Service, Regret and Remorse in Alexandria

"What's wrong with Daryl?"

While watching this weeks episode of The Walking Dead with a family member I was asked that question.  

My response was simple 

"Daryl has been broken by guilt and remorse"

So then they asked:

"What about Rick?"

"Rick?" I said,  "Rick has been turned into a giant puss"

This statement might seem harsh but I honesty believe it's accurate.  Daryl is understandable - he is emotionally broken by the belief that Glenn's death is on his hands.  Further to that is Father Gabriel leading Negan to believe that Maggie is dead, one more thing to drive Daryl's guilt. 

Rick however has lost his will to fight through fear of what could happen - hence he has given up.

How long will it be before Rick's people give up on him?

We are now four weeks into season seven and after the shocking start to the season we were given two weeks of drama, the ability to catch up with various characters, but now it seems we are finally moving forward with the theme of season seven as Negan came to Alexandria to deliver service with a smile!

As the Saviors knocked on the front gate a lone walker sought to attack the group so Negan selflessly and heroically crushed it's skull with no concern for his own Well-being.  The tribute he demanded for his protection was simply half of everything they had.  Furniture, mattresses, guns and medicine, he wanted it!  

Making a tense situation worse was Carl who took a shot at one of Negans people - prompting Negan to spare his life BUT now demanding all of the guns instead.  Believing he had no choice Rick agreed, however when two weapons where confirmed missing it was made clear that Olivia would be the one to pay the price.

Frantically Rick made a plea to his people - turn over the missing guns before Olivia's time ran out. It was at this point we realized Rick's people had already begun to lose faith in him.

That didn't take long!

Eventually the guns were located, along with food and alcohol in Spencer's home - this would later lead to a confrontation between Rick and Spencer.  Negan would take what he came for and as he was preparing to leave Rick asked if Daryl could stay, Negan suggested that if Daryl wanted to stay then maybe Daryl should speak up, try and sway Negan to allow it.

Daryl said nothing.

As they were leaving Negan informed Rick that when he came back they had better have something "Interesting" for him or one of Rick's people would surely die!

Rick would later tell Michonne that he had always known Judith was not his daughter but that he loves her and accepts her as his daughter just the same.  Rick also confirmed that he was afraid of losing more people - he wants to watch Judith grow old.

The common theme seems to be the numbers game, Rick is worried that his people can never stand against the Saviors based on pure numbers.  What he has yet to realize is that at his core Negan is a bully who is being allowed to have his way.

Cut the head off the snake and the snake dies!

Had the residents of Alexandria taken the fight to Negan and his people as soon as they set foot within the towns walls then I'd venture to say things would have gone much differently.

As part of setting the tone for what is to come for the remainder of season seven:

As Negan was leaving he asked Rick if he had anything to say, Rick offered a reluctant thank you referring to the fact that no blood had been spilled, Negan laughed and responded with "I just slid my dick down your throat and you thanked me!"  

How long will it be?  How long will it be before an all out confrontation begins and who will get the ball rolling?  Personally I'm betting on Maggie being the one to rise up and seek her revenge but I'd also love to hear what you think.

Either comment below or head over to our CanGeek website were you will find links to our social media feeds - let us know what you think.

Our True Heroes

I love my comics and my comic book heroes, especially the DC superheros, but I know in my heart who the true heroes are.

Like so many others my family has had a proud history of military service.

Growing up I regularly heard stories of my grandfather on my fathers side,  William Thomas was career British military and served on the German front during the first world War.  Upon suffering a shrapnel related injury his service was over, thankfully he survived but it would ultimately claim his life a few short years later as the injury created other health related complications.

My father was less than two years old at the time and would openly admit that he had few memories of his dad.

My mother's father served during the second world war however we know very little of his 

service.  Alexander Malcolm was a happy and joyful Scotsmen but if questioned about his wartime activities the joy quickly left him as he politely declined to comment.

Such is the way of true heroes - they do what must be done not for praise but because it is the right thing to do. 

My families story is no different then that of the many other families with military heritage, the pride we feel for those who came before drives us on word, my fathers eldest brother served in the Navy during world war II as did other members of his extended family, I've often wondered if my grandfathers service lead to those choices. 

