Last Month's Zombie Poll Shambles Mindlessly Off to Make Way for Our Halloween Poll

Last month's poll has wrapped up and the public has shown that they prefer sharpened points on their zombie combatting equipment over the blunt trauma approach.  The compass and sharpened pencil tied for first place as the school supplies you would most likely employ in your defense during the zombie apocalypse and they certainly go hand in hand in that I have never seen a compass worth its salt that didn't have a sharpened pencil fastened into it.

Your penchant for piercing through the rotted, bloated flesh of the undead aside, it is time to address Halloween costumes in this month's poll as the closing of it will take us to October 1st.  And so I ask this month, loyal readers about your Halloween costume preference: Homemade or store bought?

This could mean your preference as a kid or your preference for your own children now.  It could refer to what the best costume you have ever seen is or you could vote based on convenience.  The choice is yours.  I am eager to see how the Transformer Generation Dad community prefers their costumes.

Wordless Wednesday's July Poll Celebration: Be Careful What You Vote For

I'm Getting Ahead of Myself with August's Poll

Last month's poll question has been decided and, by the narrowest of margins, our readership has declared that they prefer Spider-Man's web shooters to be part of his resulting spider-like physiology rather than of his own invention.  The picture to celebrate the poll result is forthcoming.


In the meantime I began pondering what it was I wanted to ask of our loyal readers this month.  Every time August rolls around, I think of school but as I tried to decide on a poll question that was not overly contrived, the sound of zombies being pelted with vegetables and chomping on plants rang in my ears as my sons played Plants vs. Zombies nearby.


Now, my kids won't go back to school until the end of the month and the zombie apocalypse is probably a ways off but, to be sure, both are going to happen whether we like it or not.  Thus, in the true spirit of mash-up-ness (?) I decided to combine my fear of both things that shamble toward us and spell our doom, school and zombies.


So vote all this month on which school supply you would find most useful to engage in pitched combat against the undead.  Perhaps we can get our voices heard and instill a little zombie survival tactics into the standard school curriculum.  At least during P.E., right?

To Each His Own With Our Brand New Poll

In response to June's poll question regarding how you felt about DC Comics' decision to make the Green Lantern (at least the alternate universe version, so "a" Green Lantern) gay, our readers responded with a resounding YAAAAAWWWWWWN.  And since the majority of you didn't think it was a big deal, I will conform and treat it as such by immediately moving on to the new poll with little to no fanfare.


Within just a few hours (less than one on the East Coast) of typing this post, the newest Marvel film, The Amazing Spider-Man (remember the hyphen) will be released for viewing.  Alas, my schedule will probably not allow me time to see it until a week or two later.  Sigh.


With the major new reveals of the movie still unspoiled, July's poll will have to do with one major point of controversy over the new film.  I speak, of course, of Spidey's web shooters.  In the Tobey Maquire franchise, they had been made part of the hero's enhanced physiology, much to the chagrin of fans demanding reverence to the comic book.  This time around, Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker constructs his own as he did in the comic.  Be prepared for the scene when he runs out mid-swing.


So what do TGD readers prefer?  Do you like your web shooters to be part of the (Spider-)man?  Would you rather see the boy genius invent his own?  Or would you rather see the web done away with and some new spider transportation method inserted?  Perhaps he manages to make with way through the city quickly by tricking people, thus traveling on a web of lies, or is able to harness the power of the internet to travel on the world wide web.  Perhaps some other terribly corny web reference would suit your fancy.


Let's reconvene at the end of July and discuss.

A Brave New Poll

May's poll question has been decided.  A slim majority of you would like to see Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch added to a second Avengers film (sorry, Vision, you had my vote).  A celebration of the poll winner will be posted here some time over the next several days.


Meanwhile, we need a new poll.  With DC's decision to make the Green Lantern gay, the inspiration has provided itself.  I would like to know what you think about this decision by DC.  Is it heroic, offensive or do you not really give a crap.


Vote early and vote often and we'll see what the readers of Transformer Generation Dad think at the end of June.

Revenge of the New Poll

I must finally come down off the high of the Geek Tournament.  The winners have been decided, the final celebration rightfully celebrated and the prize of the Cobra iRadar handed out (congratulations to Patrick and a hearty, “Thanks for playing,” to everyone else).

I was so wrapped up in the afterglow of the second annual coming of the event that I neglected to come up with a poll question for April and also was at an all time low in generating posts last month.  It is time to turn the tide.  May promises to be a month full of promise and excitement and our monthly poll question should return in order to signify that.

