Geek of Oz

Last weekend I had a chance to interview Curt Pires about his new mini series POP, which has just started from Dark horse Comics. We talked about the creation of series, the team involved and little about what's to come next. Enjoy. Billy Tournas: Hi Curt, thanks for taking the time out for this interview. In POP you take a quite dark look at the world of manufactured popularity, and the idea of pop culture being made for people. What drew you to this idea and made you write POP? Curt Pires: I've always been intrigued with and find myself analyzing the systems that govern our reality the frameworks that envelop our existence, and it was always there staring me in the fucking face, when I turned on the TV. Men and women crying and begging for their 15 seconds to Paula Abdul and that other guy. I flick the channel, Britney Spears, selling some other product, stepping into the bathroom, piss on her feet she’s not wearing shoes. I guess what I’m trying to say is that ...

Danny Choo is a little bit of a hero of mine. He is much like myself, a massive anime and manga geek who is desperately in love with all things Japanese. The difference between us is that Mr Choo busted his butt and eventually became the man that he is today, a cultural advisor to the Japanese government, pop culture companies and a celebrity in his own right. Well, his very own creation and Culture Japan mascot and Mirai Millenium main character, Mirai Suenaga , is getting the Nendoroid treatment and we have all of the details on what you can look forward to and where to get it.

Not long ago we reviewed the brilliant Ready Player One before speaking to it's equally brilliant author, Ernest Cline.  He was incredibly giving with his time in speaking to us and just cemented his title of "The Master of Magnanimity" by giving away a 1981 DeLorean featuring its very own flux capacitor.  Check out the full details after the jump!

For those who are unaware, Curicon is a new social network which, like Geek of Oz, has been created by geeks, for geeks and today we have the pleasure of speaking to CEO Matt Byrne. The best thing about Curicon is that it truly has been created by geeks. Sure, being a millionaire/billionaire would be great but the feeling that you get from Curicon is that it was originally intended as a way of giving geeks a place to come together and indulge in each others passions (mind out of the gutter!) and if they end up ridiculously wealthy I'll be sure to crash at their pad and/or crib. I'm quite sure that Zuckerberg didn't create Facebook because he liked people so in that respect, Curicon > Facebook. Follow on after the jump for our interview with Matt Byrne and details on how YOU could win a trip to New York Comic-Con!

Recently released on paperback and reviewed by us here at Geek of Oz, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and, suffice it to say, this is the kind of novel that only a true geek could write. In my own words, Ernest Cline is the Gandalf to my Frodo, the Merlin to my Arthur or the Doc Brown to my McFly. What I'm trying to say is that through his debut novel, it is immediately evident that he is some kind of magical pop-culture warlock who presumably has an eidetic memory. Thankfully for me, Mr Cline pulled over his DeLorean mid road trip for just long enough to answer a few questions!

If you are looking at this blog, chances are, you're some kind of pop culture devotee. If you're not looking at this blog, you'll have no idea that this is being written so please, disregard and carry on with your cross stitch and wood whittling. Ready Player One is written by who I can only describe as being the Gandalf to my Frodo, the Merlin to my Arthur or the Doc Brown to my McFly. What I'm trying to say is that through his debut novel, it is immediately evident that he is some kind of magical pop-culture warlock who presumably has an eidetic memory. The perfect mix of World of Warcraft, The Wizard and Tron - Ready Player One is the ultimate read for geeks the world over.