My pride comes from the simple knowledge that if not for the continued willingness of military personal to put themselves in harms way and potentially make the ultimate sacrifice, we would not enjoy the rights and freedoms we do today.

From playing board games and video games to cosplay and reading our favorite literature, I have to believe that the world would be a much different and a less tolerant place had Adolf Hitler and the German army been the victors at the conclusion of 1945.  Had Bin Laden not been neutralized he would have continued to stage attacks world wide, many more lives would have been lost.

Such is the reality of the world we live in - there will always be those intent on doing harm to others, but there will always be those ready to serve, to protect our right to be free.

So as we acknowledge the true heroes this remembrance day, please take a moment to consider what your life would be like if not for them, the sons and daughters and mothers and fathers who leave their families behind in order to defend and protect all the families of our global community.

Lest we forget.

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Welcome To Earth - Leave Your Bias At Home

I have said it time and again,  DC should stop wasting their time with feature length films and focus on prime time television, because at this point DC truly owns that time slot!

Thus far this season of the CW's Supergirl has just continued to prove my point.  From the introduction of Tyler Hoechlin as Superman, to this past Monday when Lynda Carter was introduced as President Oliva Marsdin, the casting for this series has been fantastic!

But my opinion goes far beyond casting, through the writers this show has been willing to tackle some tough topics and has done so in an thought provoking manner.

Welcome To Earth which is the third episode of season two began the character development of Mon-EL after his arrival in the season one finale.  Mon-EL is the last survivor of the plant Daxam, a sister moon to Krypton which was turned into a wasteland following Krypton's destruction.

Mon-EL had been in a comatose state up until now but upon waking up he fleas the DEO, most likely out of fear,  and becomes the subject of a city wide manhunt having been labeled "Dangerous" by the powers that be.  Meanwhile the President of the United States arrives in National City to sign the "Alien Amnesty" act, a law intended to give all illegal aliens the same rights as any other American citizen.  Unfortunately not ever alien views this new law in a positive light, with some viewing it as an attempt to expose and track the alien population.

One such alien sets out to eliminate the President before such a law can be set in motion.

After the first attempt on the Presidents life, J'onn goes on record as disagreeing with this bold act, he states that having lived both as a black man and an alien among humans that humanity is not ready to accept the differences of others.

Meanwhile Kara is so blinded by her distrust of the now absent Mon-EL that she immediately assumes he is responsible for the attempts on the President and enlists Winn to help track down and imprison Mon-EL once and for all.

While Kara is searching for her rogue Daxamite Alex takes another approach with the help of National City Police Detective Maggie Sawyer, another new character played by Floriana Lima. Together they investigate a private drinking hole known to be frequented by aliens, at least according to Maggie.  Maggie admits to having known of the alien presence and the existence of the DEO for quite some time and states that for a Lesbian from a small town she has always felt like she could relate more to aliens then to humans.  Alex holds a different opinion, she states that beyond her sister, Superman and J'onn J'onzz there are few trustworthy aliens to be found.

Kara and Winn are eventually successful in finding Mon-EL who is at the National City observatory desperately trying to send a distress call to Daxam.  After a physical altercation Kara is able to return Mon-EL to a DEO holding cell were he states his innocence and ultimately the shared bias of to former enemy races began to come to light.

Kara is now convinced that with Mon-EL imprisoned that all is right with the world again, that is until another attack takes place against the President.  Now having to accept that Mon-EL was not involved, Maggie, Alex, and Kara set out to find the real perpetrator and are once again exposed to the prejudices of an alien who, like J'onn, believes mankind while never accept that which they do not understand.

In the end Kara must set aside her personal bias, she  releases Mon-EL and break the news of Daxam's fate to him.  Meanwhile J'onn J'onzz, the last Martian goes to investigate  an alien refuge, the private bar Maggie introduced Alex too, and comes face to face with another alien in hiding - M'gann M'orzz the last daughter of Mars.

This most recent episode of Supergirl was ripe with the unfortunate bias that seems to be inherent in humanity as a species.  The shows writers did a impressive job of communicating this through the narrative and in the end gave us all something to think about.

This is the type of storytelling that will continue to bring me back week after week,

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The Walking dead - The Breaking of Rick Grimes?

"Eeni meeni miini moe"  how many episodes does Negan have to go?

When season six ended fans where left to question who was the unfortunate recipient of the beating from Negan and Lucille?

