Saturday 17 December 2011

FTN Blog 12 December 2011

It's that time of year again when we get to put our feet up and enjoy some festive fun. For me, I love nothing more than sitting down with a nice glass of wine to watch Christmas TV.
Whether it be the latest DVD release or some classic British comedy like Only Fools and Horses, the TV listings captivate me as I sit down with a highighter pen and pencil in my planned viewing for December.
All the classics will, ofcourse, be repeated but no matter how many times I watch Santa Clause: The Movie or It's A Wonderful I enjoy them just as much as when I first saw them.
Talking of classic Christmas movies, Marc and I began our top 10 Christmas movie countdown on the radio show last week.
To be honest, when we compiled the list there wasn't much difference in our choices. If you couldn't listen, It's A Wonderful Life, Batman Returns and Scrooged started the countdown. This week we'll reveal another three before unveiling our top four just a few days before December 25. Our choices are sure to cause debate on the Facebook page. Should be fun!!
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A quick shout out to anyone out there that may play in a band or have some other cool redeeming talent. Do you fancy teaming up with Following the Nerd? Would you like your music played on our show or podcast? If you're good at impersonations would you like to help record voiceovers for our youtube clips? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, or have some cool ideas of your own, then please contact FTN on Facebook (Following The Nerd), email: followingthenerd@gmail.com and on twitter @nerdfollowing. We'd love to hear from you.
Until next week folks, enjoy your build up to Christmas!

Monday 5 December 2011

FTN Blog December 4th 2011


It's been a very quiet week for us at Following the Nerd HQ as we continue to recover from our 27 hour radio broadcast for Children in Need.

But fear not, we haven't been idle. As I type this the finishing touches are being put to our brand new website which should be going live in the next week or two.

Brought to life by our great friend Gareth Watson I can promise you all that the new site looks amazing. Easy to navigate and a look that this fresh and new, we have no doubt that everyone who follows us regularly will love it.

Hopefully we'll bring you a more specific launch date when we go back on-air on Thursday (December 8).
Talking of going back on the airwaves, Marc and I are chomping at the bit to get back into the studio to talk all that is going on in the world of nerd. Things ofcourse move so fast this days that big news today will be forgotten about next week.

However, we can tell you that the thought of Harrison Ford in a new Ender's Game adaptation and the newly leaked Prometheus trailer is certainly rocking our boat at the moment... go to our FB page for all these and much, much more...

However that's it for this week folks. Don't forget you can get intouch with us via our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/followingthenerd, twitter: nerdfollowing and by email at followingthenerd@gmail.com.
Until then....

Saturday 26 November 2011

The FTN Children in Need after-show blog

Well it was certainly a 27 hour radio marathon to remember. I hope you were all able to join us last week because it was an experience.

You don't know what I'm talking about? Then here is a little refresher.
Myself and Marc sat in our radio studio for 27 hours on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 November as we broadcast live across the world all in aid of the BBC charity event Children in Need.

We raised an amazing £500+ (thank you to everyone who donated) and had some amazing fun. Particular highlights included big Phil walking into the studio with Spock ears cellotaped to his, er, ears. He even ventured into a petrol station with them attached a week before. Mad man!
A lot of the marathon is a bit of a blur to be honest but I know I haven't laughed like I did last week in such a long time. We had such a blast and hope that came across the airwaves too.

Another big thank you to the aforementioned Phil who joined us in the studio for approximately 18 of those 27 hours and who I kinda shouted at with 50 minutes of the broadcast to go. Apologies big man, I was tired and grumpy and you were WAYYYY to excited for that time of the night.

While the big event is now over you can still donate here.Marc is also working on our very own ebay page were you will be able to bid for some cool items (visit our facebook page for more info in the coming weeks) that were donated to us from various sources for Children in Need.

That's all for now everyone. I'm still recovering from the worst 'cold' of all time but, ofcourse, I got no sympathy from the FTN Emperor. Ah well, I'll make sure I have a moan or two during next week's radio show.

Until then.....

Tuesday 15 November 2011

The FTN Children in Need pre-show blog

Hi everyone. It's been a few weeks since I last spoke to you but I've got a big excuse.

Yes, Following the Nerd is just one day away from starting its 27 hour Children in Need radio marathon.
Myself and Marc are finalising (well Marc is, I'm just there for him to moan at) our guest list, preparing the studio and sorting out delivery times for our pizzas.

Without giving too much away before the big day, I can confirm that we will be talking to voice-over actors from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a major actor from the world of the X-Files, and chatting paranormal stories with one of the hottest podcasters in this realm of geekdom, among other wonderful guests - trust us when we say we leave no geek stone unturned.

I really want to tell you more but if I did Marc would threaten to order a pizza with pineapple and we can't be having that.

One of the things that I can confirm is that we will be hosting a slightly different show this week than we normally do. As well as our usual nerd chat, we will have a special breakfast show which will veer away from the usual movie/tv/comic talk and concentrate on the news and sport of the day, as well as the latest chart hits. Later on Friday afternoon our drivetime segment will be hosted by myself, with a wonderful interview I took part in earlier this week. If you like rock music, and more specifically Queen, you will love it.

As you know this week's marathon is all in aid of Children in Need. This famous BBC charity event raises money for those less forunate than ourselves and I would urge you all to donate as much as you can. We know times are hard for everyone but even donating a pound can make that little bit of a difference.
We have set up a fundraising page which you can visit here and any donation will go straight to Children in Need, so please give whatever you can.

It's 2.30am as I write this and I know Marc is also working away on a few other things at the minute so I'll bid you a farewell and speak to you again on Thursday evening (UK time).
Byyyeeeee......

