Click on the hyperlink if you missed out on Part 1 of this geeky interview.
Quest: How do conferences play a role in your life? Is this a lifestyle?
- WonderCon
- Comic-Con International 2007
- Alternative Press Expo
- Maker Faire 2006
Mr. Snark: Geeks don't have conferences, they have conventions. And they're my best opportunity to geek out and gather blog fodder.
And, yes, conventions do involve a "lifestyle." Specifically, a costume culture. But the only time you'll ever see me dressed up as Wolverine or as a Klingon will be on the losing side of a drunken bet.
Quest: Why do you know so much about Finland?
Mr. Snark: Easy. I have exactly one Finnish friend. And everything he doesn't tell me, I make up. That adds up to a lot of information. For instance, did you know that Finland was once the biggest exporter of ketchup?
Quest: No. I didn't. (pause) Even in your relative geekdom you do spring upon some relatively hip blogs like BoingBoing, YesbutNobutYes blog, and TMZ.com. Would you say you're keeping finger on the pulse of celebrity and hipness as well as geekdom?
Mr. Snark: Being a geek and being hip are not mutually exclusive. I think you're mistaking me for a nerd.
Quest: Don't Geeks forgo social lives as well? Aren't they equally anti-social?
Mr. Snark: Nope, common misconception. Some geeks are quite nerdy, but many are high-functioning, social beings who are not only devilishly handsome and intelligent, but also irreverently charming. But enough about me.
I don't follow celebrity news beyond what I need to make disparaging jokes about starlets with drug problems. 'Cause ragging on Paris Hilton is something everyone can get on board with.
Quest: I've noticed you speak about hipsters in your blog. Care to explain how they popped up in your geek/nerd radar?
Mr. Snark: Since I live in San Fransisco, it's hard not to run into hipsters. And then subsequently laugh and/or vomit. They're basically the next-easiest target after 1) Paris Hilton 2) Britney Spears and 3) anyone in the Bush Administration when I need a quick-and-dirty joke.
Quest: And you mention Patton Oswalt, a powerhouse comedian-- his explanation of hipsters (video)--in your blog. Any other comedian's that strike your fancy?
Mr. Snark: My fancy is struck by comedians on a pretty regular basis, although I'm pretty consistently a fan of the Comedians of Comedy: Patton Oswalt, Zach Galifianakis, Brian Posehn. And that was before I knew they were all comic book geeks. I think I must have a pretty refined geek-dar.
Quest: Who is Joss Whedon? Why are his entertainment-related pursuits so important to you?
Mr. Snark: Oh, dear. You really are naïve in the ways of geekiness, aren't you? Joss Whedon is best-known as the creator of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. He is himself a big geek who has created a lot of happiness for geeks everywhere with his work.
He's like Jesus for geeks, but with less of the crucification and resurrection stuff. Similar humility, though.
Quest: You mention, "...Tuesday, August 21, was almost the fourth best day of my life. Right behind the days that I lost my virginity, got accepted to grad school, and maybe, possibly made eye contact for a brief second with Veronica Mars." Care to elaborate on the first three? (LOL)
Mr. Snark: 1) No, 2) self-explanatory, and 3) I have these two stalker-ish photos of Kristen Bell from a panel at Comic-Con where--if you squint in just the right way--it looks like she's checking me out. It's very exciting stuff.
Quest: What celebrities or Mini-celebrities or Mini-geek-celebrities have you run into in the blogosphere?
Mr. Snark: As the profile of the blog has grown, I've had the chance to meet some really cool folks from the geek domain. For instance, I have an upcoming interview with Stephen Lindsay, the dude who wrote the critically-acclaimed Jesus Hates Zombies graphic novel, which sold out its first print run in less than a week.
Quest: What's your astrological sign?
Mr. Snark: I'm a Virgo. Usually that's a pretty lame pick-up, but it's kind of working for you. Well done.
Where do you see this blog taking you? Do you foresee any long term goals in future Snarkdom?
Mr. Snark: Since there's very little hope for a snarky blog about geeky stuff getting me laid, I'll instead shoot for enough notoriety to land some sweet geek-celebrity interviews.
Quest: Thanks for doing this, Mr Great White Snark. Thank you for letting us usurp whatever time you had allocated to geek-out in exchange for this interview. Thank you for letting us peak into the world of all things geeky. We hope to see more coverage of geekdom in your blog.
And dear Quest reader, I encourage you to check out Great White Snark's blog for a fabulous story about his uncle, FedEX, and whale-watching--a truly unusual and compelling story.
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Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Interview with Blogger Buddy: Great White Snark, Part 2
Monday, November 5, 2007
Interview with Blogger Buddy: Great White Snark, Part 1
In my casual trolling about the inter-web, I happened across yet another comical character (emphasis on "comic") who is a self-proclaimed Buffy the Vampire Slayer geek, a Star Wars geek, and a comic book geek. (Yes, he has the Batman tattoo to prove it, folks.) The blogger buddy I speak of is "Mr. Great White Snark" who keeps up a daily blog called ---wait for it--- Great White Snark. (You probably saw that one coming.)