So let’s get right to it.  With The Avengers sure to be the hit movie of the month, let’s look forward to the future and vote on which Avenger ought to be included in the sequel.  Your choices are:

• Giant Man & Wasp
• Ms. Marvel
• Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch
• Vision
• Wonderman

A few of the choices include two heroes just because one can’t imagine adding one without the other.  But more is not better, so I encourage you to choose wisely.  Who knows, the minds behind the Marvel films might be reading and take our advice to heart.  (We know this is not true of course because if it were Chameleon would have been the villain in the new Spider-Man movie instead of Lizard and a second Ghost Rider starring Nicolas Cage would never have been made…but we can dream, can’t we?)

Happy voting.

Third Person Thursday Celebrates the Geek Tournament Champions

"Captain's Log: Stardate...ah, who knows, those numbers never made sense to me anyway."  The intrepid Captain Solo shifted in his chair at the bridge's helm.  "We will soon be within range of the Empire's latest attempt to build its Death Star."  He dropped the communicator to his side and then mumbled to himself, "Let's all hope it isn't fully functional yet."

"Captain Solo," came Uhura's voice from over his shoulder.

"What is it, Uhura?" he asked.  He turned to look at his communications officer and glanced her up and down.

"I'm detecting something on the scanners. Something off in the distance, the size of a moon."

After taking her in from head to toe one more time, the Captain caught Uhura's eye and winked.  Solo then leaned forward in his seat and squinted thoughtfully at the monitor.  The rest of the crew turned and gazed in awe at what came into their vision.

"Thank you, Uhura, but that's no moon," Captain Solo announced.

"I have a wery bad feeling about this," said Chekov as he and Sulu exchanged a sideways glance.

These Are the Champions, My Friends

The 2012 Geek Tournament is officially over and it was even more fun than last year.  There were some very heated contests, but in the end only four winners could be crowned and mashed up into one combination, with Photoshopped pictures forthcoming in the next few days.


Allow me to I extend my heartfelt thanks to a few people, specifically the selection committee for helping with development; the good people at Cobra for providing a kick-ass prize; Jonathan Liu of GeekDad and the crew at Mental Floss for providing pointers to the contest; my wife for putting up with my neurotic maintenance of the polls; and last but not least, all those who took the time to visit Transformer Generation Dad and vote in this year's event.  The new format proved to be a hit with readers (judging solely by the lack of hurtful emails) and none of this would have been possible without all of you.  Thank you.


But listen to me, going on about the success of the Geek Tournament as if I am the winner.  We all know who the true winners are and they are as follows:


- Han Solo
- The Starship Enterprise NCC-1701-D (that's circa the 24th century)
- Spock, Bones, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov & Scotty
- The Star Wars Universe


Of course, there are is also a winner of the Cobra iRadar, but calculating exactly who that is will require some math and that means it will take me a few days.  Sorry for the delay, but the announcement of our prize winner and the impending mash-up images should be completed by the end of the week.


Thanks again for a great Geek Tournament, everyone.  Please continue to stop by and read our content.  Here's looking forward to next year.

Down to the Wire

If you care about the integrity of our Geek Tournament, or about Science Fiction in general, it is your duty to spread the word about the following matchup and get as many of your friends (that includes "friends" as defined by Facebook) to visit this blog and vote.  It is a fight to the death between...

Only one champion can be crowned from our Captain bracket.  You decide!

Finish It!

After a heated semifinal round, including a harrowing rally just before voting closed by a certain Wookie, the final round of our Geek Tournament has begun.  I am sure a hushed reverence just washed over your face at the thought of seeing the champions crowned within a week's time.  I feel the same way.


The field has been thinned to only eight contestants from four franchises (and that's including the Star Treks separately), which leaves me wondering why I bothered to spend the time coming up with sixteen groups of contestants, but no matter.  Star Wars, Star Trek and Doctor Who reign supreme in the minds of our readers and who am I to complain.  Star Wars has the potential to run the table in all four categories which would be particularly encouraging to George Lucas, but would make for an awfully boring mash-up image with which to celebrate the tournament's conclusion.


It's all up to you, the reader, now.  So vote if you haven't already.  And keep coming back, because even when the Geek Tournament is over, Transformer Generation Dad will still be here to (attempt to) provide you with quality entertainment and information.  That's just what we do.

Approaching Finality

Less than 48 hours remain to vote in the semifinal round of the Geek Tournament.  I wanted to take this time to remind you all that, should a particular matchup come down to the wire, it will be posted on the Transformer Generation Dad Facebook page Sunday morning.  Comments left below the Facebook post for each matchup will then be considered overtime points in the event of a tie.


Currently, there is only one contest that seems heated enough to potentially require an overtime period.  As I write this, Chewbacca is one vote behind Riker and the crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Should you have money riding on that matchup, you will want to get to our Facebook page and sway the odds in your favor.  More importantly, you should really check out this link.


Good luck to all and here's to what looks to be a great final round.

