2011 - my geeky year in review

It's that time of year when we feel compelled to look back and ponder what the point of the last 365 days has been. Thankfully, 2011 has been full of memorable geeky moments for me.

10 things to buy a fangirl like me for Christmas

Christmas is a time for giving.... and if you're a geeky fangirl like me it's that time of year you can get all the stuff you've secretly wanted for ages but felt too ashamed to buy for yourself. Here are 10 geeky things I'd like for Christmas (in no particular order).

One reason to watch... 50/50 (2011)

One reason to watch 50/50 (2011) - it's not all about the bromance.

When Chuck fans say thank you

Chuck fans recently made a pilgrimage to LA for the third, and probably the last, #Chuckfest event.

5 things I can't do at the Chevron 7.7 convention this week

I’m getting my geek on at the Chevron 7.7 Stargate convention this weekend, having booked as soon as Ben Browder was announced as the headline guest. Ben is best known as the delightfully leather-clad John Crichton in Farscape, but he also popped across verses to appear in the last two seasons of Stargate SG:1.

Getting my geek on at the Entertainment Media Show

I'd never been to a gathering of geeks by myself until the Entertainment Media Show in London last weekend. It was, let's just say, a sticky experience.

10 things I won't do when I meet David Tennant on Sunday

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a fangirl meeting a famous actor is likely to freak them out.

But I'm an experienced convention-goer and haven't embarrassed myself or acted like a total stalker (yet). On Sunday I'll be one of many of geeks at Earls Court for the Entertainment Media Show.And I'm one of the lucky people who snapped up a photo ticket with David Tennant as soon as they went on sale.

When brides meet geeks

Brides and geeks will collide in London this weekend as the National Wedding Show and the Entertainment Media Show are neighbours at Earls Court. I wonder how many people are going to both?

One reason to watch... Fringe: Neither here nor there (4x01)

One reason to watch... Fringe: Neither here nor there - it's a whole new show (sort of).

One reason to watch... Drive (2011)

One reason to watch... Drive - it proves that most films have way too much dialogue.

One reason to watch... The Fades: episode 1

One reason to watch The Fades: episode 1 - the world is a dark and scary place.

One reason to watch... Castle: Rise (season 4, episode 1)

One reason to watch... Castle: Rise (season 4 episode 1) - "I remember everything." (Spoilers ahead)

Captain Hammer or ASBO teenager?

My latest Oh my geek! Wordle confused me - I haven't blogged about Mr Fillion recently....

The dark side (of Marmite)

I'm the kind of fangirl who takes every opportunity to buy something geeky for a birthday or Christmas present.

One reason to watch...Misfits: Vegas baby!

One reason to watch...Misfits: Vegas baby! Nathan: "Did you ever see a man shit a rabbit out of his arse?"

10th Doctor will regenerate in London next month

If you have plans for Sunday 2 October, cancel them now. The 10th Doctor is coming to London...

One reason to watch... Super 8

One reason to watch... Super 8: it's not E.T for a new generation.

One reason to watch ... Colombiana

One reason to watch... Colombiana: the final fight between Cataleya and Marco.

Marvel versus DC

Do you know your Marvel superheros from your DC superheros?

OK Go + The Muppets = big disappointment?

Is it just me, or is the OK Go and The Muppets collaboration a real let down?

There's always room for Robot Chicken

I never tire of Robot Chicken. Even when you've watched all the Star Wars clips you can manage (and there are many) there's always other delights to find on YouTube. Like these for example...

Robot Chicken v The Smurfs

Can anyone tell me if this Robot Chicken clip is better than the entire Smurfs movie?

Comic Con 2011 - five fab geek moments

As you may have already noticed from the latest posts on here, I *heart* Comic Con. Thousands of geeks, nerds, gamers, fanboys and fangirls swarmed around the San Diego Convention Centre a few weeks ago but I wasn't one of them. *sad face*

Before I talk about Comic Con (again), let's have a quick Wordle

I've been reading, watching and generally digesting the online content shared by the geeks who've returned from Comic Con this week. And there's plenty of good stuff to share.

Another post about how AWESOME Comic Con is...

Rather than read a new post from me about how FREAKIN' AWESOME Comic Con is, I think you should read this one I made earlier instead. There are some things that sucked too.

Countdown to Comic Con 2011 - all about the Q

Last year I made the geek pilgrimage to San Diego for Comic Con and it was a truly awesome experience. This year I'm not going, but rather than sit around all sad and bitter about it I thought I'd put my experience to good use and offer some advice for first timers making the trek to the convention centre. The most important advice I can offer is all about queues.

Gleeking out and the cry of The Warblers

I was one of thousands of Gleeks in London on Saturday worshipping at the altar of William McKinley High School at Glee Live 2011. I took my niece and we had a riot of a time singing along very loudly and waving our Glee foam fingers in the air at appropriate moments.

Green Lantern's light needs a new battery

I was really really looking forward to Green Lantern. Ryan Reynolds as the "green space cop" flying about saving the world!? What could possibly be wrong with that? This post contains spoilers if you haven't seen the film.

Geek in my week - shooting with the Sheriff

I met the real Sheriff of Nottingham this week.

Geek in my week - the three tine fork incident

I had lunch with a friend at St Pancras International last week and experienced a Big Bang Theory moment. I was sitting in one of the nicer restaurants discussing season three of Fringe with my friend Paul, when I caught sight of the fork I'd been eating with.

Geek in my week - a night at Hotel Cylon

I was in London last week and had a freakish geek moment when I stayed in a hotel that felt like a place on the top ten places to stay when you're away from your Cylon basestar.

