Who Am I? You Sure You Want To Know?

Yes, I realize I stole that line from Spider-Man, but I find it fits this particular blog post. I also realize I am late in my response. Please allow me to explain myself.

A couple weeks ago Brian over at Cool And Collected asked us to write a tell all blog. Who are we? What makes us tick? What are our favorite colors? Who is our favorite Spice Girl? Do we really think Miley is out of her mind? This is an assignment I really wanted to be a part of. But life took over and I missed the deadline on getting this blog in.

So, I said to myself, who cares? I will still write it up.

So here it is. The blog that will end all rumors about who I am and if there is no rumors, then I will start some.

-I call myself The Sexy Geek, yet I really don't believe that I am. Handsome, in a weird way, maybe.

-I collect Batman, Spider-Man, Luke Skywalker, The Beatles, and The Monkees, but I also have smaller collections of Iron Man, Superman and KISS.

-Yes, I am passionate about pop culture and superheros, but I a just as passionate about sports. I do collect the New York Yankees, New York Jets, New York Knicks, New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils Among my possessions, I collect cards, autographs, bobbleheads, figurines and vintage items pertaining to my teams. I also collect players like Tino Martinez, Mark Teixeira, Wayne Chrebet, Patrick Ewing, David Lee, Mike Bossy and Martin Broduer.

-I also write a sports blog about my collection and hauls, in case you didn't know. Here is the link: http://thesexygeekssportsroom.blogspot.com. I don't post there as often as I would like and I am going to change that.

-I work as an accounts payable clerk for a background check company in Lower Manhattan. I hate my job.

-I cuss like a filthy sailor, but you will never read a swear word on my blog.

-I love music. I am always listening to my ipod, rocking the obnoxiously large Yankees headphones my kid sister bought me (I love them). The music I have on my ipod differs. I could be listening to the Man of Steel soundtrack, next song might be a Beatles song, then Metallica, then Harry Connick Jr, and round it out with the Monkees. Yeah, I said Monkees. Stop that laughing.

-My favorite bands/musicians are The Beatles, The Monkees, Depeche Mode, KISS, Billy Joel, The Foo Fighters, Nirvana, The Cure, Inxs and Genesis.

-I have a wonderful girlfriend who lives out in the Los Angeles area. I know in my heart she is the one and that we will be living happily ever after one day.

-I love beer. Blue Moon is my favorite, although I have been known to enjoy a nice apple cider or a Sam Adams Seasonal brew like Summer Ale or Oktoberfest.

-I have two tattoos and I want more.

-WWE Raw is a guilty pleasure.

-One of my goals in life is to visit every major league baseball stadium. So far, I have Yankee Stadium (old and new), Citi Field, Shea Stadium, Fenway Park, Citizens Bank Ballpark, SafeCo Field, Wrigley Field, Angels Stadium and Dodger Stadium crossed off my list.

-I am a huge fan of classic cinema. Some of my favorites are Sunset Blvd, The Apartment, Rebel Without A Cause, Pride Of The Yankees, Starlagg 17, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, The Maltese Falcon and Some Like It Hot. Anything Hitchock, Dean, Marx Brothers, Wilder and Lemon is alright with me.

-I really want to expand the Sexy Geek's House Of Swag. I just don't know how.

-I have never owned a car, but when I do, it will be a Jeep Liberty in Yankee Blue. I will settle for black if I can't get the blue. Batmobile, baby.

-New York City maybe the most exciting city in the world, but I'm tired of it. I long for a more peaceful life.

-I'm part of a baseball card team collectors group and have been for the past 7 years, I think. My Yankees collection has grown exponentially since I joined. The members are some of the most generous people I know.

-I love cartoons. I only watch the superhero cartoons that come out today, but I will watch Tom And Jerry, Loony Toons, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Top Cat, Battle Of The Planets, Superfriends anytime they are on.

-I don't have idols, but if I had to pick someone it would be Kevin Smith. He's done everything I have wanted to do. Made films, wrote comic books, opened a comic book store, wrote books and hosts podcasts. The man is freaking awesome.

-I love music from the 50's, 60's, 70's, and the 80's. Yes, I know I sound like a radio commercial.

-The two talents I wish I had was the ability to draw and play guitar.

-I love to cook.  I am limited in what I can make, but what I can make, I make very well.

