The Conundrum of the Nerd Bachelor Party

I'm going to muse for a bit...

This weekend, I am heading to Kansas City. One of my friends-- nearly the last of the college gang-- is going to be tying the knot in June. So, in true "man" fashion, we must go down and party.

Now... "Nerd" is a precarious thing. We fall into a couple of categories, and some may prefer to call that second category by another name; "Geek."

There's the first type of Nerd-- we'll call it Type 1 Nerd. This one does not get out much, is not all that equipped to deal with social interactions, but contains a veritable wealth of knowledge about the history of Bruce Banner, or the precise layout of the NCC-1701.

Type 1 may very well attend a bachelor party with one of two expectations. Since this type of Nerd does not do well in social situations, girls are a mystery (the Nerd stereotype is derived from this type). So naturally, going to a strip club-- a place that is pretty much all boobies, all the time-- is either:

1. Amazing.
2. Horrifying

Honestly, it's a coin toss. And it may be both. One is never quite certain what this type of Type 1 will do in this situation.

The Type 2 Nerd is the one who is socially adjusted, has many friends, and still possessing that Nerd knowledge (though maybe not to the level of Type 1 Nerd). While his (or her) friends may suspect that the level of nerdery is significant, they have no idea how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Type 2 Nerd can talk to girls, respects them, and therefore, does not need to do the "bachelor party strip club" thing. Type 2 is content to do something like paint-balling, followed by a helping of Rock Band, homebrew, and possibly some Cards Against Humanity.

My friends and I fit firmly in Type 2. And, to be honest, I ripped off our weekend agenda in the above paragraph. We will meet up, hang out, shoot each other, drink, game, and then... probably sleep. Hell, we're over 30!

So, in closing, I've probably either affirmed or insulted Nerds. To that I say: Oops. You'll get over it. Why do you care how I label my own species anyway?

Cards Against Humanity!

At the time of this posting, it is back in stock on Amazon.

Buy it here!

One more thing about the SpaceX launch....

The ashes of Scotty himself, James Doohan, are on board the Dragon 9 rocket!

Warp speed, Mr. Scott. You're finally among the stars.

SpaceX has launched the Falcon 8 rocket!

This is a pretty historic day, ladies and gentlemen!

The first private spacecraft is currently on its way to the International Space Station!

I know a lot of people-- myself included-- were very disenchanted when NASA's funding was cut and they announced there would be no more manned missions in the foreseeable future. They implied the private sector would step up to the plate, but I don't think I really believed it.

Well, I can honestly say that crow is tasty. In this case, I like being wrong!

The last month or so has actually been pretty exciting as well. We had the asteroid mining press conference, and now this? Pretty awesome!

Now... I need to bitch a bit. Gizmodo, well-known tech and gadget blog, has yet to mention anything about the Falcon 9 launch. A tech blog (which, I will admit, has gotten much less "tech" and much more... well, I don't know what, exactly) fails to report on one of the most exciting technology events that we've seen in awhile?

Wow.

Oh, and one other thing... North Korea? This is how you do it.

Please visit SpaceX for more information about their program, and the launch!

Today, we are going to talk about "The New Hotness"

And no, I don't mean Men in Black III.

I am talking about a new card game called Cards Against Humanity.

If you follow Wil Wheaton on Twitter (@wilw), then you know about this. And, if you're a card game fan, you've tried to find it.

First, for those that don't know what it is. It's essentially Apples to Apples, only with mature, mature content (one of the cards reads "Pac Man Uncontrollably Guzzling... umm, yeah. You get the idea). It looks awesome, and is sold out everywhere.

If you hit up Amazon, you can find assholes reselling it for $70, when in reality, it's a $25 game. So please, don't be fooled. Don't pay $45 more for a game. Even though it's awesome, the creator is not benefiting one bit.

However... I don't believe I've heard anyone talk about the best part of this game. If you go to their website (linked above), they provide a PDF that has all the cards. For free. Simply take those to a Kinko's (or whatever your print shop of choice is), have them printed on cardstock, and cut them out!

For roughly $10.00, you can own Cards Against Humanity, with the full blessings of the creators.

Now, I do have to say, that is pretty damned awesome.

There's an Arc Reactor on my chest...

No, really. There is.

With the runaway success of The Avengers-- and the total awesomeness that is Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Tony Stark-- I found myself yearning for an awesome Iron Man shirt to add to the ol' wardrobe.

My searches in local comic shops, department stores, etc. yielded no results.

So I did what any self-respecting nerd would do. I asked the internet! (Well, technically I asked my wife to look on the internet while I was driving. Always be safe behind the wheel, kids)

And so, as luck would have it, we found this! Thanks, Redbubble!

What better way to display your love of everyone's favorite genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist than to proudly wear an Arc Reactor on your chest?

Is Arc Reactor capitalized? I'm not sure... but I think it should be.

DUST 514

Ok, this may not apply to a large subset of you, but for those who play Eve Online and own a PS3, your interest might be piqued.

DUST 514 is in closed beta, and you can sign up by going here.