It's Oh-Ficial. I am a Geek.

There's no turning back from this point. The time has arrived that forces my Geekdom status from "Wannabe/Poser" Geek to "Full Blown/Ain't No Denying It Now!" Geek.

*sigh*

I've been fighting this for a looong time. Hoping against all hope (and evidence to the contrary) that I wasn't a Geek. I wasn't a Brain. I wasn't someone who was defined by their brain, their intellectual hobbies, their "quirks", if you will. I wanted to be "normal", "average", "standard" but the clues were all there... Seeking out Mensa for an in-person, not-online, actual IQ test... Using very "cerebral" methods when explaining, organising, planning, creating things... Becoming quite "geeked" in my hobbies (seeking out the new tools/methods, developing new concepts, pieces, tools, investigating every aspect of them...

One of these hobbies happens to be playing the Professor Layton games on my DS. I'm absolutely hooked. I love the animation, the cheesy "plots", the improbability of the story lines, the challenge versus simplicity of the puzzles. I even enjoyed the movie Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva and agreed with murmurs that the story was insane, improbable, ludicrous, absurd because it was all of those things. And more. All of the Professor Layton stories I've encountered thus far have been and I've loved them all!

The proverbial final nail in my Geekdom coffin happened recently. I'm nearing the end of Professor Layton and the Unwound/Lost Future and I wanted to know what was next... What was out there to feed my need for/obsession with Professor Layton... I did a little reconnaissance...

Just a few short weeks later I received a package from Japan. (I'm choosing to block out the details of the actual purchase because without them I'm still in a state of semi-denial so you'll have to do without them, too, I'm afraid.)

But what's in it, you ask? I knew. I knew what was in the box as soon as MrB brought it up the stairs and handed it to me in bed. I was almost vibrating with excitement and refused to open the package until I was dressed, downstairs and had my camera to hand...

Isn't he perfect?!

*hangs head* Yes. I know. My name is "Tanya" and I am a Geek. I blame this website. (OK, I now admit, with hindsight, that the name of that website held some sort of portend about the ultimate level of my Geekiness.) But, I bought an -action figure- based on an Anime movie that's based on a -video game-! I'm certain that that's the final step in attaining Full Geek status. *sigh*

(But I can't help but swoon at his perfect little plastic Professorness!)

Mood fluctuations are to be expected...

This weekend Mr B and I spent as much time as possible in the cinema.

British Film Institute Southbank to be precise.

This weekend they had a wonderful Anime weekend that included (but wasn't limited to):

Evangelion 1.11

Evangelion 2.0

Which I loved. I hadn't seen any of the DVDs that most of the audience had but it didn't matter. The movies were perfectly entertaining and understandable on their own. (There were complaints from Those In The Know about some plot/storyline elements that weren't explained fully but, perhaps because I didn't know what I was missing; I didn't mind.)

For the first one: If you have a chance to see it, wait for the end-credits and watch the subtitles to the song...... "Mood fluctuations are to be expected" is my new favourite song lyric!!

For the second one: stay until after the credits have rolled, you'll be glad you did.

We also saw Welcome to the Space Show and Summer Wars. Both cute and entertaining in their own little ways as Anime movies can be.

Today we saw Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva which was adorable and bizarre at the same time. I own one of the Professor Layton games and find it wickedly addictive. I was hoping the movie would be similar. It was all that and more. The audience was laughing along with the movie because some of the scenes and dialogue was just perfect in the sense that it was laugh-with-and-at-able. If that makes sense.

Between Professor Layton and the next movie I saw this...

Aren't they the coolest? I asked them why they were dressed that way and I was told that they were swimming costumes and that they were "local celebrities" who had to remain incognito every once in a while so they could "just be".

I wasn't buying it and considering the weather today, they must have been -melting- out there!

Edited to add: During this interlude Mr B and I had some lunch at the attached restaurant.

Ordering food in a new restaurant is always "interesting" for me but this instance takes the cake for awkwardness/weirdness. Here's basically how it went:

Me: I'd like the stea...

Idiot Boy: We're out of steak.

Me: OK, I'll have the chi...

Idiot Boy: We're out of chicken, too. Chicken and steak. We have everything else.

Me: OK, may I please have the cheeseburger with no cheese?

Idiot Boy: Sure

Me: Can I also have no bun? So just meat and chips?

Idiot Boy: Sure.

Me: Are there any fillers in the.....

Idiot Boy: Salad.

Me: Salad?

Idiot Boy: Yes. There's salad.

Me: Right, but I need to know what's in the burger itself.

Idiot Boy: No, the salad's on top.

Me: I understand that but I need to know what's in the Burger itself. Is it just bee.....

Idiot Boy: I understand what you're saying but I'm telling you there's salad -on top- of the burger.

Me: OK, um. Fine. But -inside- the burger itself, there are no fillers? They didn't bind the burger with anything? It's 100% beef?

Idiot Boy: No.

Me: ......

(Please note: Idiot Boy did NOT get a tip.)

After that interesting interlude we went back in and saw Chocolate Underground. A movie based on the book Bootleg by Alex Shearer which I just might have to buy.

The story premise is simple... Government bans chocolate. Kids aren't happy. Kids start a secret underground chocolate-making factory to help supply people who loved and miss the sweet confection. Hilarity ensues (with a message, of course). If you have a chance to see it, do! (I, personally, -love- it when the Bad Guy in a movie says "Oops!" because he's dropped something)

I'm also fairly convinced that if they took out all the times they used the word "Chocolate" in the movie and replaced it with "Heroin" or "LSD" or some other mind-altering drug that the movie wouldn't otherwise have to be changed.

All in all it was a nice, relaxing, air-conditioned geek-fest of a weekend and the only thing I would have changed is that I would have liked to get some more knitting done! ;)