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Let’s be honest: there really aren’t any geek holidays. The numerous interests of geeks worldwide have become so varied and diverse (some might say “fractured”), it’s hard to pinpoint even a couple of things that make someone definitively geeky or not. There’s geek-themed observances like Pi Day or Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you), but there isn’t really a well-publicized overarching geek holiday out there. Which is fine.

Nevertheless, folks keep trying to foist these pseudo-geek-holidays on us. Today is such a day: “Embrace Your Geekness Day,” a made-up, pandering holiday copyrighted by the folks at Wellcat Holidays (whose website seems to be stuck in the late ’90s). From the site:

“Into dungeon games, comic books and doing vampire dress-up? Spend endless hours going strange places on the internet? You’re a geek, and this is the day to roar!”

Yeah.

Several websites, including CNN.com, are celebrating the holiday the way it seems meant to be — as an afterthought, with some minor coverage and mention of the holiday only on the day itself. Some geeky buzzwords are mentioned, and they talk about how a few Best Buy employees got to ring the opening bell at the NY Stock Exchange. Yippee.

Do geeks really need their own holiday? It would be cool, but not if it’s nothing more than an excuse to have an internet-wide thematic blog post topic once a year. The closest thing we have to a geek holiday is May 25th’s Geek Pride Day, which also happens to be Towel Day. While I understand this holiday began overseas in the late ’90s, in America it holds the same awareness factor as Arbor Day: something trivial that you might be made aware of on the day itself, but holding little or no value, and presenting little cause for celebration.

To me, it seems like the problem with these geek holidays is that they are not spurring forth from the geek community itself. They seem fabricated, observed only by media denizens eager to associate themselves with the current hip culture — geekdom. Perhaps someday there’ll be a true geek holiday, but until then, I’ll be more than happy to do what most geeks are doing today: ignoring this particular observance, and going along with our daily lives.

Listen along as the New York Geeks enter the world of D&D to play their very first game, along with guests Paul (Kevin Powerbottom), Mike (Bobert of the Light), and Dungeon Master Tom Witte!

mp3 link

Show notes to come.

1. Sophisticated buildings will be made of mud.
2. Coral Reefs will be devastated.
3. The catch of the day?  JELLYFISH
4. New cars will be given away, free.
5. Industry will generate energy in space.
6. Oysters will save woles from climate change.
7. 2,000 new mamal species will be discovered.
8. It’s CURTAINS for the world’s rarest dolphin.
9. Farmers will plant spinach in tall buildings.
10. The nation will meet the tests of the century ahead.
11. The heartland will rise again. (The US gains 100 million people)
12. The top US Social problem?  Upward mobility
13. By 2050, one out of three US kids will be Latino
14. World War III will begin.  IN SPACE
15. Most Americans fear for the planet’s health
16. Unless we conserve, more people will go hungry
17. An ancient grain, fonio, will fight starvation.
18. Afganistan risks turmoil for 40 years
19. Glowing squid will lead to new antibiotics.
20. Health workers will eradicate malaria.
21. Science could enable a person to regrow a limb.
22. Astronomers will discover life beyond earth.
23. How will we avert the dinosaurs’ fate?  Telescopes
24. Brain scans will illuminate the infant mind
25. Artists will run the world
26. Novelists will need a new plot device
27. Everyone will make his own music
28. Secrets will reveal if young JFK was “vacuous”
29. James Cameron will still be making movies at 96
30. Stand-up comedy will no longer kill
31. Native American youths will revive their culture
32. US-Muslim relations will improve
33. Evolution will continue, in reverse, humorist says.
34. A medical lab will fit on a postage stamp
35. Viruses will help build machines
36. Goodbye, stereo, hello hyper-real acoustics
37. Electricity will be harvested from your skin
38. Crucial Energy will be generated with mirrors
39. Your refrigerator will talk to you
40. Reading will become an athletic activity.

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Bomber Jackets never go out of style, right?

So, this new costume is designed by Jim Lee, an artist I tend to like. But, man, do I not like this costume. It feels incredibly 90’s.

The new origin is similarly frustrating. The god’s went back in time 20 years and changed something, causing Wonder Woman to go from a walking swimsuit-clad bondage fantasy to a hip “urban” warrior princess who rebels against the idea of practical shoes.

The writer on this run is Babylon 5 creator and all around good guy, J. Micheal Straczynski, who share’s his thoughts on the redesign and the new origin on DC Comic’s Blog. He takes a small jab at the 60’s era Wonder Woman, where she becomes a super sexy hippie spy. That run is badass. Low blow, Straczynski. Other than that, he seems to have thought this whole thing through and approaches the subject with the respect of a comic fan. Oh, and he drops this gem:

“What woman only wears one outfit for 70 years? What woman doesn’t accessorize?”

Women be shopping! Am I right?

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