A Critical Moment of Awesome Ep. 60

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It's Dave the Drummer, Dani the Universe, and Francis the other guy, talking all things geek and this time we butt heads over an iconic movie Bladerunner, where one side thinks it's a fantastic work of art, while the rest of us kind of had it go over our heads. From there it's tea talk, surviving third world water, winning the lottery and what we would do, the continued debate between what a nerd and a geek is, and we get through another big topic, where we talk extensively about wealth, power, and well...being a super hero. It's all that and so much more, this week on Crit Mo.

You're listening to A Critical Moment of Awesome, the devolution of a great idea. From pop culture, to music, movies, games, science, food and more, we really do cover it all. If you want to suggest a topic, have questions or want to tell us what we got wrong, write us at critmo@mail.com Thanks again for listening.

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Get Your Ass Out of Here, There, And...Everywhere?

I wouldn't be sincere or sarcastic if I didn't point out that the world sucks, otherwise we'd all fall off. Now the world doesn't really suck for me, but events around the world do, kind of, blow. Governments are trying to pass laws that give up our privacy, foreign countries are unsuccessfully lauching missles, and the title for the most beautiful woman in the world is being fought between Beyonce (meh) and a British woman with her lip partly opened, which kind of bothers me, because...it's partly opened...can't she close her mouth? Sure you can scream first world problems, but as I have learned, one man's problems is one man's problems. It's not up to you or me to determine how bad a person's problem is, even if it can be kind of pathetic sometimes. Hell, my problem is that our local city of Glendale is trying to get Kim Kardashian as their mayor. Now THAT is a problem. But even with all those atrocities, we have one huge problem. We can't afford to go outside our own door.

Sure I can talk about gas prices, but it's not just that, but everything is expensive. While we struggle to make living, the price of living just keeps going up. Okay, I don't want to complain about the economy, but what people really care about. Getting laid, or at least...finding someone to cuddle with. Yes, I said cuddle, what's so wrong with that?

So how do we entertain the thought of dating anymore, especially when dating, to some degree, requires...money. Well, even when I was not asking that question, I was given a couple of new answers that aren't free, but at least it won't break your wallet and you can have a lot of fun in the process.

In the ever strange quest to get me to do stand up comedy, which really, if you've read the blog and listened to the podcast, you know I'm about as funny as (insert not really all that funny person's name here), but Dave the Drummer insists I try to at least find an open mic night somewhere. Now, neither he, nor I are suggestiong you go find a place to perform, but what Dave is suggesting, and I'm oddly suggesting to you, is to find an open mic forum to hang out. Who doesn't want a good laugh or try your chops at singing? "But didn't you just say hang out?" Well, yes, you can sit around, mingle and have a few drinks, getting to know the performers, but what woman or man wouldn't want the number of someone with the balls to at least try to perform. Even if you suck, you have a story to tell and a great little opener for anyone who catches your fancy.

And you'll be sure to see all sorts of different people where comedians and aspiring musicians are. People looking to forget their troubles, grab a drink, and maybe even tell a few jokes of their own, and maybe even belt out a few notes. You're with a crowd of like minded people, and you're in a setting where it's kind of intimate and you almost talk whether you want to or not. So if you're willing to put yourself out there and join me, we may all actually have a good time. Will I be doing this? Yes, after some research I have found a few places, but as everyone's experience will differ, I suggest you Google this stuff and find your own place. Maybe you'll be the funny guy or gal on stage or at least you'll find someone you can laugh with for awhile.

The other suggestion was completely by accident. Tomorrow I will be spending 14 hours in a movie theater, with a bunch of nerds, watching a marathon of movies that lead to the midnight showing of the Avengers. Well, those are kind of my people, and in so doing, I may have also, inadvertantly found myself in a geek social situation. I'm surrounded by like minded marvel, comic book, movie, geeks and we're sharing a theater for almost 14 hours. You're just begging for some kind of interaction, a new friend, and should the stars align, maybe potential dating material.

