Gotham Episode 2: Selina Kyle

Another Monday means another episode of Gotham.  This weeks episode was titled Selina Kyle.  One would think that with that title it would center in Selina Kyle but no, not totally.  I mean she was in the last half of the show.  We also did not get food background info on her.  I was personally hoping for a little bit more.
With that being said I think this weeks episode was am improvement.  I am officially excited for the show and what's to come.  The penguin is turning out to be an interesting character who has a mother almost as crazy as him.  I am also still a fan of Ed Nigma.   He is so awkward and going to be a fun character to watch develop.
Some other thoughts of mine are as follows.  Alfred is a jerk- I much prefer the Michael Caine version from Christopher Nolan films.  I am also still not sure about the Fish Mooney character.  I do however like Harvey Bullock.  Is he kind of an ass?  Yes, but he is well plagued by Donal Longue and just interesting to me.
I am excited to see where the show goes from here.  This week we had mention of Arkham Asylum.  I am hoping this will show up again along with Dr Quinzel and the Scarecrow.  One can dream right? Regardless I will be tuning in again next week.

Man Crush Monday: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Joseph Gordon-Levitt:

Why We Love Him: I have to admit that I haven't seen very many of his movies. I have a couple on my Netflix queue though. I love him for some of his other talents. He can sing and that is really hot. Above all, his new TV show HitRECord is a very cool thing. It takes artists from all over and they collaborate to make a short film together. I'm that it is opening doors for all sorts of people who may not have had an opportunity before,

Nerdy Role(s): The Dark Knight Rises. Inception might count too but I haven't seen it yet.

Nerdy Facts: Even though he started acting at 6, he went to college for other things. He studied history, literature and French poetry.

Upcoming Role(s):

• The Walk (2015)- The story of high-wire artist Philippe Petit's attempt to cross the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.
• Untitled Christmas Eve Project (2015)

Mutant of the Week: Nightcrawler

Name: Kurt Wagner

First Appearance: Giant Size X-Men #1

Powers and Abilities: Teleportation-only to places he can see or has seen.  The ablility to cling to surfaces using his hands and feet.  He is also very acrobatic due to his very flexible spine.

Other Attributes: Blue fur and yellow eyes.  

Nightcrawler is the son of Mystique who was disguised as the Baroness Wagner at the time of his birth.  After his she was forced to run and threw the baby Nightcrawler over an edge where he was luckily saved by his father and given to the sorceress Margeli.  Margeli took the baby with her to the circus she performed at where he was raised by the entire circus. 

Professor Xavier found Nighcrawler and recruited him to the X-Men

Nightcrawler has appeared in many issues of X-Men Comics as well as X2-Xmen United portrayed by Alan Cumming.  

You can read more about Nightcrawler here.  

Weekly Etsy Find #1

Previously I wrote a post about Etsy and some of the awesome, nerdy stuff I have found there.  To be honest, I have an Etsy problem.  So I am merging two things I enjoy-Etsy and Blogging all for you.  My previous post seemed to go over very well.  Therefore I have decided to create a weekly post about an Etsy find.  It will appear on Wednesday's.  Get it: Wednesday Weekly Etsy Find!  Don't you just love the alliteration.  This is the first ever Wednesday Weekly Etsy Find.  Hopefully one of many.
This week I am featuring some pillows that I wish I had a place for right now.  They are Harry Potter based if you didn't realize.  They are just simple and yet Potter nerdy.  They would fit perfectly on a cute little living room couch.

These pillows can be found here.  They are by a shop called Anders Attic which also has other great Harry Potter pillows as well as some other great finds.  For example the Friends Pillows, love them too.  Click the link above to check out the rest of the shop.  You will not be disappointed.  

And that my friends is your Weekly Etsy Find.  Until next week.

-Ashley

Even Beer Can Be Nerdy

Before the creation of this epic blog I considered writing s blog centered around beer and/or booze.  It is something I am interested in seeing as I am now a beer snob.  Now I have found a way to merge both my nerdy side and the beer enthusiast.
You see, beer can also be nerdy.  Not only does it take precise combinations of ingredients and chemistry to get the recipes right, but these days brewers are ridiculously creative and show their nerdy side as well.  There are countless beers related to pop and nerd culture.  Here is a list of some of those I like or I think just sound interesting or good.