Now that season seven has begun we know that it was in fact two of the members of 'Team Rick" that have left the show with the systematic murders of both Abraham and Glenn.

This horrifying event was followed by a powerful statement by Rick who promised that one day he would kill Negan.  In response Negan then drove off with Rick to began the methodical breaking of his spirit which concluded with a simple threat,  either Rick was to cut Carl's arm off with an axe or Negan would kill them all!

This scene concluded with Daryl being taken hostage and an injured Maggie out to seak her revenge.

Tonight's episode was a powerful season premiere with the surprising departure of not one but two cast members.  This has brought us two questions,  how long does Negan have before Rick truly seeks retribution?  OR has Rick truly been broken?

Head over to our Facebook page and let us know what you think comes next!

Thanks for reading.

Going GEEK: October 14th - October 16th

If you live within or relativity close to the Greater Toronto Area this is a great weekend to be a
geek!  With multiple events taking place your biggest challenge might be finding the time and money to take in these outstanding events.

1.  Unplugged Expo:

Celebrating their fifth anniversary & featuring a lineup of guests from multiple genres, Unplugged Expo is a little bit cosplay, a little bit nostalgia and a lot geek!  The staff strive to maintain your level of excitement from the moment you arrive.

Featured events include but are not limited to the YTV Zone PJ reunion, the Harry Potter: Room Of Requirement, the Masters Of Cosplay competition, Unplugged singing idol,  and Just Dance 2016 dance off.

Unplugged Expo is being held at the Weston Harbor Castle hotel on October 15th and 16th with tickets ranging in price from $10.00 to $35.00 plus applicable taxes.  For a complete list of events and guests head over to the Unplugged Expo website.

2. LEGO Imagination Nation Tour:

Concluding a tour which began in June with stops in Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver, the LEGO Imagination Nation event roles into the Metro Toronto Convention Center from October 14th to October 16th.

From diving into a pit of LEGO bricks or going hands on with the latest and greatest in LEGO Video Games including LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens and LEGO Dimensions this event promises to have something for every LEGO enthusiast.

This event also boasts your opportunity to meet one of only seven people to be certified as a LEGO Master Builder in the world, this is your opportunity to learn from a true LEGO master.

With a general admission ticket valued at $28.50 plus applicable taxes this seems like a can't miss event for the entire family.  Head over to the LEGO Imagination Nation Tour website for all the details.

3.  Oshawa Comic-Con:

We love our small regional shows, they don't seem to get lost in their own hype and the vendors aren't fighting to make up the costs of overpriced tables by super inflating prices.  

One such show is the Oshawa Comic-Con held at the Harmony Creek Community and Events

center.  We've had the opportunity to attend this show a few times now and have found the staff and the vendors to be friendly and outgoing folks who are attending as much out of a sense of enjoyment as they are for financial gain.

This one day event which is presented by Pop Culture Canada runs from 10:00am until 4:00pm with a completely reasonable $5.00 admission per person.  For more details we recommend visiting the Oshawa Comic-Con Facebook events page.

As always thanks for reading and remember to visit the CanGeek website for links to our various social media feeds.

 

Glow Swords Unite Generations

"If Dad likes it than it can't be chill!"

As a father of two I sometimes find it a challenge to develop common ground with my boys.

I'm not old, not by any stretch,  but even if I was in my sixties what is age?  It's merely a number used by society to define the time you've put in and experience you've gained.

One such place that I've attempted to achieve a measure of common ground with my kids is in our shared love of Star Wars!  So when I was introduced to Glow Sword Battle Toronto last year (formerly the Toronto Lightsaber Battle) it truly felt like the will of the force!

Administrated by Newmindspace this is a free all-ages event were the only costs you are responsible for are your personal lightsabers. 

My eldest son who was twelve at the time was not an easy sell, he couldn't imagine a group of people with Lightsabers battling it out in the dark representing any measure of fun, so he stayed home.  My youngest son was nine at the time and he was all over this, so together we went into the darkness armed only with our glowing swords and when we emerged into the light we had become a little closer and had a fantastic evening of fun!

Over the past twelve months my older son has come to realize just what he missed out on last October so together this year we will all converge on Glow Sword Battle Toronto 2016 ready to defeat our foes!