Maybe a movie theater doesn't seem like the most ideal places to find a date. You're in a dark theater, you're supposed to be quiet, and well, when do you really have time to talk? But when you're in a situation like this, where you're supposed to spend an entire day geeking out with a bunch of other people, it becomes a fun and unorthodox way to make some friends. You're argumet may be that well, the ratio of guys to gals are going to be overwhelmingly off. Too many men. Well, you'd be surprised, as more and more women are coming out of the geeky woodwork to attend these kinds of events. Also, another reason why I would recommend this kind of situation is one, this is a new trend in movies. I think more and more series will be doing this. Can you imagine a Lord of the Rings marathon before the Hobbit movie? So this may turn into a thing, and when it becomes a thing, more and more people will attend. Secondly, my friends, with no ties as they are from different clusters of friends suggested this would be a great way to meet a girl. So obviously it's on the minds of some, and if anything, it is a good way to make new friends with the same kind of nerdy interests, wouldn't you say?

So there are a few suggestions for you. Maybe it's something you never thought of as a dating scene, but for us geeks and nerds, we can find love in the most unusual of places. So if these two choices fit your fancy, let me know how it goes. Maybe you have some other out of the ordinary places to meet people, socialize, and maybe even turn it into a place to find potential dates. We as a geek culture are unconventional people and we can kind of use some unconventional ways of dating. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Dating Has A Price Tag & If You Have To Ask How Much, You Can't Afford It

Dating costs money. Wow, who knew this blog post would be so short. Okay, I'll continue. Dating costs money, and therefore, you should not date if you can't afford it. Sounds simple enough doesn't it? Then why do people keep pushing others to date when it's so expensive? If you want me to date so badly, you pay for it!

Economic times aside, we now live in a society where people can go Dutch, which is a strange phrase in and of itself. The importance of this knowledge, is the fact that dating does not have to be a wallet breaking thing. Men and women both are happy enough to share the bill of the fancy restaurant, the over priced movie (that I like to go to often), and the possible condoms afterwards. Okay, maybe minus the last part. But men, with their pride in hand, will often insist on paying for everything. They'll pay for the gas it takes to get him and his date around, pay for the food, the entertainment, and everything in between. We're content to do it, because we are men. That's our job. And yes, those old ideas are being thrown away little by little, but we as a community still try our darndest to be the "man".

The other day I was asked by an aquaintance, why I wasn't dating. I told her blatantly, that I have a job that does not afford me to date. I have enough money to pay the bills and get some other things handled. But all in all, dating can be an expensive thing. With romance having a price tag in the form of small gifts and outtings, it's hard to keep up in the dating scene if you're not working and getting paid well. Yes, I just said that men and women are more likely to split the check, but really, that new age of thinking hasn't permeated enough of the young minds to make a dent. For instance, if you recall Geek Love Radio from about a few months ago when Dani, the Universe stated, "I would date a guy as long as he had a job." So now, just the prerequisite of a job is okay. I asked an aquaintance what she required in a good boyfriend, and her response was to the tune of, "As long as he loves me, I don't mind taking care of him (financially)." These are two cases where you'd think, well, women's thoughts on dating must be different now. Maybe I'm cool to date even if I can't afford it. That's where you'd be wrong.

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.netI can't speak for Dani, but in subsequent convesations with my acquaintance, evidence further shows that she would prefer a man who was independent, who did not need her money, and could on occasion, express his love with a gift. AHA! As you can see, with all this talk about a changing world, I think that deep down in the minds of women, they want to be spoiled. And we as men, like to do the spoiling. It may be an evolutionary thing, it could be just how we're wired, but this is further proof that even if some things are okay, like the going Dutch thing, in the end...we need the money to keep the relationship going.

If you think about it, dating is an investment in the future. We pay into our dates in hopes that this person we are interested in will want to be with us, want to have sex with us, and maybe, want to have kids with us. The money we put towards wooing the beautiful women, is all towards a bright and...who am I kidding, it's in hopes that we get laid. But in that we also hope to have a companion, a confidant, and someone who will be there with us through thick and thin. And also have sex with us.