Take The Black Stout-Brewery Ommegang
Belgian Dark Ale 7.00% ABV
Ommegang actually has four beers based on Game of Thrones.  In additon to Take the Black there is the first brew in the series Iron Throne, Fire and Blood a red ale, and the newest in the series Valar Morghules. I have included Take the Black Stout because it is the one I have actually tried recently and being a stout fan it was pretty good.  In fact, at that particular beer tasting I went up to the booth several times.  I am interested to try the other three if I can find them somewhere around here.  Being a fan if both Game if Thrones and beer I will probably like at least a few more of the series.

Imperial Stout Trooper-New England Brewing Company
Russian Imperial Stout 8.50% ABV
Here is one for any Star Wars fans out there.  "Brewed in brewery not too far away, and not too long ago.." according to the description by brewer New England Brewing Co. this brew is dark stout is a mix of seven different malts and hops.  It has an average rating of 4.1 on Beer Advocate so it is probably pretty good and is officially in my must try list.  The bottle is pretty sweet looking and features a storm trooper.  There is also a special edition Imperial Stout Trooper featuring a different bottle.


Walker-Dock Street Brewing Company
American Stout 7.20% ABV
I will be honest, this is not a beer a particularly want to try.  Why is it on the list?  Because it is based on and was made specially for the season finale of the Walking Dead.  It is also an interesting concept, just not one I want to try.  You see, Walker is brewed using goats brains.   They are smoked brains giving the beer a smoky flavor.  In addition, it features cranberries.  An interesting combination.  The ratings for this one are not outstanding with an average rating of 3.44.  I have a feeling that this is a try for the novelty and never drink again thing though.

Zombie Dust-Three Floyds Brewing Co.
American Pale Ale  6.40% ABV
The first on the list that is not a stout! I am not sure if Three Floyds jumped on the zombie bandwagon when creating this beer.  However, it includes the word zombie and its the reason some people wanted to try the beer.  Therefore it has made its way onto my list.  That and because it is delicious!  Unlike our previous zombie beer, this one sounds, and is drinkable.  No brains here.  Just yummy hoppiness and citrus flavors.   It has an average rating of 4.62 so other drinkers think it is good too.  Zombie Dust also features in my opinion a great label. I like the artwork on it.  It is however hard to find, at least around here.  I have yet to find it anywhere but The Bavarian Lodge a few towns over.  It seems to be in high demand along with other Three Floyds brews.  I would recommend it though if you like beer and see it around.


8 Bit Pale Ale-Tallgrass Brewing Company
American Pale Ale 5.20 ABV
This one isn't necessarily centered around pop culture.  It will however make the video game nerds happy. In fact it has been named the official beer of retro gamers. This beer is a hoppy pale ale.  It has a fairly good rating of 3.79.  People who have had it say it is full of hops yet is drinkable and features some citrus notes. Overall I think this is a beer I would like to try.  The can is reminiscent of old school video games.  It even appears to feature a pac-man(ish) figure on the front.

Gotham Premiere Review

This evening was the premiere of the new show Gotham.  This was one of the few shows I was actually interested to see this year.  I am not sure if I will continue watching every week though.
I am not saying it was bad, not at all.  I just feel like it was way over-hyped.  It was just the pilot episode and there is room for the show to grow.  I will give it a few weeks to build up some momentum before deciding whether I keep tuning in or not.

I enjoyed watching Ben McKenzie as young Jim Gordan and Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock.  I think they both did well and have room to grow the characters.  I also liked how some of the villains were portrayed like Oswald Cobblepot who will one day be the Penguin.  My favorite though was Ed Nigma who seems to like to tell riddles (hint, hint)   It will be interesting to see how that character changes and grows over the series.
I did not however like Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney.  I am not a big Jada fan to begin with so that could play a part in my dislike for the character.  We shall see what this new character to the Batman universe brings in the future.
I am also disappointed we did not see very much of Selina Kyle in the pilot.  I know she will appear later within the series, especially since next weeks episode is called Selina Kyle.
Like I said earlier, this was the pilot episode.  It did what it was supposed to do and introduced us the characters.  It was overall well done but needs to have more excitement in the future.  I am hoping it will build and grow into a great show.  Hopefully Fox will give it time to do this and not cancel it like they have done with many other great shows (cough FireFly cough Dollhouse).