That is after all the magic of fandom,  Finding shared interests with others in order to develop not only common ground but also friendships and memories that endure the test of time.

Should you be interested in learning more about this event check out the Event Page and as always remember to follow us on our CanGeek Community Page.

Thanks for reading!

The Short List - 2016 Toy Hall Of Fame Finalists

Tuesday morning the National Toy Hall Of Fame announced its short list of finalists to be considered for induction this year.  

In order to be considered by the hall who's past inductees include The Nintendo Gameboy, The Atari 2600, LEGO, The Skateboard, The Bicycle, and The Game Of Life, a toy must meet the following criteria\:

- The toy must be recognized & respected.

- The toy has enjoyed popularity over multiple generations.

- The toy fosters learning, creativity and discovery through play.

Although twelve toys have been selected as finalist, only two or three will be inducted, so this week we're counting down in order our list of toys we would love to see succeed:

1.  Dungeons & Dragons:

If ever a game required you to use your imagination then Dungeons & Dragons is that game! Developed during the 1970's, players are placed within worlds of monsters and magic and are asked to role play as a means of moving their adventures forward.  Over the years D&D's influence on modern society cannot be overstated, from early text based video games such as Zork  up to current blockbusters such as Star Wars: The Old Republic and The Elder Scrolls Online, Dungeons & Dragons started a movement of play that has endured for well over 30 years. 

2.  Pinball:

Pinball is most likely one of the oldest possible inductees on this years list, tracing its roots back to an 18th century French parlor game known as Bagatelle.  Modern day Pinball machines provide a fast-paced game requiring players to have decent eye/hand coordination in order to maneuver a table filled with ramps and other obstructions.

3.  Transformers:

The Transformers were first introduced by Hasbro Inc. in the 1980's as a series of toys that could change their shapes from robot to vehicle,  Over the years through the use of an extensive backstory The Transformers brand has spawned a series of comics, movies, and video games, as well as consumer merchandise.

4.  Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots:

Brought to market in 1965 by Louis Marx & Company, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots invites players to take control of two robots within a boxing ring.  Through the use of levers players control their individual fighter with the objective of knocking the opposing players block off to win the game.

5.  Clue:

Originally developed during World War II and marketed at Cluedo, Clue is one of the best selling games of all time.  The randomized game play presents players with the challenge of solving the murder of the unfortunate Mr. Body  

6.  Nerf:

Developed in the 1960's, NERF started out by marketing a foam ball that was safe to be used indoors, over the years NERF  has expanded their product lines to include a line of guns that fire foam projectiles, foam swords and now the NERF Super Soaker water guns.

7.  UNO:

Released in the 1970's, UNO which is both Italian and Spanish for "One" is a easy to learn card game with a fixed rule system.  In UNO players strive to dispose of all the cards in their hand before their opponents in order to secure victory.

8.  Care Bears:

Originally created as a line of greeting cards in the early 1980's, The Care Bears quickly developed into a brand featuring both plush bears and dolls.  The purpose was to teach children to display feels of kindness and compassion.  Over the years The Care Bears have stared in both television and movies, and have had a series of video games and books.

9.  Fisher-Price Little People:

As a child who didn't go on amazing adventures with The Little People? Developed in the late 1950's, Fisher Price offered its wooden little people in a safety school bus. Over the years this brand has expanded to include The Zoo, The Farm, and The Service Station.  The Little People toys are fashioned for small hands with big imaginations,

10. Bubble Wrap:

Created by accident in 1957 by two engineers who where trying to create a new type of wallpaper, it was soon discovered that the clear plastic could be used both for packaging of breakable materials AND as a source of eminence entertainment for children of all ages.

11.  The Coloring Book:

Invented by a New York printing company, The Coloring Book is a staple of most everyone`s childhood.  Educators use them to teach a variety of subjects including math and geography, and in recent years more complex books targeting adults have begun to appear.

12.  The Swing:

A staple of playgrounds throughout the years, The Swing can trace its base origins back to ancient times having been depicted in cave drawings, ceramic vases and carved figures.  

This years final inductees will be announced on November 10th and personally we`re really pulling for Dungeons & Dragons, Pinball, and The Transformers.  To see a list of previous winners Click Here and head over to the CanGeek Community Page and share your thoughts with us.

Thanks for reading.

