Signal Boosting: Speak Out With Your Geek Out

I want to plug Speak Out With Your Geek Out.

I've been a geek all my life.

For example, I love video games. I grew up during the Famicom (that's NES to you Westerners) era (although I did get to play with an Atari) and my favorite console has got to be the Super Famicom (SNES) with games like Street Fighter II, Chrono Trigger, Super Bomberman, Super Mario Kart, Donkey Kong Country, and Super Robot Wars (although I did own a Sega Megadrive to play Sonic & Knuckles and a Sega CD for Ecco the Dolphin). My PC also gets some love with games like Sim City 2000 (a few hours of it will give you an insight into the world's energy crisis), Maniac Mansion, and, of course, Warcraft. As to not date myself too much, I bought a Collector's Edition of Starcraft II last year (1v1 Diamond League before I stopped playing) and actively play DotA. (I still get street cred for Peggle and Plants vs Zombies right?) Oh, and Minesweeper.

Another passion of mine is tabletop gaming. I spent a few years of my life (and lots of money) on Magic: The Gathering (I started playing when Ice Age came out) and rejoiced when they released a Mountain based on the Philippines (see image above). I'd go through several Collectible Card Games (CCGs) including Wildstorms, Ani-Mayhem, Raw Deal, Warlord, Pokemon, Duel Masters, Vs. System, and A Game of Thrones (back when it was still a CCG). My gaming group plays a couple of RPGs, everything from Dungeons & Dragons, Legend of the Five Rings, 7th Sea, GURPS, Savage Worlds, and even Death Watch (I can't seem to convince them to play Houses of the Blooded or Dread). I also own a few board games, everything from Settlers of Catan to Last Night on Earth. Oh, and I briefly reviewed games over at Game Cryer and compiled tabletop gaming podcasts links (you guys should check out RPGPodcasts and Pulp Gamer). Oh, and Go (just a 9x9 though).



I also grew up with comics--I started collecting singles just when the Infinity Gauntlet comic book event started. Not to be exclusively Marvel or DC, however, I did grow up with Asterix and Tintin along with Old Master Q (we called it Lao Fu Zi), various manga like Dragonball Z and Saint Seiya, and local comics like Kick Fighter Komiks. On my shelves right now are manga sets of Buddha, Old Boy, Uzumaki, Death Note, and Eyeshield 21, as well as graphic novels like The Dark Phoenix Saga, V is for Vendetta, Blankets, Asterios Polyp, Umbrella Academy, and Locke & Key. There's web comics like XKCD, PvP, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, and Order of the Stick. I also want to highlight local publications like Siglo: Freedom, Zsazsa Zaturnnah, Trese, and Elmer. I also wrote a few strips a few years back, whether it's one-pagers or for an anthology. For a brief time, I also reviewed comics at MangaVillage.

I'm a big anime fan, so much so that I create two fanzines more than a decade ago: P.Otaku Bytes and Fanime (the former even got praised by Anipike--for those who remember the Anime Web Turnpike before Google became popular). I obsessed over everything Japanese, whether it's cosplaying, model kits, attending conventions, meeting local voice actors, organizing film screenings, etc. I even worked in an anime shop, Comic Alley, and managed a mailing list or two.

I don't watch a lot of movies as of late, but I try to have diverse tastes. For example, I enjoyed the cheesy Korean action-flick Volcano High while Eat Drink Man Woman has a special place in my heart. Cult favorites include God of Gamblers and Once Upon a Time in China, and horror films like Ringu. Hero, however, is one of my all-time favorites. As for local films, I enjoyed the documentary Imelda - Power, Myth, Illusion, and I recently caught Zombadings! Patayin sa Shokot si Remington.

I'm a big fan of the Tokusatsu genre, whether it's Godzilla, Ultraman, Super Sentai, or Kamen Rider (trust me, they're nothing like Saban's adaptations, although I do enjoy Power Rangers as well). My all time favorites include Justirisers and Kamen Rider Black, although for new viewers, I'd probably recommend Kamen Rider W. Of course that doesn't mean I'm skimping out on shows like Game of Thrones or Doctor Who... (There's also web series like GOLD and The Guild)

My music taste is Japanese. Animetal. High and Mighty Color. JAM Project. Maaya Sakamoto. Megumi Hayashibara. Embedded above is the theme from Kamen Rider W.

Oh, and I love books, specifically speculative fiction. You can find my contributions at this blog, SF Signal, The World SF Blog, The Shirley Jackson Awards, SFWA...