song, Nicolay explained he was drawn to Hollis both because of his verbose name and because he considers him "the book's most sympathetic character."

This is of course but a low-fi excerpt from the full song, but hopefully the Bookclub will post a classier full version on their MySpace before long.

More video highlights and photos, after the jump...

Here's my second favorite song of the night, which was by the host of the evening, who made many salient observations about how all the lady characters in this book are, how shall I put this, literal or figurative whores? Preoccupied by sex to an extent that is not likely healthy, let's leave it at that. I'll transcribe the lyrics because they're just so spot on.

Laura I don't believe you when you say that you're upset
By those folks who died for take-out tandoori
One minute you're crying, the next you're undressed
Which could be kind of deep or kind of whore-y

Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh
You never liked the life
Uh huh, uh huh
What is that in your pipe?
Uh huh, uh huh
She was raised to fight
Uh huh, uh huh
What IS that in your pipe?

Some dude in the audience explained later that it's some sort of super tabacc that Doctor Manhattan invented, which actually makes a lot of sense...but still. Look at this crap. It's clearly a meatball:

These girls came in awesome pseudo-costume to sing their musicalization of John and Laurie's heavy metaphysical conversation on Mars. Their introduction also contained the best line of the night; "I'm John and this is Laurie. You can visit us on Facebook, under relationship it says 'It's Complicated'."

The crowd.

This all happened at a Bushwick bar called Goodbye Blue Monday, by the way.

Panel Discussion: Scans from Teen Titans #71, Ink #1, and Batman in Barcelona #1

noreply@blogger.com (AHR) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:30:00 +0000

Beatdown(s) of the Week/Burn of the Week - Ravager vs Wonder Girl and Bombshell, Teen Titans #71

Ravager is back at Titans Tower, and this time she's not taking any shit!

First of all we see a rare example of an EMOTIONAL beatdown...

BOOM! Guilt trip in yo FACE, Cassie! Who's the villain now, hmm?

Later on, Ravager manages to depower the treacherous Bombshell, and face kicking ensues!

Oh snap! Apparently depowering works on Amazonian Girl Gods too (???)! But nah, she ain't even worth it, so Rose just says "Tool" and walks out on those tools.

That, to borrow a word from the internet, is called OWNAGE.

The Ol' Alter-Ego Blues - Batman in Barcelona: Dragon's Knight #1
The Alter-Ego Blues is a phenomenon costumed heroes experience when people call their civilian-personas out for being lazy, irresponsible and generally uncaring. IRONYYY! But as far as I know, no one has EVER had the nerve to admonish Bruce by asking, "Would your parents be proud?" It is a GOOD THING this conversation was being held over the phone, because in Bruce's little "..." pause bubble, I imagine his face went from neutral to near-murderous psychopath with alarming distinction.

The Magic of Comics - Ink #1
Ink is by far the best Final Crisis: Aftermath book I've read, and it's made me an instant fan of penciller Fabrizio Fiorentino and colorist Michael DiMotta. These page compositions are fantastic; look at the balance in theses two ultra-widescreen panels. In the top panel, no space is wasted as the Tattooed Man conjures up a barbed wire panel, and in the panel below, that space is used to show the distance the wire has to travel, as well as the tension of how hard TM is pulling to knock one of the thugs right off their feet. The very subtle splash of blood on the thug's leg is a painful reminder or exactly what's going on here.

Later on, a gang killing is played out in five panels on one page, and each one expresses an important dramatic beat; the stab of the knife. The surprise. The realization. The literal gravity of the situation, as the blood drops into frame and the victim drops his bag. The finality of death. This is an amazingly poignant death for a character who is so insignificant in the larger scheme of the book. Take another look at his hands - the way they go from frozen in pain to limp is a sad and beautiful story all by itself.

20% Gratuity - Ms Marvel #39
Hey, 9-11. I see what you did there.

Best Use of a Repeated Panel - Ink #1
Just had to get another page from Ink in here. There are lots of great touches in this inventive and gory page, but the way hostage's look of frozen terror goes from part of the tension to sight gag is my favorite part.

The House of Tomorrow, Today!

noreply@blogger.com (Degan) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:48:00 +0000

We've all been there. Sometimes the loves of our lives stand in between us and our nerd destiny. When that happens, you shoot them with a laser.

via Cracked