-I am a carnivore to the fullest.

-I love my family and would do anything for them.

-I will only watch Star Wars Episodes III, IV, V and VI.

-I love YouTube.

-I like animals more than most people.

-I have to have coffee in the morning, I will be quite the grumpy geek if I am cafeless.

That is who I am. There maybe more, but I can't remember. It's late and I am a tired geek. As I go, I will leave you with these words of wisdom, never make a bet with a man who have "The" in his name.

It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me. I am now and forever The Sexy Geek. Stay Sexy my friends.

Hey Buddy, Can You Spare Some Room?

I spent a better part of last weekend doing some much needed clearing up of my room. I did this for a few reasons. A-My room had gotten really cluttered. B-I wanted to swap out stuff I had in my closet for future blogs for stuff I had already shown. C-I wanted to see what I had. What should have taken a few hours had taken a couple of days and it was shocking and frustrating.

I had boxes and bags on my dresser, chair, desk and other places in my room, so I packed all of the stuff and opened my closet door to put all my stuff away. When I opened my closet, I realized I had a problem that you would think you could only find in cartoons or comedies. My closet was already filled with boxes upon boxes of sports cards, unopened and opened figures, as well as boxes for most of my bobbleheads. That is when I realized I was in big trouble.

I had just about run out of room and I was stuck holding the bag, literally.

What started out as collecting what I liked had turned into an episode of Hoarders, starring The Sexy Geek. It was an unplanned and most unwanted appearance. I had to figure out what had happened and how I could stop this slippery slope I was on before I was left blubbering over an intervention by friends and family because I was sneaking in a moldy issue of Amazing Spider-Man #500 and a Mego Robin with a broken leg...wait I have one already. Oh God, Help me! (drops to my knees, crying hysterical as I hold Robin in my arms, whispering to him that everything would be O.K)

Alright, seriously, I know how I got here and it's a pretty simple explanation. What started as my collecting stuff I actually loved grew into my picking up something of anything I remotely liked. I have my sports collection which consists of anything Yankees, Jets, Knicks, Islanders and Devils as well as a few player collections. In my sports collections, I have cards (a lot of cards), autographs, bobbleheads, figures, pins, yearbooks, programs and other stuff I can't remember. My pop culture collection consists of Batman, Spider-Man, The Beatles, The Monkees, Luke Skywalker/Star Wars and Back To The Future.

Now, the problem is not only do I have a large collection of stuff that I like, but I have managed to start side collections of stuff I that while I like, don't have the attachments that I have to my favorites. For instance, I love KISS, but did I really need to buy a huge Love Gun Mister? It's never even been out of the box. Granted, the box is wrecked, which is why I got it for half off at Spencer's, but I honestly didn't need it nor have I used it. Plus, I really don't go out of my way for KISS stuff anymore.  I have a side Iron Man collection. I was never a huge Iron Man fan when I read the comics. I fell in love with the character after I watched the movies and then started reading the books. I'm a huge WWE fan and I never even started a collection save for a few Roddy Piper and Steve Austin figures. Imagine how messed up I would be if I had?

Because I really cannot afford a storage room, I have some boxes and rubber maid bins that have toys, video tapes, autographs, books and other items. I also have my T.V., DVD's, Blu Ray's, clothes and other things. As you can imagine, room is very limited in my area. I'm lucky I have room to move around right now, but if I keep adding stuff I may not.

What I am going to have to do is step back and take a bit of a break from collecting. Reestablish my collecting goals and focus on that. Anything else, I may either put away, trade or sell. I would have to figure out just what I would be willing to part with. That will not be easy. I always did not want to be the collector you all saw on Collector Intervention that would have a hard time letting go of a piece, but the more I think about what I may or may not part with, I can now understand why they always had a problem with letting go. But I also realize I need to take control before the collection takes control of me.

If I decide to let anything go, I will throw it out to you guys to see if there would be anything anyone wanted. I would rather anything I have would go to a good home and a collector who would appreciate it before I give it to Goodwill or turn to eBay. It sucks that I let things get out of control, but at least I was able to catch the problem before it was too late and that is always a good thing.