Daniel Radcliffe Not Ready For The Cursed Child

Everyone has an opinion regarding Star Wars, even Harry Potter.

In a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter Daniel Radcliffe was asked if there where plans to return to the role of Harry Potter for a film adaptation of The Cursed Child. 

"There's a part of me that's like, some things are better left untouched. If we went back to Potter, there's a chance we'd make what Star Wars: The Force Awakens was to the original Star Wars, but there's also the chance that we'd make Phantom Menace. So I don't want to go back to anything like that and maybe sour what people have already loved"

Radcliffe then went on to say that although he has not completely ruled out a possible return he figures he has at least a decade before he has to make that decision. 

"At the moment it's not even a concern because I'm to young to play the character, but even in 10 years time I would still feel strange about going back to it"

When asked about the Cursed Child, which is currently on stage at London's Palace Theater,  Radcliffe admits he has yet to see it but suggests that the stage shows current star,  Jamie Parker, would be a great replacement. 

"I'm never going to close the door,  that would be a stupid thing to do,  but I think I'll be happy enough and secure enough to let someone else play it"

Should Warner Brothers opt to make a film adaptation of the London hit we have to wonder if it would have the same feeling with another actor portraying the much loved wizard?

Head over to our Facebook page and share your thoughts with us, thanks for reading.

Star Trek Boldly Goes On!

I was always more of a Star Wars fan.....

That isn't to say that I didn't enjoy Star Trek, I did but lightsabers and blasters and highly maneuverable space craft usually won out over the cheesiness of exploration and boldly going where no man has gone before.  But then again I was like six when I had my first encounter with both the Dark Lord of the Sith and the Klingon empire.

Over the years however I was slowly assimilated, resistance is after all futile!

I think the turning point for me came when I first saw Star Trek: The Wrath Of Khan - this was what I wanted from a movie, lots of explosions combined with a really compelling story, and that death scene at the end, Spock couldn't be dead could he???  We collectively received our answer to that question two years later with the release of Star Trek: The Search for Spock, he was alive after all and I was hooked!

With the release of Return Of The Jedi in 1983 and then nothing until The Phantom Menace in 1999 there was a nineteen year gap that needed to be filled so I devoured Trek.

From the release of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987 to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in 1993 this franchise was going places and I was happy to be along for the ride.   That ride ultimately took me to the delta quadrant in 1995 as the crew of Voyager struggled to make their way home without abandoning the principles of Star Fleet in the process. 

But that was where my voyage came to an end, I just couldn't get into Enterprise for some reason.   That however did not stop me from watching the many movies that would continue to follow 

Star Trek was boldly moving forward by going backwards as was obvious by the J.J Abrams reboot in 2009, and with that reboot came both returning and new fans, Star Trek seems to be destined to live long and prosper. 

And why shouldn't it?   Over the past fifty years Star Trek has been a catalyst inspiring new technologies to further serve and improve mankind, this is the point where I point our that Picards data pad looks like an IPad:

And that the original communicators look like first generation cell phones:



The fine folks over at N.A.S.A also realized how influential Star Trek had become to our society so they gave us the Starship Enterprise, sorta:



Star Trek has truly left a massive footprint in mankind's history and will forever hold a special place within my heart.

As much as I was a Star Wars fan my father was a trekkie, he just related to the narrative more.  One of my fondest Star Trek memories is of a family trip to a local theater to see The Search For Spock for the very first time, it was the best of times.


Sadly earlier this year we lost my Dad to cancer, unfortunately our medical capabilities have not reached those of the twenty-forth century..... YET!

. 

Should there be any one lesson that I've learned from Star Trek its this:  There is always hope for the future.  So on September 8th as we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Gene Roddenbery's creation and eagerly wait for the premier of Star Trek: Discovery in 2017, I say both thank you to the multiple cast and crew who have brought us these wonderful tales over the years and also look forward to the next fifty years of Trek boldly going on.....  I'm a Star Wars fan, but I'm a Trekkie too.

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The Geek I Am.... My Homage To My Dad

As I write this weeks blog it is May 21st, 2016 and here in Canada we're celebrating the Victoria Day long weekend, well most of us are anyways.

I am sitting here on my parents back deck falling asleep, its been a long week.