Round 3

Sometimes your kids get sick unexpectedly.  Then, something you looked forward to and took very seriously can be completely forgotten because, after tending to coughs and sniffles and warnings of, "I think I'm gonna puke," (that, thankfully, never came to pass) all you wanted to do was crawl into bed and catch up on sleep.


So it went with the new round of the Geek Tournament.  But, after accidentally sleeping in longer than I anticipated, round 3 of our Geek Tournament has been posted and there are some absolute juggernaut match-ups as it is each bracket's semifinal round.


Only one captain of a Starship Enterprise will reach their bracket final.  Is the western feel of the Firefly universe enough to defeat all of space and time, as visited in Doctor Who?  Han Solo will finally square off against his suspenders-in-lieu-of-vest wearing counterpart, Mal Reynolds.  Which hairy-faced crew member will make it to their bracket final, Chewbacca or Riker?


There is a great deal at stake in the bracket semifinals.  These contests will be available to vote on until next Sunday night at midnight, so be sure to cast you vote today.

Almost There...

The second round of our Geek Tournament is nearing its conclusion.  Both Geek Dad and Mental Floss have picked up word of our tournament and posted links on their sites, which I greatly appreciate.  This has made the voting pool a rich and diverse sampling of geeks from around the world if the Google stats I'm looking at are to be trusted.


The reaction to the match-ups this year has been decidedly positive.  Most everyone has commented that it has been a lot of fun.  I have received no threats, no rude emails and no accusations of bias.  The only real criticism came from a comment on the rules post that I placed "Doctor Who" in the captain bracket instead of "The Doctor."  Touche.


As for this round's contests, there have been some interesting developments.  I have watched Mal Reynolds pull away from Leela in a game that was closer than I had expected it would be through the first few days.  You have, for the most part, decided that the western feel of the Firefly universe makes it more attractive than the 60's vision of the future from the original Star Trek despite the corrupt government's use of human guinea pigs.  The Millennium Falcon and Chewbacca continue their dominance and the game between Han Solo and the Doctor (happy, reader?) has not been quite as close as I would have anticipated.


Come Sunday night, at midnight, each bracket will be reduced to four competitors.  The new round will be posted early Monday morning and the voting, I'm sure, will become even more heated.  Be sure to come back and cast your vote.

Round 2

The first round of the 2012 Geek Tournament is officially over and the second round has officially begun.  Congratulations to all the victors and condolences to those who lost.


I noted some interesting developments from the first round.  Star Wars, both Star Trek Series and Firefly ran the table in every bracket.  Han Solo and his iconic ship were the only two competitors to log shut out wins.  Most impressive.


Also, it has become apparent that Transformer Generation Dad readers would not mind living in a universe where they were under constant threat of attack, imprisonment or having their planet blown to smithereens.  Maybe it's an indication that you all perform best under pressure.


Anyway, the second round of voting ends Sunday, March 18th at 11:59 PM CST.  Vote early and visit often.  Reference the official rules or the key if you need them.  Thanks again for stopping by and we hope to be read by you again soon.

One Down...Almost

The first round of our Geek Tournament will end late tonight and the second round should be posted early tomorrow morning.  Be sure to check back here to vote all this week.  Also, a few close games have been posted on our Facebook page, so go skew that vote in your favor.


I have a busy day ahead of me, so I apologize for my brevity, but tomorrow will hold all sorts of congratulations for the victors, a changing of the weekly features and maybe some other posts...if you're lucky.

Welcome to the Thunderdome...on Facebook

The first round of our Geek Tournament nears completion.  As the contestants fight to the death, some of the voting is very close.  While close games were anticipated, I realize that I never bothered to share with you the process by which we will determine the winner in the event of a tie.  It is an overtime period of sorts.


The first round of voting officially ends Sunday night, March 11th at 11:59 CST.  Should the score of any given match be close enough to warrant concern over a tie, that particular match-up will be featured on the Transformer Generation Dad Facebook page on Sunday.  Comments left below that post will be considered overtime points for that contestant.  Then, if the final voting does in fact end up in a tie, those comments will be tallied and the one with the most Facebook comments proclaimed the victor.  This process will be the same for potential ties in every round.


Yes, the overtime voting will occur simultaneously with the final hours of regulation voting.  I understand this is strange, but necessary to keep the tournament on schedule.  So, if you see one of your favorites in a dead heat, get over to our Facebook page on the Sunday voting is to end and watch for a post allowing you to help push it through.


Thanks for your time.  Game on!

It's On!

It's opening day of the 2012 Geek Tournament!  Which captain should pilot which ship?  Which crew should stand loyally at their side?  In which universe should this all take place?  The time to decide is now.  Only you can influence the ultimate outcome in the hopes of achieving optimal awesomeness!


