Nerd of the Month

 December 2010: Christmas Food Court Flash Mob

Eh, it’s seasonal. Mandi likes it and there’s no denying these folks are HUGE NERDS.

_____________________________________________________

November 2010: Graeme Taylor & Some British Kid

Graeme Taylor, gay-defender-defending gay kid:

And this “British Teen” whose name I can’t seem to find on the Internet:

Ignore for the moment that they have the same haircut and might be the same kid putting on different accents, these young men have been all the rage in the media for speaking their minds.

They are joint NOTMs for the month of November as a reminder there’s more to being a nerd than spells and lasers, there’s also holding strong to higher ideals against the tide of jaded apathy. It’s tougher to do when you’re young and being “cool” often mean appearing to “not give a shit.”

Of course, we learn as we get older that being “cool” means keeping a level head and remaining rational when fighting for the things that really matter to you.

But that’s not what the media tells us. The epitome of Hollywood cool, James Dean’s Jim Stark, wasn’t actually cool; he was an emo-douchebag who didn’t have the stones to be honest with himself or anyone around him.

The archetype for true cool often goes unrecognised. Leonard Nimoy’s portrayal of Spock is downright chilly in comparison. Unless meddled with by some alien entity, Spock keeps his attitude frosty even in the most dire circumstances. Even in death, he remained stoic.

Similarly, another cool customer would be none other than Han Solo. Not only does he shoot first and name snarky comments later, when faced with certain imminent death he keeps his emotions in check. To the point of acknowledging Leia‘s declaration of love with a simple, “I know.”

Actually, that’s kind of a douchebag move. But not emo. Han Solo was no mopey Edward.

And to varying degrees both these young men have a little Spock and a little Han Solo in them. Mostly Spock. And mostly just the hair.

_____________________________________________________

NOTM October 2010: Sir Terry Pratchett.

We had a rule that Nerd of the Month nominees could not be “professional nerds”. Having sold 65 million copies of his Discworld novels, I’d say that qualifies Pratchett as a pro-nerd. So much so that he was knighted for it.

But what makes him a (retroactive) NOTM is he celbrated by making a “highly magical” sword out of meteorites. Read more about it here.

“It annoys me that knights aren’t allowed to carry their swords. That would be knife crime.” ~ Sir Terry Pratchett

_____________________________________________________

NOTM September 2010: Carol Fowler

Carol Fowler is crusading for stricter breeding guidelines for King Charles Cavaliers. The dogs suffer from occipital hypoplasia and syringomyelia (a condition whereby fluid filled cavities develop within the spinal cord) caused by breeding practices.

We think her devotion and drive for something so specialized qualifies her for NOTM. I especially appreciate her fighting the man and the women.

Her dog’s story can be read here.

The bit about her from the BBC doc:

_____________________________________________________

August 2010: Antony “Ori Studfarm” James

We have a strict “no listeners or forum members” policy in place for the Nerd of the Month competition, but we feel we need to make an exception in this case. NOTM is meant to honour those who show exemplary service in the name of Nerd; those who wave their nerd flag high with pride.

When we first got to know Antony, he was working through the shock of the self-discovery that he was perhaps a bit of a nerd. He’d always considered himself a coolie-woolie but Nerd Hurdles, amongst other things, was making him take a deeper look inside.  The more he talked about himself, the more it was clear to everyone he was actually a huge nerd. He’s even part of a Red Dwarf podcast.

A short while ago he took the final step into true nerdery. Not only did he buy Storm Trooper armour, he proudly posted pictures on the internet. We feel, undoubtedly, he has arrived and is a shining example to all those discovering—and nurturing—their inner geek.

Nerd on, Antony, nerd on.

_____________________________________________________  
July 2010: Courtney Stoker

Erstwhile guest-host Kathy What Introduced Mandi To Fanfic nominates geek/feminist blogger Courtney Stoker, featured on Washington City Paper.

“Geek communities (particularly, in my experience, geek men) see themselves as outside of mainstream in several ways. They often consider themselves counter-cultural (in the U.S., this seems to be linked to the current trend of anti-intellectualism), progressive, and isolated. Because geeks situate themselves outside of the mainstream, it’s difficult for them to either accept that sexism is a problem in the community (this is so patently obvious, however, that only the most sexist of geeks will not acknowledge it) or that sexism in the community is not a special and different case of sexism.“

_____________________________________________________  

Long-time listener Cohnee nominated Dan Is Cool for NOTM. Since we keep forgetting to write down the potential inductees we stumble upon, and Dan is clearly not at all “cool” but owns 100% of his nerdiness, he’s the winner for the month of… whatever this month is. 

