automatically crossposted from
Forces of Geek


Columnist, Vinyl Hotspot

Found online at

Confessions From The Geek Chic(k)
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Tell me about your column and your latest projects.

My column celebrates my love for, and collection of, urban vinyl toys – cutting-edge, controversial, confrontational and contemporary 3D art that aims to challenge perceptions and fuse the cute with the creepy in a way to the viewer think.

Who or what are the biggest influences on your work and, if you could pick one person to collaborate with living or dead, who would you pick?

My ‘work’ is marketing – fighting for the new age of geek chic, the nerd revolution, the acceptance of what has, traditionally, been a basement culture. I’m also a writer – of WT(S)F fiction. And if I could choose one inspiration and collaborator it would be Bill Hicks – and I so know he wouldn’t make it easy for me!

What album had the most influence on your adolescence?

I’m supposed to answer this with metal, right? Long-hair rock? Something rebellious? Actually the album was – and is – Peter Gabriel’s Greatest Hits. I love Sledgehammer. Sue Me.

What were your favourite toys or games from your childhood?

I (still) love board games and traditional dice’n’imagination RPGs – I guess it’s a community thing. For my sins, gimme a bunch of mates, a beer and Talisman, Space Crusade or similar – and I refuse to either a) apologise or b) grow out of them.

What is your pop culture guilty pleasure? (What movie, tv show, band, etc. do you love that you know is awful, but you love it anyway?)

The Pussycat Dolls. Yes, I know, I know – but I find the track ‘Dontcha’ to be a real revelling in one’s own attitude and confidence. Sing it – and tell me you don’t feel you can take on the world! (Not sure if this applies to the boys – but you know what I mean).

If you could own one piece of artwork by any artist, who would you choose and why?

Back to the Vinyl, I adore art toy design by Joe Ledbetter. It’s bright, cute, wide-eyed and ten kinds of wrong. There must be an original I can get my hands on… mustn’t there…?

What are your favourite television shows that you feel ended too soon?

Firefly, FarScape. Grown-up and geeky – astute, funny, breaking the normal boundaries of such things. Love ‘em!

Who is your favourite superhero?

Hellboy. Do I need to explain this any further?

If you were to have dinner with five people living or dead, who are they and what would you serve?

First point – I can’t cook. Assuming I can go down the pub (and I can’t choose five mates), then: Bill Hicks, Freddy Mercury, Vivian Stanshall, Terry Gilliam, Dame Julian of Norwich (though she may not be the pubbing type).

What fictional character do you identify most with?

Ummm – you’re gonna get a pass on this one. Any gamer – any writer – any student of human nature – identifies with many different people, each on their own level. At the risk of sounding pompous, isn’t there something to understand in everyone?

What five movies could you watch again and again?

The Dead Poets’ Society, Akira, Kundun, Flash Gordon, Bladerunner.

What book or author do you regularly recommend?

Trick question – in my job, all of them!

What are your favourite web sites?

That would be Forces of Geek, obviously. Seriously, though, I’m addicted to stumbleupon (is that a website, or a phenomenon?), and Twitter. I’m also a (predictable) LOLcat lover, and adore the savage humour of despair.com.

What are you most looking forward to geeking out over in the coming year?

I’m very fortunate in as much as I get paid to geek out. If you’re looking for a single movie title, or a forthcoming event, then I don’t have a calendar stable enough to supply any certainty. There are multiple books I’m looking forward to seeing; multiple forthcoming signings that take place at my work… in short, all of it!


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