I may have also mentioned this before, but Tom Lykis, a radio shock jock, has often stated the theory that the more money you had, the better looking the girl. I don't think that's entirely true, but your chances do go higher if you have a lot of cash around. It's not that women are materialistic, but it does show stability, the ability to be taken care of, and they know their needs will be met. That means, the more money you have, the more choices you have in the dating pool, whether you're good looking or not. Of course there are also other factors like whether or not you're a jerk and whether or not women like that, but that's another subject all together.

In contract, the less money you have to take care of a woman, the smaller the pool you can choose from. Now, this doesn't mean that they get uglier, but there may be fewer attractive women who are willing to take the risk with someone who may not be able to take care of them. And yes, I know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Also, this is all based on a theory. Who knows why people together and date, sometimes? There are some pairings that are just a mystery.

So if you're thinking about dating, and you have not a penny to your name, you might either want to date someone who's willing to take care of you (which, for men, is becoming more and more accepted), or climb that corporate ladder and find a career that can afford you to date. Because no matter how many times you two split the bill, there'll be that lingering want and need to take care of them, spoil them, and most of all, impress them. And please, don't do that all up front. Leave some surprises for later.

What are your thoughts on dating on a budget? Do you think you can successfully date and be unemployed? What's your idea of the perfect dating scenario?

Sometimes Online Love Is a Scam

You can never be too careful when it comes to finding love online. I did that for awhile, dating people online, having long distance relationships. It was a lot of fun, it was easy, and this was before text messaging was popular. We would fly to one other, meet up with one another for weekend tristes, and send long e-mails of love and spend nights on instant messangers, confessing our heart's desires. It was both emotional, and physical, in which we'd trade pictures, we'd be intimate online (yeah, cyber sex), and we knew who we were. We even talked on the phone when we could, and that was before cell phones made it easy. So from someone who's done it, and has been in the deep of it, it amazes me that people can still be duped online.

I think its so much easier to tell if the person you've having an e-relationship with is real or not. There's Skype, where you can hear or see each other. There's also no excuse with cell phones being able to call all around the country and through VOIP, all around the world. So how is it, that this man, from Illinois, get's scammed by someone he was having an over 2 and half year relationship with? I can't judge though, I mean love makes us do crazy things, but this man in the PC World article, gave over $200,000 to his internet lover over the span of that relationship. And he was sending it to all sorts of places. Now, I can only speculate to the guy's state of mind. You're either extrememly blinded by love, or he was just a sucker. Maybe this woman online was incredibly convincing. I mean, she even had a fake driver license to convince him of her identity.

This just emphasizes the point of how dangerous the internet is, and how the average user doesn't question the things that happen on it. The everyday internet user, usually older in age, (this guy was 48), I think, take the net for granted. I mean, that's why phishing schemes are still popular, spam mail is still littering our inboxes, and people are still falling for scams. Of course, its becoming less and less. I don't hear much about it in the news or tech news, so I can only assume that the number of people falling for these things are shrinking. I think with all the media coverage in the past is making people more educated, but this guy fell for something. Maybe some elaborate scheme that was thought up by some brilliant theif, but either way, his online ex is richer and he is poorer.

So you can never be too sure about the people you're hooking up with online. That's why there were all those warnings about Craigslist or even the e-dating sites, though those are a little more policed and the like. Before confessing undying love to one another, meet in person, find out more about each other, talk on video chat. Not only are you proving to yourself that your online love is real, but you can get a better feel of them. If they ask for money, you should be wary of course. Guys are quick to spend their cash to make their lady happy. Don't do it. If you're looking for love, money won't mean a thing, if you're looking for a booty call, then some cash might get you somewhere. Its scary to know that people are so easy to take advantage of a yearning heart, so protect yours.

That's why I think a little, (emphasis on a little) cyber stalking is necessary. Their Facebook, Twitter, or whatever social network, just see if they're legit. With that information you can move forward in comfort, knowing that they're not some crazy, scam artist trying to take you for all your money. Of course, this guy in the article is, I think, a special case. He turned a blind eye to things that I believe people would find unusual behavior. So good luck out there, don't give up on using the internet for finding amour, and don't be afraid to dump them if all they ask for is money. Sweet, sweet money.

via: PCMag.com http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2381050,00.asp