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Nerd Blog 26 Oct 2011

A slight change in direction this week for the FTN blog as Marc has asked me to write more about who we are and what sort of things we've been getting up to over the past seven days…..I'm happy with that. Nothing like blowing your own trumpet!
The big news for us nerds this week was the return of the Following the Nerd radio show. We've been off air for the past couple of weeks as we looked at ways of improving the service we provide to all of our followers.
First of all we got rid of Phil….nah, I'm only joking. As those of you who listen to our show will know, our uber-nerd likes to talk….alot. So what we decided to do was give him his own podcast to discuss the things that interest him most. He is a little nervous and unsure about how he's going to pull it off but Marc and I have the upmost confidence in him. He really knows his stuff when it comes to all things nerd and we're really excited about what the future holds for the big man.

On top of this Phil is set to become FTN's roving reporter, kind of like Lois Lane only without the good looks. He'll be bringing you great interviews with some of the most talented people in the world of TV, film and comics. We've already listened to some of the stuff he's done with the Game of Thrones cast during TitanCon recently and, we have to say, it's banging.

If you listened to the show on Thursday you will have noticed that we've tightened things up a little with a more structured running order so that you guys get the best of what we're talking about and less rambling from the likes of me. We hope you liked it if you listened. If not, what are you waiting for? Visit iTunes and download our latest podcast or get us on Spreaker!

Right, what else has been happening this week? Ah, that's right. Marc has been busting my chops to watch season 3 of The Clone Wars and to download Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
First of all The Clone Wars. I am up to episode 6 and loving it as usual. Such a high quality show with great animation. Once I catch up with Marc who is well into season 4, we will both sit down and have a roundtable discussion about the whole thing, which will then be available for podcast.

As for Buffy? What can I say? I've never liked the look of it. As much as Sarah Michelle Gellar is fit, she just doesn't (and never did when the show first aired) look convincing as someone who could take out loads of vampires. It's all too….well, nice. However, I have promised Emperor Savage that I will give it a go so here's hoping it's better than it looks.

Before all that however I am continuing to be enthralled by Smallville. What a great show. Every episode is being aired on SyFy in the UK (just like Buffy) and at present we are up to season 5. Tom Welling is great as Clark Kent, and someone who I thought would have made a great Superman on the big screen. As for Erica Durance as Lois Lane….wow. Fit, fit, fit!

So, what have I planned for the next seven days. Well, I plan to go see Tintin, watch more Smallville, get in preparation for next weeks radio show and annoy Marc with early morning phonecalls about absolutely nothing.

Until next week folks. Have a good one.

Monday 17 October 2011

Nerd Blog 17 Oct 2011

Hello, all.
Although it’s October FTN has just watched the best summer blockbuster of 2011. Real Steel, starring Hugh Jackman, is unoriginal, has a cliched script and is a very predictiable film...yet, we loved it. It has real heart, great supporting cast, and a leading man who is both likeable in the real world as well as being someone who has real charisma in movies in general. Check out our review on Facebook...and trust us, you’ll love it.
Elsewhere this week, we’ve released our final interview with the Gene Genie himself, Philip Glenister. The Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes star was interviewed in London recently by a number of UK publications, including ourselves, were he revealed some insights into filming on his current UK drama Hidden, which is currently being aired on the BBC.
We’ve been all comic booked out these past seven days with the news that a Green Lantern sequel could be in the works despite modest box office success.  Plans are also in place for a  separate Agent Coulsen and Hulk TV series, while the forthcoming Iron Man 3 will set in place plans for the future Avengers 2 movie. It’s a pity DC aren’t following Marvel ‘s example. That all said, The Avengers' first trailer is a great piece of pop art and really has us hopping at the prospect of chomping popcorn next summer and wallowing in Joss Whedon's superhero epic.
Finally, Following the Nerd Radio Show is back on air this week with a fresh new takes on all things nerd. We still aim to be informative, interesting and funny, but you’ll have to wait until Thursday to see what changes we have in place.
Until then, have a good one!

Monday 10 October 2011

Nerd Blog 10 Oct 2011

After the excitement of last week’s Invasion Belfast, things have been a little quieter for FTN. However, that doesn’t mean we haven’t been getting excited about some of the news filtering onto the web concerning our favourite nerd franchises.
First off, The Simpsons are to get another two seasons after confirmation by 20th Century Fox during the last week. Despite recent controversy over a supposed cut in pay for its voice actors, news that Homer & Co will continue to grace our screens is great news. Woohoo!
Something that we missed recently but was brought to our attention by FTN friend David Savage was the supposed appearance of the Superman logo in the recent Dark Knight Rises poster. If you take a close look at the bottom left corner of the poster you will notice some falling debris, of which one piece looks like a slightly blurred Supes logo. This has prompted all sorts of speculation. Could we see or hear some sort of reference to Superman in Rises? It could happen. Remember that both films are from the DC universe and that Christopher Nolan is directing Batman whilst producing our favourite son of Krypton. We think it would be amazing.
Closer to home, we at FTN have been off the airwaves the past week and again WON’T on the radio this coming Thursday. The reason? Well, we’ve been looking at ways in which we can make our radio show even more informative, funny and, dare we say it, nerdy, for all who listen. But fear not because we will definitely be making a comeback on October 20. We hope you can join us then.
And finally, a big thank you to all our followers because you have helped us achieve something that we didn’t think was possible eight months ago when we went ‘live’ on Facebook. Just this past week  we hit 2,000 followers! Unbelievable! Again, we want to thank you all for sticking with us. Here’s to another 2,000 followers. Could we hit this number in six months? Let’s give it a try!
Until next week.....
Bash