CanGeek is a dream slowly becoming reality,  but at this point it doesn't pay the bills,  so I also work 40 hours a week as a Store Manager for a 'As Seen On TV" retailer, the things we do to chase our dreams......

My father is sitting next to me and he's falling asleep too, his fatigue is of a much different nature, brought about by unimaginable pain and discomfort.

My father is dying, he has terminal cancer and this weeks blog is my homage to him.

I have been asking myself for weeks whither this blog was appropriate given the nature of its content and I've decided it is, I wouldn't be who I am today if not for the influence my father has had on my life.

Without dating myself, I went through adolescence at a time when society was slightly less accepting of what we now refer to as fandom and pop culture.  That`s not to say that we didn't celebrate our shared enjoyment of genre films and television shows, and we absolutely bought our comics and games on a weekly basis, but it felt like to avoid unfair judgement and peer pressure we weren't so open about our likes and dislikes.

We didn't wear our geek on our sleeves, not like we do today, and wearing Marvel or DC attire to anything other then elementary school was a good way to get an ass kicking.

It was the dark times indeed.

Through all this however I always seemed to have the love and support of my father.  Born in 1931 he grew up in a much different time, and his experiences could have just as easily drove a wedge into our relationship, but he was always supportive of my choices and decisions.

So well other kids were off joining sports teams and going to Friday night parties, I was playing video games with a close group of friends, being introduced to RPG`s such as D&D and Shadowrun, and playing tabletop games like Battletech and Magic: The Gathering (We Did a lot of that!)

And my Dad was always there to take interest in what we were doing, asking questions and in a lot of cases adding to my gaming collection wherever possible.

Eventually I fell in love with a truly beautiful woman, she is both kind and considerate to everyone around her, and I was considering popping the question. 

The advice I received from my friends was "Do more with your life and then maybe get married"
The advice I received from my father was  "Do what feels right in your heart"

We married, bought a house, and since then have begun to raise two wonderful children and spent many amazing years together.

Last June I was laid off after giving 6 1/2 years of my life to EB Games Canada, this happened three months after the news of my fathers cancer, and I was forced to come to terms with so much at once.

It took me months to decide my next move, CanGeek, a business I'd been considering for years and years. One afternoon I explained my plans to my father, this was in an attempt to focus him on something other then his pain, and once again he surprised me by offering money to invest in the business.

With so much going on for both him and my mother he was still thinking of his children first, that is the type of man he is and the type of father he has been to his three children.

Fathers day is just under a month away now, and CanGeek will be introducing a limited edition product celebrating all the Gamer Dads out there, it will be available for purchase through our new Facebook store.  Our hope is that it will be a gift both you and your fathers will treasure for years to come.

As both a father and a son my hope is that I will have the opportunity to celebrate one more fathers day weekend with my dad because if not for him I would not be the geek I am today.....

Thanks for reading.

Conquering The Stars And Riding The Rails

Fifteen hours per week.....

Like most people working a full time job I spend a lot of time on public transit moving back and forth to and from my current place of employment, So out of curiosity I recently sat down and calculated roughly how many hours I spend commuting and came up with fifteen hours per week.

This represents a ninety minute commute each way to and from work five days per week, and a fair chunk of that time is spent riding the trains.

Needless to say things can get more then a little boring.

I usually spend this time reading, sleeping, or playing with my phone because in truth who wants to stare at strangers (its kind of creepy)

Now I'm the type of person who gets really involved in whatever game their playing, so much so that I have been know to, on occasion, miss my stop because I'm so engrossed in what I'm doing (Dragons Crown for the PS Vita had me doing a lot of backtracking).

Conquering The Stars:

About a month ago a close friend introduced me Star Realms, a new deck building game designed by Magic: The Gathering pro tour champions Rob Dougherty and Darwin Kastle.  Star Realms is a two player space combat game that takes less then 25 minutes to play yet provides hours of enjoyment at an unquestionably reasonable price (it's $14.99 in physical format and once you've played it you'll keep coming back for more!)

Each player begins the game with fifty life points, three points of currency and two points of attack, then the objective is simple, destroy your opponent to secure victory!  This is achieved by shopping the marketplace and making strategic decisions in an effort to build the strongest fleet possible.

It's fast moving and every mistake truly matters!   