And when I see someone this amazing and this geeky, I can't afford to miss out on the opportunity to decipher the madness that goes on in this geek ringleader's head. Luckily, Mr. Snark was a willing participant.
Quest: So, Great White, what is the inspiration for your blog?
Great White Snark: One part geeking out, and two parts desperately crying out for attention. With a sprinkling of firm belief that every red-blooded American should have access to my insights and opinions on geeky matters on a semi-daily basis.
Quest: What is the inspiration for how you came up with the name of your blog?
Great White Snark: A very clever friend of mine came up with it. I like that it's a play on words, but it's still literal. I just knew I wanted something with the word "snark" ...for obvious reasons. And it was better than "Great White Geeky Dry-Witted Jew."
Quest: Why did you feel the need to mention that you're jewish in that last response? Is it because of a need to relate that to your audience? Because going through your archives, I definitely did not detect any religious overtones in any of your posts, unless your consider Star Wars another religion.
Great White Snark: ...because I feel the need to make punchlines. The fact that I'm Jewish is quite beside the point. "Great White Geeky Dry-Witted Jew" sounds pretty funny to me. Of course, that farting sound that sixth graders make with their armpits also sounds funny to me, so... you be the judge.
I also take the Lord's name in vain quite a bit, but it's not because I personally have anything against the Man. Or... um, wo-Man. It's just that blasphemy is (a) second-nature to me and (b) gleefully fun when it's done right.
Quest: I guess, what I mean to ask is, I'm a black female stand-up comedian. But it's not obvious in my writing. I don't rail on and on about being black. But I don't hide from it either. In a couple of posts, I do mention it because it relates to my experience as a comedian and as a female, so thereby very necessary in my blog.
But your blog is just for fun, right? And built out of a pop culture (nowhere near political). Nor do I see any mention of Judaism in your blog. So why mention it now? In the blogosphere, you get the added benefit of choosing what degree of anonymity one wants. But by answering your question like that, it surely casts a different light, an issue you were hoping to shed some light on, it seems.
Great White Snark: Now look what you've done. I can't very well be flippant in my response to a question like that, now can I? Way to take me out of my comfort zone. (Sigh.)
Quest: That's my job. No comfort zone is safe with me.
Great White Snark: As you know, any creative expression is more interesting when the author reveals a bit of him, or herself, in the work. (And now I've gone and implied that blogging is some form of High Art. Look at me! I'm an artiste with an "e" on the end!) Whether we're talking about stand-up, or writing, or pottery... no, wait. Pottery is a bad example. If you think you can reveal a part of yourself in pottery, then someone has been hitting you over the head with a hippie stick for too long.
So, yes, I do reveal parts of myself in my writing, because it's more fun for me to write that way... and it makes my writing more fun for my readers. Especially when my dating life comes up. Oh, the guffaws.
Quest: All right, I'll take that. Let's get back to the softball questions: Where are you blogging out of?
Great White Snark: San Francisco. Home of the free, land of the brave, and hovel to the soft, round, and furry. Aging hippies, that is.
Quest: However, you're originally from D.C.?
GWS: I'm actually from the Virginia suburbs outside of DC, but if I say I'm from Virginia, four out of five people would assume that I'm Southern. And we wouldn't want that, would we? I haven't had incestuous intercourse with a cousin for at least seven or eight years, now.
If you're wondering what gives me license to rag on Southerners, it's the 10+ years I spent in Atlanta and Tampa. Fair warning to anyone considering an extended stay in Trampa: You can never get that time back.
Quest: How long have you been blogging for?
GWS: Since March of this year. Which is approximately twice the average tenure of most bloggers, which basically makes me a village elder. So watch it with the backtalk, missy.
Quest: So you've designated yourself a humor blog, officially? Why? What do you think makes your blog humorous?
GWS: My blog is about geeks and geeky stuff like Star Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, comic books, zombies, and other goodness. Given the subject matter, half the jokes practically write themselves.
Quest: You state in your blog that you plan on blogging about "forthcoming mental vomit about comic books and related geekery..." Does that in essence, make you an expert geek? Do you profess that you're a geek?
GWS: Wow, way to go back in the archives.
Quest: Clearly, you never read any other of my interviews. I'm a snooper.
GWS: I don't just profess that I'm a geek. I am a geek. Don't be fooled by my high-functioning social skills, hygienic habits, and ability to dress myself.
Quest: You make a distinction between nerds and geeks. "Nerds spend inordinate amounts of time with Photoshop and Final Cut Pro to produce stuff that geeks love to consume." What is the be-all-end-all distinction between a nerd v. geek?
GWS: As is the case with most matters, the be-all-end-all distinction is a matter of my opinion.
Nerds are awkward and big-brained. They're the ones who spend countless hours in front of their computers and in their labs, forgoing a social life so that they can invent brilliant stuff for the rest of us. Geeks love the contributions of nerds, because geeks don't have the intelligence or attention span to create these wonderful things themselves.
The guys who did the hard work of building the Xbox 360 are nerds. The ones figuring out all the exploits to Halo 3 are geeks.
Click the hyperlink for PART 2 of this interview
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