No, that isn’t Groucho Marx but rather MGMateo (Mike), who comes to comes to us all the way from the San Diego and will be covering anime, manga, and generally everything awesome out in Cali. While JB continues to hold it down here, MG is a welcome addition to GeeksPodcast as we expand our commitment to all things geek to the other side of the country. So, be sure to give him a warm welcome and thanks for blogging at GeeksPodast, Mike!
Yes, Halloween is here and will soon be gone. If you remember, I committed at the beginning of the month to 31 days of horror. While I didn’t quite hit that mark, we did generally have more Halloween-centric stuff that in the past. Here’s a list of all the horror stuff we covered this month so have a great Halloween and get ready all you writers because NanoWriMo starts tomorrow!
Well hello to all of the GeeksPodcast readers! I want to start by thanking Joshua and the rest of the crew of GP for giving me a new place to hang my hat.
For those of you aren’t sure who I am, let me give you a bit of a back story: About 2 years ago a new site started called Front Towards Gamer. When they opened their doors I was asked to help admin the site and join on their weekly podcast FTGRadio.
As for my personal Geekness, I enjoy a bevy of things ranging from cartoons and movies to games and electronics. Each holds it own special place in my heart. There is something about new tech smell (anti-static bag), or the feel of a new game in your hands. It makes me a bit giddy. I do enjoy unboxing a great new toy.
I think that about sums it for this post. I look forward to giving you a taste of my thoughts on this most amazing of lifestyles that one can pick. I mean, come on, we have more heroes to pick from than the NFL/NHL/MBA/MLB combined!
Now, if you excuse me, I believe I have a monkey to smash, ghosts to chase, and oh yeah… a few classic cartoons to watch!
Continue reading 
It felt trivial to write this considering the thousands of other blog posts about Steve’s passing. However, none of them can tell my story so I opted to go for it.
We’ve never been secretive about October being our favorite month. Nicole and I are quick to let the Silent Hill soundtrack drift through the house as we carve up Jack-o-Lanterns and dig through our most terrifying games to start the month off right.
However, it occurred to us that we didn’t really give Halloween the play it deserved in the past. Sure we did a few posts here and there, but we wanted to take it to a new level in 2011.
Specifically, we’re committing now to give you something horrific, bone-chilling, or otherwise frightening every. single. day. Posts to rattle your nerves and keep you in the Halloween spirit all month. Like some kind of demonic Baskin Robins, we’re throwing you 31-derful (har har) consecutive posts centered only around that chill in your spine as the leaves change and the darkness closes in earlier and earlier. Specifically, you can look for:
All jokes aside, we love getting into the Halloween spirit and if you’re anything like us we hope you’ll find something to enjoy this month.
Also, make sure to follow us on twitter or like us on FaceBook to keep up to date and not miss anything!
Aside from a few guest contributions (lookin’ at you JB!), Nicole and I have been a pretty small outfit here for a while. However, that is about to change and for the better.
Why? Initially when Nicole and I started this site, we did so as a hobby and more for fun than anything. However, over the past two years as we’ve grown more passionate about GeeksPodcast and making it successful, we quickly realized that having a more regular team of people working together would make it easier to manage.
As fate would have it, we were recently approached by a fellow blogger looking for a new place to call home and to publish their work. While I’m not yet at liberty to reveal the identity of our mysterious new member, rest assured Nicole and I both are looking forward to what they bring to the table and you should too.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more information about he/she who must not(yet) be named…
Choosing to go to Ohayocon last year was either the best or worst hobby choice (pertaining to my bank account) I have made. Probably both. 
It has led to me seeking out as many opportunities to cosplay as possible, like this fun, rapidly-growing convention: Matsuricon.
JB here! How is everyone doing? I just wanted to take a minute to touch on a few subjects. First off, I would like to (selfishly) self promote my little hobby, drawing. I recently got into drawing back around Christmas. The reason I got into drawing was that I had been watching anime for a short time (since October) and I was interested in attempting to draw it. So, anyways, if you like, please head on over to http://helidead2009.deviantart.com/ and check out the few things I’ve uploaded. Feel free to critique them, as I really need all the help I can get.
On to the next thing- I recently watched a really good anime, called Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai, or the shortened name, Ano Hana. It’s a short anime series (11 episodes) about 5 teenagers who are trying to move on with their lives after one of their good friends, Menma, died when they were kids. And now, the main character, Jintan, has started to see the ghost of Menma. Its a very good tale of hardship, loss, and friendship, and is well worth the watch. I’d give the anime 4.5 outta 5. The plot is riveting, the characters are really intriguing in their actions and feelings, and they become much more developed throughout the series. The only downsides are that the anime is so short.
Since we are talking about anime, I’d just like to give you a little information about my favorites. While I’ve only watched about 40 animes to date, I feel my list is pretty solid. Anyways, here’s the rundown.
If anybody reading this is actually interested in anime and would like to discuss anything about it, feel free to comment below or email me at jb.geekspodcast@gmail.com.
Finally, and this is a bit random (but I’m getting kind of desperate trying to find this), I have a song on my IPod that I recorded with a radio streaming app I have. It is from an anime, since the radio app is a streaming anime radio app. But, I have no idea what the song is, who sung it, or even what anime its from. I want to download the song to my ipod, so that I have the actual full song in good quality, and so I can share it with my friends. So, please, head on over to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKQr3mMHxFk&feature, which is where I uploaded the version I had (crappy quality, yes I know) and please get back to me if you recognize the song. That’s all I have at the moment, so we’ll call it a day. Thanks for checking in, and until next time!
Watchin Dat Anime,
JB Martin
I read a great post about The Tragedy of Missing Out over at Zen Habits recently and it got me to thinking about what I feel like I miss out on all the time. Specifically, one of the most humbling things I do is go to bookstores. That may sound strange, but let me elaborate.
No one would dispute that the Internet is the greatest collection of human knowledge ever compiled. Well, the largest, maybe not the greatest. And yet, for all of that vastness, I only ever see a very small subset of what it has to offer. Perhaps the first few pages of a Google search or a few dozen blog posts pulled in from my feed reader.
The beauty of the bookstore (or library if you prefer) is the sheer enormity of the information that is more accurately at your fingertips. You can touch it, smell it, feel the texture of those vast tomes whether they impart knowledge as important as how to bake a proper carrot cake or as trivial as politics.
The humility comes from the fact that in the very small amount of time I’ll get to enjoy on this planet, I won’t come close to finishing a shelf of the month’s most current periodicals, let alone an entire shelf on modern art, the best travel spots in Ireland, and oh, who am I kidding; I probably won’t get that carrot cake thing sorted out either.
But ya know what? That’s ok with me. Even if I never know everything I’m content in knowing that I at least take the time to appreciate time and my brief stay within it. It’s no small thing to marvel at all of the things you won’t do, can’t do, don’t understand and gain a deeper appreciation for what you have done, will do, and have figured out.
Wait wut? I’m sorry- I mean blah blah, Spider-Man is awesome, Marvel forever, etc. etc.