A plain, white page with a single, smallish but earnest logo of three consonants, three vowels, and ten to the hundredth possibilities. You know it, I know it, and we all use it almost everyday, even as a verb: in this day and age, we all Google.
We also all use Microsoft products. Many of us play games – who amongst us isn’t familiar with Metal Gear Solid, or Super Smash Brothers? World of Warcraft counts a unique worldwide player base of over ten million – a population that rivals some states and countries. As Joss Whedon cranks out one cult hit after another, The Matrix and the Wachowski brothers continue to change the very concept of a high-profile action film, and comic book adaptations grab box office records by the handful - including rumors of a potential Oscar bid for the latest Batman adaptation - it becomes clearer and clearer every day; This is a geek’s world after all.
What changed? What caused the lowly geek- he, and it’s always a he, of the thick, coke-bottle spectacles, the chemically scented pocket protectors, he of the bricklike scientific calculator, the nasal accent and the weedy or obese physique? Didn’t we used to make fun of him in high school? Wasn’t he the one that got jammed into that locker? Well, yes. But things have changed.
What is a geek? Before the current trend, few that didn’t identify as one could really describe one, outside of the known stereotypes. The trappings of a geek are all too apparent – pen-and-paper dice games, collectibles and cult hit shows. But what kind of person is attracted to such things in the first place?
Perhaps someone dominated by a relentless creativity. The realm of the abstract and intangible is the realm of the geek. Unconcerned, or perhaps merely unburdened, with physical appearance or societal rituals, their energies are focused instead on the fantastical.
Now the twenty-first century, this era of imploding futures and light speed communications, in this era of commercial spaceflight and domestic robots, the geek’s mind-children, the fruits of their mental labor, have begun to sprout. With nanotechnology now a hundred million dollar industry and growing exponentially, with biotechnology racing faster and faster against nature’s dirtiest tricks, keeping pace with death itself, we can only come to one conclusion:
It’s a geek’s world. And it’s here to stay.

Slightly Stoopid
Album Review

by Sandra Westdahl

Jamming songs and uplifting lyrics —Slightly Stoopid’s latest album, “Slightly Not Stoned Enough To Eat Breakfast Yet Stoopid” has a groovy sound that makes you want to move along with the music.
When the reggae band put together their 10th record, they mixed old and new songs. They included outtakes from the two previous albums “Closer to The Sun” and “Chronchitis.”The 15 tracks demonstrate how stylistically talented Slightly Stoopid are. Even though the album combines reggae, blues, jazz, and hip-hop every song has a distinctive sun-drenched So-Cal beach sound.
New songs such as “Cocaine” and “Supernatural” blends in well with long

Concert Review

by Sandra Westdahl

“Don’t worry be happy” was the atmosphere at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley when the “Tailgate 2008 Summer Tour” spread jamming reggae songs on August 9.
Slightly Stoopid kicked off their show with a long instrumental intro when the stage suddenly became filled up with giant red, green and yellow balloons creating a big party.
Thereafter the group continued with long time favorites “Bandelero” and “Closer to The Sun” which also raised the reggae mood at the Greek.
In between performing songs such as “Collie Man” and “Sensimella” the group’s 6 members proved their