 

_____________________________________________________  

These guys… 

 

… are nerds. And they are promoting Nerdery and Nerdism in a pretty hardcore way. Their followers are even called “Nerdfighters” apparently. Some kind of geek militia. I feel like we should join forces at some point. 

_____________________________________________________  

Our latest “nerd of the month or every-once-in-a-while, which ever comes first” has to be Emma from the UK (aka NuttyMadam on YouTube). She seems to have developed quite a following by vlogging her nerd love and making it work for her. Unfortunately, her nerd love is for Twlight. But that’s what being the NotM is all about–publicly embracing that thing other people (even nerds) will mock you for. As much as it’s hard for us to support someone gushing over Twilight this much, you really get the impression she doesn’t care what we think. And we certainly support that. Nerd on, Emma, nerd on. 

 

_____________________________________________________  

   

The newest nerd of the month is Clara Nelson, a student intern, from the Campaign for America. Their mission statement says “Campaign For America is a public policy forum dedicated to developing real political knowledge and skills in the Christian youth of today. We fully believe in the ability of young people to have a real impact in today’s political environment.”  

What we love about Clara and the CFA is the “what the fuck?” element. Nerd on, Clara, nerd on!  

_____________________________________________________  

We’ve been dropping the ball on NOTM for several months now. But these guys, whoever they are, are December’s Nerd of the Month.  

  

I love how it seems like a memorial to LeVar Burton. I know he’s not dead, he’s been tweeting about that stupid “Shit my dad says” guy every day.  Mandi loves the complete lack of irony in their performance.  

_____________________________________________________ 

  

August 2009 Nerd of the Month, Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys  

Oops, this is beginning to be Nerd of the Every Five to Seven Weeks. We’ll try to get Mr. or Ms. September up as soon as possible. But since we skipped August I’m retroactively choosing one of the most successful nerds in pop music, Neil Tennant. This decision is based on the below quote, from a recent interview with The New Gay blog, where Neil responds to the interviewer’s assertion artists like La Roux lack “exuberance” due to an adherence to the ”irony culture” of the current gay scene.  

“I don’t think it’s irony culture, I think it’s cool culture. The idea of cool is a stifling one. It’s much more refreshing to be uncool. That’s where the fun starts, and sometimes that can then be cool. You don’t want to be tragically retro, either. I hate that. Funnily enough, I don’t like camp. People always assume we would, but I think camp can be lazy.”  

  _____________________________________________________ 

July 2009 Nerd of the Month: Adam who believes in wizards

“I want to nominate a boy of nine who goes to my old Middle school. His name is Adam. My firend Anna met him whilst she was on her work experience. Adam doesn’t have any friends, no body likes him and he gets picked on. This is because he is a proud believer in Wizards.

 

I think Adam should be nerd of the month for the sheer balls to tell people he believes in wizards and not going back on his beliefs when evil little shits started to pick on him.  Adam is a true example of nerd pride and should be acknowledged.  Go Adam! Don’t stop believing!!!!”

 

~ Eliza “Roundapanda” Clark

_____________________________________________________

Steve Roud (center) Folk history nerd. Compiler of the Roud Folk Song Index

June 2009 NOTM: Steve Roud, librarian  

Steve Roud is the Local Studies Librarian in the London Borough of Croydon. He was formerly Honorary Librarian of the Folklore Society. He is the co-author of A Dictionary of English Folklore (2005, ISBN 0-19-860766-0). Starting in 1993 he input various fields to a database, listing the source singer (if known), his locality, the date of noting the song, the publisher (book or recorded source), plus other fields. In the past few years the numbers have been widely accepted in academic circles.  

The Roud Folk Song Index is the opus of nerdery for which we honour him.  

_____________________________________________________ 

May 2009 Nerd of the Month: Barbara Adams

Our first NOTM!  

   

   

   

I think Adam should be nerd of the month for the sheer balls to tell people he believes in wizards and not going back on his beliefs when evil little shits started to pick on him.  Adam is a true example of nerd pride and should be acknowledged.  Go Adam! Don’t stop believing!!!! “