Making An Announcement

First of all, I want to extend my prayers to those who were effected by Hurricane Sandy, which touched down here on the East Coast. NYC was hit hard as well as Long Island, Westchester and Rockland Counties. Non was hit as hard as New Jersey, which was in the direct path of the hurricane. I saw the devistation New Jersey is in on the news. Families losing their homes in the floods. Some were damaged by winds, fires or trees falling on their homes. I consider myself pretty fortunate that I didn't lose power and still have a place to call home. If you can send a prayer out to the less fortunate, I'm sure they would appreciate it.

Now, on to the announcement. When I first started The House Of Swag, it was a sports collectors blog and was under a different name. Then, I started to write about pop culture and collectables, mixing it up with the sports stuff. Now, the blog has become more pop culture than sports and for the House Of Swag, it will become a pop culture, comics blog only. So, what about the sport enteries?

Simple, I'm creating a blog just for that.

So, from here on, The Sexy Geek's Sports Room will be where I post about anything sports related. Be it a card pick up, an autograph score, a bobblehead add or just my thoughts on a particular subject, The Sports Room is the place I will have all my sports related content. I wanted to keep my two hobbies seperate as I have readers who just read the pop culture stuff and readers who just read the sports stuff. Now, I can satisfy both.

Can I make this a success? Am I biting off more than I can chew? I don't think I am. If I thought this was a bad idea, I wouldn't have created the seperate blog. I just hope I can make The Sports Room into an enjoyable blog for the sports fan and one that they will come back to read over and over again. I will probably post my first blog there tonight so please look for that.

I Hope you will support The Sports Room just as you have supported The House Of Swag.

League Assignment: Kurt Russell

So, this weeks assignment from the League is to write a blog about the one and only Kurt Russell. When I saw this assignment I did a double take and wondered what I was going to write about. I mean, I like his work and all, but in no way am I a huge fan. So, I decided to look at his body of work. I noticed I seen more of his movies than I realized, so this blog is a simple one.

Here, submitted for your approval, is my Top 5 Favorite Kurt Russell Movies

5-The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes

When I was a kid many, many moons ago, Kurt was a Disney actor and this movie was one that was shown at my school ad nausiem. Not that I dislike this movie, which I guess you can call a Sci Fi movie. In it, Russell plays a college student who becomes a human computer while putting in a replacement computer during a thunderstorm in which he gets an electric shock. The computer he was putting in was donated by a wealthy business man who used it for illigal activity. Because of the electric shock, Russell's character, get's all of the illigal data and recites it on TV. Of course that infuriates the business man and he has Russell kidnapped.

As a kid, I enjoyed the movie and haven't seen it since. This is one of those lazy weekend afternoon movies where you park yourself on the couch and put in the dvd and get taken away to the Magical World of Disney

4-Elvis

Russell is so good as Elvis in this 1979 mini series that you would have thought he was Elvis. ABC got high ratings for this mini series and Russell was nominated for a Emmy for his work on it. Funny thing, Russell played the kid in It Happened At The World's Fair that kicks Elvis.

3-Big Trouble In Little China

This movie might have bombed at the box office, but for us 80's kids, it was a huge hit for us. Russell's portrayl of Jack who thinks he's Indiana Jones, but is really a screwup, was fun to watch. I would have loved a Jack Burton figure with the Porkchop Express truck to have been released. Loved when Burton shot his gun into the air only to be knocked out by the chunks of concrete that fall on his head thanks to the bullets.

2-Escape From New York

This is a surprise to many, I'm sure. Don't get me wrong, I love this movie. Russell's Snake Plissken is one bad dude. He has to save the President in a crime ridden America in 1997 and recover a secret cassette and he gets a full pardon. This was another film he did with John Carpenter and many feel it's their best together.

1-Miracle

The hockey nut in me had to make this number one and with good reason. Russell is awesome as USA Hockey coach Herb Brooks who coaches Team USA to a Gold Medal against the heavily favored Soviet team in the 1980 Olympics. As a kid, that was the game that got me intrested in hockey. To this day, I still get chills when I hear Al Michaels call of "Do You Believe In Miracles?" Disney did a great job with this movie. If and when I write a blog of my all time favorite sports films, this movie will be on that list.

There were other movies that could have made this list like Tango And Cash or 3,000 Miles To Graceland, but for me, these were the Kurt Russell movies that I can watch over and over again. Now that I look at the list, he has had an impressive career. I'm curious to see what he does next.

