by Lyle Masaki

The Week in Gay Geek: Bully achievements, Strangers in Paradise, Shortpacked and more!

Lyle Masaki

Gotta kiss them all... and kiss them multiple times, by my count:
When it debuted in 2006, the ability to kiss boys in Bully was an optional feature that had to be discovered by players exploring every possibility in the game. However, now that the game is coming out for the X-Box, getting a kiss from one of the boys of Bullsworth Academy is a step towards earning X-Box gamerscore points (which offers bragging rights to other X-Box Live users). How's that for progress, games rewarding you for same-sex snogging. (There's also an achievement for kissing female classmates, that offers the same amount of points.)
Small screen Paradise:
Over at our sister site, thelinster shares the exciting news that a Strangers in Paradise TV series is in the works, with some fantasy casting for Francine and Katchoo. (My vote for Katchoo would be Katee Sackhoff, since the first time I saw her on Battlestar Galactica, I thought of the lesbian hitwoman/artist.) That got me thinking about casting the series' hot guys. I'm at a loss at actors the right ethnicity and age to play David Qin, except maybe Ivan Shaw, recently seen on The Book of Daniel. What do you think?
I really like the thought of the GLAAD Media Award winner hitting the small screen and it'll be interesting how the series' gay themes would change in the adaptation -- I thought SiP creator Terry Moore showed a growing understanding of queer issues as the series went on and I'd love to see how he'd tell the story from the beginning now that his understanding of gay issues are more complex.
A Rock Band party out of bounds:
I'm incredibly bad at Guitar Hero so my interest in the multiplayer Rock Band hasn't been very high. However, hearing that the next set downloadable songs includes The B-52s raises my interest. Any chance a DDR player would find the drums easier than a string instrument?
We're getting close to the point where the phrase "Everybody loves Tim Gunn" isn't hyperbole:
This seems to be the week for my nerd crushes to reveal an appreciation for Tim Gunn. A few days after Tim appeared on The Daily Show, we got to see Grant Imahara do an imitation of Tim on Mythbusters' second James Bond special. Unfortunately, I haven't found a clip of it online, so I'll just have to share a screencap:
Tales of what should be an age left behind:
One of the biggest challenges of sharing a love of comics with someone who doesn't already enjoy that hobby comes when you encounter the comic shops that live up to those Android's Dungeon stereotypes. (I've certainly made my share of apologies for saying "Hey, can we make a quick stop to check out that comic shop?" to friends.) Sadly, this story of visiting Comics Ink in Culver City brings back those bad memories:
"Amazing Spider-Man" #548... was not bad, despite what the retail troll behind the counter was telling customers about it. "You got cancer by touching it," he told one man buying a copy. "You've read it, but now you've got eye cancer. It's like visual AIDS."
Sigh. "Visual AIDS." Who thought I could be nostalgic for "Worst. Comic. Ever."
YALSA finds a Hero for young adult readers:
We've mentioned a few times how YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association, has been inclusive of gay-themed books, something that can really be a help when you're young and struggling to accept yourself. Here's another example that's been brought to my attention, among their 2008 list of Best Books for Young Adults, is Perry Moore's gay superhero tale Hero.
Link of the week:
I heard that popular webcomic Shortpacked had a gay character, but when I checked it out it was in the middle of a storyline that left me a bit confused if the character really was gay or if it were just a way to turn down his co-worker, Robin. However, Pink Kryptonite alerted me to the current storyline, which has Robin scheming to set Ethan up with a regular customer, Thad:
I was up late last night getting caught up on Shortpacked and, Ethan is a fun character to follow. I'm hoping he and Thad get together, they'd be a fun 'opposites attract' couple.