Now what does this have to do with my long commute to work?  Star Realms was also recently release in digital format for the PC, Android and IOS as a free download (without the expansions!) 

So if like me you have time to spare as part of your daily trip to and from your place of employment then give Star Realms a chance, I don't think you'll be sorry.

As always, thanks for reading!

Lost In Translation - The Fear Of The CanGeek

Blogging doesn't come naturally to me as much as I wish it did.....

I live in the somewhat constant fear that as my fingers fly across the keyboard my playfulness and slightly dark sense of humor will be misunderstood and lost in translation, that it will be viewed as anything other than what it is,  an attempt to engage and entertain my readers.

But I do it anyways and here's why:

CanGeek posts a lot of content to the various social media platforms that we're active on, from humorous memes and questions asking about your preferences, to shared content from other pages and now our new weekly blogs, everything we do is done in the hopes of growing our following and sparking enthusiastic interaction.

From video games and board games to movies and television shows, if its science fiction or fantasy related then we want to talk about it because that's were our passion resides, and one thing you can be guaranteed of, regardless of our feelings (we either love it or hate it, its how we roll!)  we stand behind any posts we make to our social media feeds.  

Two of the many subjects that we are extremely motivated by are Game Of Thrones and Star Wars, which is most likely obvious by our regular posts (We beat them like a dead horse!)

But the CanGeek community isn't just about what we like, its about what you like too, after all we're doing this for you, so we need your help......

We're open to feedback so long as its constructive in nature, and we want to hear what you have to say.  Our biggest fear (The CanGeek fear, see what I did there) is that all of our efforts are for nothing, so help us out and get involved in the community we're building by dropping us a quick message or sharing some of your content with us.

We honestly don't bite (unless your into that!)

As always thanks for reading :)

Once A Geek.....

Twelve months, a lot can happen in the course of one year........

For example, twelve months ago I was employed as a middle level manager for EB Games Canada, a division of Gamestop international, and I liked my job.  Now that isn't to say that I liked the people I worked for or their policies, although at one time I'm sure I did.   I think my attitude towards the job changed around the time I found myself having to repeatedly defend my staff against a district manager who viewed my customers as nothing more then walking wallets.   

And I liked the majority of my customers.

So after 6 1/2 years of assuming the position it should have come as no shock when my former manager arrived with their immediate supervisor and walked me to the door, but it did and I was devastated.

So I did what many have done in my situation, I took to social media and lamented about how poorly the company had acted towards me, all this in the hopes that the right person would see it and by some fluke of nature I would once again be wanted and needed for my expertise, but that didn't happen.

What did happen was the people who I worked with, the ones who called me friend, no longer wanted any association with me and I felt even more alone and hurt then ever.

Then somewhere along the way I realized what needed to happen, I needed to capitalize on one of my greatest strengths and assets, being a geek!

Long before I was employed by McGameshop I was a gamer, in fact I have been gaming most of my life, regularly playing tabletop games such as Magic: the Gathering and Battletech and video games including anything with the Dragon Age or Elder Scrolls label attached to it. 

Long before I worked in the gaming industry I spent a fair amount of time working for another home entertainment leader, Blockbuster video.  My time at Blockbuster was spent fulfilling my constant craving to see the next great movie and sharing that joy with those around me, in short helping to bring a smile to the faces of those around me, hoping to entertain them......

I'm a geek!  I don't view this as shameful, I actually wear it like a badge of honor.

Being a geek has allowed me to develop long lasting friendships with like-minded people.

Being a geek has allowed me to find love and happiness with an extremely beautiful woman, a geek in her own right,   

Being a pair of geeks has allowed my wife and I to continue the circle of life by raising the next generation of geeks.

Being a pair of geeks has motivated us to begin a new venture together - CanGeek!

Our mission with CanGeek is a simple one, through our active involvement on multiple social media platforms we want to engage and entertain like minded people from around the world.

In the coming months we will be lunching CanGeek.com, which will include a small online store offering a very select lineup of products geared to our various online communities.  Our website will also include a calendar of up coming events that you can connect with us at and a weekly blog and vlog update.

From movies and television to comics and gaming we want to have some fun and hope you'll join us on this adventure.

"CanGeek is an online community dedicated to the open and free discussion of all things science fiction, fantasy, and gaming related"

So please come check us out: Facebook.com/cangeek