TV season finale episodes - "WTF!?" moments galore

TV seasons usually end with a bang. It's the kind of bang you can prepare youself for if you're emotionally invested in a series like I tend to be. So these past few weeks have been tough for fans like me who've had to endure season finale after season finale and now have to wait until the autumn for our favourite shows to return.

I've been on an emotional rollercoaster with teams Fringe, Castle and Chuck. We've had some good times this season, and also some pretty lame ones (I'm looking at you Bartowski) but on the whole I'm genuinely excited about what's to come next season. (Spoilers for season finales below, turn back now if you haven't seen them with your own beady eyes)

This one time at BlogCamp...

Blogger extraordinaire Sally Whittle and communications company Talk Talk brought together about 70 bloggers in central London last week for the first Tots100 BlogCamp.

To be honest, I expected BlogCamp to be a strange place full of mummy bloggers I'd have nothing in common with. I intended to sit quietly in a corner, take a few notes and then dive out the door in time to catch my train home. You'll be pleased to know this wasn't what happened.

MacGyver, mullets, money and me

I was one of about 600 people at the NEC Hilton Metropole at the weekend staggering around in a geek frenzy because a legend was on the premises. That legend was Richard Dean Anderson, aka RDA, aka MacGyver, aka Jack O'Neill from the Stargate franchise.

My big fat fandom wedding - Windsors v Farscape

Did you hear that there's a royal wedding this week? I thought I'd jump on this media bandwagon with some sci fi musings. So I started thinking about all the weddings that have happened in the sci fi shows I love and whether any can rival the big fat Windsor wedding happening on Friday.

And I think I've got a winner. You're invited to the Farscape wedding of John Crichton and Aeryn Sun. Please bring your own pulse pistol.


Coming soon - MacGyver and me

Not many sleeps until I go to Chevron 7.6 to meet the man, the legend that is Richard Dean Anderson. Massive/Showmasters events have no doubt broken the bank to get him here.

I'm all out of love for Chuck season four - or am I?

Season 4 of Chuck is playing with my fragile fangirl emotions.

Geek in my week - a Fringe moment in London

I was midway through an afternoon drinking session with some friends at the weekend and we walked by a place that had a strange glimmer.

Becoming Human - what's next?

Pic: BBC Three Becoming Human blog



Geek in my week - Mitchell lives on (kind of)

Just a quick random post - I might have more to say later after a day of Craig Roberts based viewing activities (am off to see Submarine and back in time to catch the entire Becoming Human series on BBC3).

Since Mitchell got dusted I've been a bit sad. But when I was in London last week I spotted something that made me smile.

Staking, stabbing, snarling and Shirley Bassey - Being Human series 3 episode 7

Beware of spoilers! 

The penultimate episode of a series is usually when something seismic happens to shift everything out of place. This could be the staus quo getting a shakeup or something really bad happening that needs to be mopped up in the next, and final, episode. Penultimate episodes are the teaser pay off for a season of dedicated fandom.

Last night was the penultimate episode of BBC Three's Being Human. For people like me who had no spoilers in mind it was an hour full of "OMFG DID THEY JUST DO THAT?!" moments.

Geek in my week - psycho computer or superhero hottie?

Quite a bit of geekery in my real life over the past few weeks.

I got an email from someone called Hal
My first thought was psycho computer, my second was Green Lantern. Ok, so it was more like Ryan Reynolds and then Green Lantern but you get the idea.

The scruffy vampire realisation

I finished my Being Human marathon last weekend and now I'm a bit obssessed with the lives (and afterlives) of Mitchell, Annie and George. And after admitting to myself that I would forgive Mitchell all his killing sprees because I'm really that shallow, I realised that my taste in vampires has completely changed from clean cut to scruffy.

It's never too late to jump on the fanwagon

I've just started watching BBC3's Being Human, and I'm two series late (trust me, I'm ashamed of myself). It got me thinking about the pros and cons of getting on the fanwagon a bit late and whether the goodness outweighs the baggage of so many potential spoilers.

Geek in my week - did you have the fish?

It's been a while since I shared the geek moments from my daily grind, mostly because I haven't spotted any. And I don't want to start making stuff up - because lying leads to the dark side.

I never expected to see Otto the autopilot in my office. But recently I did, thanks to a driver safety campaign where I work. I walked into the office one day and saw an autopilot man (like Otto in Airplane!) sitting at a desk. He also appeared on our company intranet. I've wanted to take a picture of him sitting in my car all week but haven't plucked up the courage to walk out of the office with him under my arm. And then suddenly he vanished! I suspect a kidnapping...

Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest Swan of all?

Black Swan is a deliciously twisted film, and I think that's why I enjoyed it so much.

The story is simple enough: ballerina Nina Sayers can easily dance the White Swan role in Swan lake, she's innocent and graceful. But to claim the part she must also dance the Black Swan, a role that demands sensuality. Her director tells her to explore the wilder side of life, which she does with a rival dancer who is also after the role. Sexual awakening and madness ensue. Fade to black.

When Castle feeds the birds with Firefly treats

Nathan Fillion likes to feed the birds. But he also likes to feed his Browncoat fans something shiny as a thank you for watching ABC's Castle.

Most of the Firefly references are obvious to anyone who claims to be a fan, but there's one I have to admit I completely missed.

Indiana Jones and the tourist information of doom

I watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom last night on BBC1 and suddenly realised the film is like one big tourist information film of how not to behave abroad. Here are 10 things I learnt from Dr Jones and his travels around Pankot Palace.

Echo v Chuck - who would win a fight?

Last night I finished a back to back super intense viewing of Dollhouse s1 and s2 and I'm emotionally exhausted. But the thing that kept popping into my brain during the latter half of the second season was how Chuck-like Echo had become, calling up previous imprints to deal with a current situation just like Chuck relies on Intersect flashes to deal with his spy life.