Take a look at these fellow League members Kurt Russell related blogs:

http://greenplasticsquirtgun.blogspot.com/2012/06/league-of-extraordinary-bloggers_18.html


http://geekittillithurts.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/league-assignment-kurt-russell-the-roles-only-he-could-play/


http://adamotomy.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/kurt-russell-thinks-val-kilmer-sucks/


http://memoriesoftoymorrow.blogspot.com/2012/06/league-of-extraordinary-bloggers-kurt.html


http://claymationwerewolf.blogspot.com/2012/06/im-on-boat-power-of-kurt-russell.html


http://adambobomb.blogspot.com/2012/06/league-assignment-kurt-russell.html


http://moviehodgepodge.com/2012/06/19/kurt-russell-disneys-greatest-child-star/


http://www.afchat.net/?p=5430


http://dorkhorde.blogspot.com/2012/06/league-of-extraordinary-bloggers-weekly_20.html


http://that-figures.blogspot.com/2012/06/feature-loeb-kurt-russell.html


http://www.lifewithfandom.com/2012/06/league-kurt-russell.html


http://mattandtimfunny.blogspot.com/2012/06/things-i-like-better-than-kurt-russell.html

League Assignment: My Top Ten Favorite Movies

So, I'm sitting down at McDonald's, about to take a bite of my Quarter Pounder with Cheese and my cell phone goes off. There is a voice mail alert, so I opt to listen to it before I tear into my burger. I hear a voice, male, speaking of an assignment from the League of Extraordinary Bloggers. The recording says: "Mr. Phelps (Who's Phelps?), The past couple of weeks, you have been absent from the League. This week however, the task is a rather simple one. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, will be to list your top ten favorite movies, no matter how weird or out there they may be. This phone will self destruct in ten seconds."

11 seconds later, I and everyone else is clearing the McDonalds due to smoke and fire. Who do I send the bill to for the new phone I bought?

So, listing my ten favorite movies was a lot harder than I thought. Movies I thought would be on this list, was pushed aside for a movie I could just watch over and over again. So, I have quite the eclectic list of sci fi, comedies, dramas, classic and not so classic movies. What's weird to me personally, as much as a superhero fan I am, there is only 1 superhero movie on my list and it's not the one you think it might be.

So, with out further ado, I give you my list:

10-Mall Rats

The second of Kevin Smith's movies happens to be my favorite of his. This movie had comic book references, cookies, love lost, chocolate covered pretzles, Three's Company boobies and Stan Lee. What should have been an Academy Award winning picture instead tanked at the box office. But is now considered a cult classic and people all over are familir with the phrase, "Snoochie Boochies"

9-The Apartment

The first of 3 Jack Lemmon movies that made my list. Lemmon is one of my all time favorite actors and this movie has him at his best. In this movie, he plays C.C. Baxter, an office worker at an insurance in NYC, who allows some of his higher ups use of his apartment for their affairs. In turn, they write glowing reviews about C.C, which raise the suspicions of the personnel director, Mr. Sheldrake (Played by Fred MacMurry), who allows the promotion C.C was given to go through, provided Mr. Sheldrake is the only one using the apartment for HIS affairs. During all this, C.C is vying for the affections of Miss Kublick, played by Shirley McLaine. During the company Christmas party, C.C. accidently finds out that Miss Kublick is the one Mr. Sheldrake is seeing. Cheating husbands, corporate politics, backstabbing and Gin Rummy, aside from wonderful performances, a well written and directed movie, make this a must see movie.

8-Sunset Blvd

Another Billy Wilder movie makes my list (Wilder has 3 movies in total on my list). In Sunset Boulevard, Norma Desmond is an aging, forgotten silent movie star, who is plotting her comeback with a film she wrote. Joe Gillis is a struggling writer who accidently winds up in the employ of Norma, fixing the script she wrote. As Joe works on her script, Norma falls in love with Joe and lures him into her fantasy world that her butler, Max, helped create by writing her "fan letters" and claiming "Madame is the greatest actress who has ever lived". This movie proved to be a comeback for Gloria Swanson, who was a silent movie actress and a breakthrough role for William Holden.

