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.

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!

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 20^th 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

FTN Blog October 4th 2011

My, oh my, what a busy week it’s been for FTN.

Over the past seven days we have been up to all sorts, bringing you Nerd followers some of the latest news to rock our world.  Rejoice at the announcement that Christopher Nolan is to take over the reins of the new Twilight Zone movie and the legend that is Kurt Russell is to replace Kevin Costner in Tarantino’s latest cinematic offering, Django Unchained.

Slightly closer to home however, but no less important, FTN has been nominated as one of the finalists in the Northern Ireland Choice Awards. Following our success in the Northern Ireland Social Media Awards earlier in the year (we won best Facebook page no less), this is further evidence that Nerds really can make difference.  this is Our way of saying thanks for voting.

Meanwhile, on Saturday we attended Invasion Belfast, the Emerald Garrison’s ever popular Star Wars event at W5 in Belfast. FTN got to interview Boba Fett himself, Jeremy Bulloch, and Femi Taylor, Jabba the Hutt's Twi'lek slave dancer Oola in Return of the Jedi. We’ve met Mr Bulloch a number of times before and as ever he was a real gentleman. As for Ms Taylor? Well, what a lovely lady. On a side note, just a quick word to say how beautiful she looked. WOW!

Also, a big thank you to organiser Martin Ryan and all his team for being so welcoming.

The week ahead should be a little less hectic for FTN however don’t forget to tune into the aforementioned radio show this Thursday evening (9pm UK time) for some great craic and even better music. Last week’s show, meanwhile, is now available as a podcast while the lovely Ruth has just uploaded her latest video blog onto our Facebook page.

That's really it for now but don't forget to check out our podcast here and let us know what you think on our facebook page!

Not much more to say but a big thank you for following us nerds and I’ll speak to you all next week.

Bash