Giant Geek vs. Mega n00b

Topic: A Tale of two Cities (book three)

Geek: Emily

And now for the payoff I sold so, so hard last time: the grand conclusion of A Tale of Two Cities. All the threads - golden threads, if you will - finally come together in the exciting conclusion of this epic novel. At least, that's what I think of it. We'll just have to see if Eric enjoys it.

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I never really got into anime in the way that a lot of other geeky kids did. Dragonball Z? Did not care. Pokémon? I watched the first season or two of the anime, but the video games were always first in my heart. Digimon? Yeah, no.

So, I was surprised in college to really get into the Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, which borrows heavily from anime. It tells the story of an epic war fought by element-"bending" humans, a group of children who must save the planet, and some bizarrely cute hybrid animals.

On this episode of Giant Geek vs. Mega n00b, I tasked Emily with watching the first five episodes of season one of Avatar: "The Boy in the Iceberg" through "The King of Omashu." Join us!

If you have an Amazon Prime subscription, you can watch Avatar: The Last Airbender for free on Amazon Instant Video. You can also stream some episodes on Nickelodeon's website (not all of them, like we said in the episode). Or, you can buy individual episodes from iTunes or Amazon for $2 apiece.

Oh, and probably worth noting: As is our wont, we get off on a lot of tangents. If you haven't seen the Harry Potter movies or Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and you're someone who listens to this podcast?! Really?), then mild spoiler warning for those works.

To weigh in on Avatar or anything else we discussed this week, email us at [email protected]. And you should follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page.

We'll be back next week to finish our discussion of A Tale of Two Cities.

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Topic: A Tale of Two Cities (books one and two)

Geek: Emily

This week embark on our lengthiest bit of culture yet: reading Dickens.

I'm not sure when or why I read A Tale of Two Cities the first time, but I was pretty quickly hooked - and immediately started rereading it. You must understand, I'm not a big re-reader, in general. There are very few things I read over and over (basically this, Harry Potter, and Sabriel), and this tops the list BY FAR. It's just so good! And frankly so complicated that you kind of have to go back over the details again once you finish it.

So needless to say, I was pretty pumped to see what Eric thought.

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WE'RE BACK!

Here's the first episode of Giant Geek vs. Mega n00b Season 2. In it, Eric challenges Emily to overcome years of video game evasion and play Hearthstone, a free digital card game made by Blizzard.

You can play Hearthstone on iOS and Android devices (just search for it in the App Store), or download a PC version of the game for your Windows or Mac computer at Battle.net.

For more Giant Geek vs. Mega n00b, visit GVNpodcast.com. And please leave a review for us on iTunes! We'll be back next week to talk about the first half of Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities."

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Christmas special! Eric's favorite Muppet Christmas movie is "A Muppet Family Christmas," a TV special originally released in 1987. Emily's is "The Muppet Christmas Carol," which was released theatrically in 1992. So, who is right?

Naturally, we watched both of them, and to get the most out of this episode, you should, too. "The Muppet Christmas Carol" is available to rent for $3 from Google, Vudu, Sony and Apple. And "A Muppet Family Christmas" is available to stream on YouTube at http://tiny.cc/muppetgeek.

Happy holidays to all of our listeners. Giant Geek vs. Mega n00b will be back in January for a new season of episodes. For more, visit http://geekvsn00b.com.

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Topic: A View to a Kill

Geek: Emily

For the second part of our super special double-whammy season finale we're circling back to where we started: James. Bond.

We're vaulting from one end of the Bond spectrum to the other, from the sublime(ly awesome) to the ridiculous(ly sublime). A View to a Kill is Roger Moore's last movie as the superspy, and he's got the world's best possible Bond villains opposite him: Christopher Walken as a psychotic genetic experiment and Grace Jones as his unspeakably great right-hand woman.

It rocks, you guys. It just rocks.

Just bask in the Duran Duran.

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Hello friends! We'll be back this week with another new episode, finally rectifying the fact that although he is obsessed with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Eric is oblivious to Sarah Michelle Gellar's other iconic teen starlet roles of the late 90s and early aughts.

Yes, that means we're watching Cruel Intentions.

As always, be sure to watch it before you listen! There will be many spoilers. Find it here: Amazon; Google Play; Vudu.

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Topic: Watchmen (first half)

Geek: Eric

This week, we finally get to something I've been wanting to discuss since before we started this podcast: The graphic novel Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

Even if you saw the mediocre 2009 film and didn't like it, don't close this tab. I saw it, too, and was confused more than anything else. It's only in the shadow of the far, far superior book that its problems come into clarity.

But we're not here to talk about a lousy movie (well, Emily and I talk about it a little bit). We're (mostly) here to talk about a great book, which was also my introduction point to the world of "grown-up" graphic novels.

Published in 12 installments between September 1986 and October 1987, Watchmen is both a story about superheroes and a story about superheroes, and the comics that depict them. Along with the seminal Batman miniseries The Dark Knight Returns*, it interrogated ideas long taken for granted, like if/how super-powered beings (or, variously, normal-powered vigilantes with a lot of time and/or money) would actually fit in contemporary society, and whether these people claiming to be heroes could really be trusted in the first place.

For this week's episode, Emily and I read the first half of Watchmen, which is six chapters long. Next week, we'll be breaking it up with one of her picks, and then we'll be back the week after with the back six chapters. So go pick up a copy of the book and join us!

*Zack Snyder, the same guy who directed that mediocre Watchmen movie, is currently in the process of adapting part of TDKR in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman film. Goody.

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It's time for another book! And that means another two-parter. This week, we're tackling the first half of Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

Watchmen is no ordinary book. It's what some folks call a "comic book," but those of us who know better call a "graphic novel." Unlike the innumerable serialized Superman or Spider-Man stories, it's a self-contained work, starring characters that don't appear elsewhere. It's also a goldmine of ideas to discuss.

Given that Watchmen is widely considered to be a crossover title to the broader literary world, it shouldn't be too hard to find Watchmen at your local bookstore, or (since those are becoming as rare as Coke in green glass bottles), at your local box-shaped corporate monolith. For those not inclined to leave the house, it's also available for $12 on Amazon.

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