7-The Odd Couple

In what would be Jack Lemmon's and Walter Matthau's second film pairing, The Odd Couple would be the one they are most remembered for. 2 divorced men, one a neat freak who is a great cook and the nicest guy and the other a slob who enjoys beer, sports and women, decide to share an apartment, but before long one gets on the other's nerves. This is also the only movie on my list that the New York Mets are featured in.

6-Superman The Movie

The only superhero movie on my list and it's not a Spider-Man or Batman film. Although The Avengers was an awesome, awesome movie, I still consider this picture to be the greatest superhero movie ever made. No one could or has played Superman as well as Christopher Reeve has. This movie is the blueprint on how to make a successful comic book movie without being too campy. Still holds up 34 years after it's release.

5-Star Wars

One of the first movies to capture my imagination as a kid. I wanted to be Luke Skywalker, battling Darth Vader, shooting at Stormtroopers, swinging Leia to saftey while learning the ways of The Force. Heck, I still want to be Luke. The bad ass Luke that is a Jedi Knight with the cool black outfit and green lightsaber he made himself because he lost his when his dad chopped off his hand during a family spat. That actually sounds more like a Montell Williams special rather than one of the many plots of arguably, the greatest Sci-Fi franchise ever, with apologies to all you Trekies.

4-Some Like It Hot

Ok, ok. I promise this is the last time you will see Jack Lemmon or a Billy Wilder movie on this list. But really, this movie, even today, is just so funny. Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis are so funny together that one wonders why they never made another picture together. Marilyn Monroe is soooooooo hot in this movie and plays the dumb blonde so well. This is one of those movies I can just watch over and over again.

3-A Hard Days Night

The Beatle-maniac in me loves this movie. It had catchy tunes, funny moments and who knew the Beatles could pull off a feature film and pull it off so well. What was billed as a "Day In The Life of The Beatles" was more like a Marx Brothers movie with a Rock n Roll soundtrack and British accents. Wilfrid Brambell, who plays Paul's Grandfather almost steals the show. All four Beatles have their moments in the spotlight as they encounter advertising exectutives, neurotic television directors, fans, their manager and grumpy train passengers. To me, the best Rock n Roll movie ever made.

2-Pride Of The Yankees

Yep, any chance I get to slip my Yankees into my blog I will take. But seriously, if you have not seen this movie, you need to be hit. Hit hard with a blunt object. This movie, as Triple H might say, it's that damn good. So good that I was toying with the idea of making this my favorite movie of all time. Gary Cooper is spectacular as Lou Gehrig, the iconic Yankee who ultimately dies of ALS, or to what's commonly called these days as Lou Gehrig's Disease. The movie follows Gehrig from his childhood days in NY, his college days, where he looks like an older Gary Cooper, to his days as a Yankee and ends with his famous speech at Yankee Stadium. Babe Ruth, Bill Dickey, Mark Koenig and Bob Meusel are former Yankee teamates of Gehrig's who play themselves in the movie. Teresa Wright shines as Elenor Gehrig as well as Elsa Janssen and Ludwig Stossel as his parents. The movie does take some Hollywood liberties, but it's still a touching story of a remarkable baseball player and an even more remarkable human.

1-Back To The Future

Ok, maybe this movie is not as good as some I have previously mention. Maybe it's not as well recieved or won as many awards. Who cares?? It's my list and I say it's my all time favorite movie. It has all the elements of a great movie: Comedy, skateboarding, a love story, music, conflict and the best looking time machine ever invented. This was the movie I drove my family crazy watching on the old VHS machines that doubled as the family car. I watched over and over and over again. I was careful not to break the tape as a movie back then cost a lot more than they do now. I was in Jr High at the time and started skateboarding to school cause Marty did it, even though I was never really any good at it and almost killed myself going down a huge hill near where I lived. I wish Universal would revive this franchise somehow ( an animated feature with the original actor's voices perhaps?) and Mattel, where the heck are our Back To The Future toys?? I can't get enough of this movie. In fact, I want to watch it right now, never mind the fact that it's 2 am and I have work in the morning.

So, that's my list. Check out the other League members lists and see how they stack up to mine or even yours

http://coolandcollected.com/the-league-of-extraordinary-bloggers/league-members/

All comments are appreciated. I'd love to know what your list is, so leave it in the comments section. It may not be the best list, but it's my list, all mine! Mwhahahahahaha!