A whole mess of games are posted in our left hand column.  There are 32 total so please be patient and vote on them all.  I know that makes for a lot of scrolling and whichever finger you use may require some icing afterward (thumb for mobile users, index finger for those on computers or pinky for those who lost all their other digits in a horrible, fiery accident), but the influence you have upon the final result will be worth it, I guarantee it (legal notice: that was a hollow guarantee).


The final tally for this round will be taken on Sunday morning and the following round posted then.  If you want your own bracket with which to score at home (and who doesn't?!), the text just under our banner offers them to you in both PDF and spreadsheet format.  We will still be accepting brackets until midnight CST tonight so all you dirty, rotten, cheating cheaters who seek every opportunity to get one over on your fellow man can technically submit a bracket after the first few hours of voting have already passed.  Don't worry, I guarantee I won't judge you for it (legal notice: that was a hollow guarantee).


Reference materials to help you decipher any confusing bits are still available including the rules and a key.  Isn't that the sign of a well organized tournament, the organizer's anticipation that something about it is bound to confuse the hell out of you?  Well, if it is, we've got that covered.  We take pride in the fact that this may be the most mind-bendingly confusing tournament out there.


But don't take my word for it.  Plunge headlong into the left hand column and click away on those little bubbles to select your favorites.  Tell your friends and check back often.  We look forward to you visiting us here at Transformer Generation Dad throughout the duration of the tournament and beyond.  We like making new friends.


We are friends, right?


Too soon?

Behind the Curtain of the Selection Committee

We here at Transformer Generation Dad strive for transparency or at least translucency.  To be honest, we rarely have to strive for it at all.  It seems to come naturally.  My wife tells me all the time how easy it is to figure out exactly what I'm thinking.


Still, with the 2012 Geek Tournament bracket now posted, there is bound to be controversy over the seedings.  Thus, in an unprecedented, behind the scenes look, we have decided to provide our readers with an opportunity to take a glimpse into the minds of myself and the selection committee and reveal some of the comments we exchanged regarding the seeding of this year's contestants.


Be forewarned, this is meant only to be a glimpse into our minds.  Stare too long and you may go blind...

2012 Geek Tournament Official Details

This year’s Geek Tournament has undergone a drastic overhaul since last year’s inaugural event.  Instead of a single winner being declared amongst numerous randomly paired items, this year we will have four winners, one from each of the following categories:

• Universe
• Ship
• Captain
• Crew

-       There are a total of 16 contestants, each with an entrant competing for the title in the aforementioned categories (a master list for anyone without a PhD in Science Fiction is available here).  This shall result in a total of four rounds of voting during which you, our loyal reader, will help determine the outcome of each matchup.

Voting is set to begin March 4^th and each round will last one week.  The updated matchups for each round will be posted here on Sundays until the ultimate winners are determined.

Speaking of ultimate winners, Cobra Electronics has graciously agreed to supply one lucky contestant with a Cobra iRadar system for use with their iPhone or Android phone (depending on which company to which you have chosen to pledge your allegiance).  That means, like last year, I will be accepting brackets for those of you bold enough to attempt to predict whom the winners might be.  Unlike last year, you will get something infinitely cooler than a crappy t-shirt for your troubles.  (Prize recipients are limited to those in the Continental United States)

Brackets are now available in Microsoft Excel and PDF format.  Once you have completed your bracket, submissions will be accepted in just about any imaginable manner.  Ideally, you should email it to madcap1417@gmail.com, but you could also leave a detailed list in the comment section of one of my blog posts, send TGD a Facebook inbox message or communicate in some other way I have not had the foresight to suggest here.  Basically, if I get it and can read it, it will count as an entry.  The entry deadline is Sunday, March 4^th 2012 at 11:59 PM CST.

Of course, this now burdens me with the responsibility of explaining how the brackets will be scored.  Each correctly placed bracket slot from the first round of voting will receive two points, the second round four points, the third round six points and the correct identification of each final bracket champion will result in ten points resulting in a possible one hundred and sixteen points.  In the event of a tie, the winner shall be determined by the total number of correct entries regardless of round.  In the event that this also results in a tie, the winner’s submitted screen names will be placed in alphabetical order a coin flipped to determine whether to begin from A (heads) or Z (tails) and a D20 then rolled in order to decide how far from said starting letter to begin.  Is that part confusing?  Good, it is meant to be.

No doubt, the bracket seedings will cause some disagreement.  By disagreement, I mean rage.  More than likely, I will receive some very angry emails and comments.  While I welcome such "constructive" feedback, in a more than likely futile attempt to quell any uprising, later this week I plan to give you an unprecedented glimpse into the minds of the selection committee and myself by sharing with you some of the comments passed back and forth while ranking the contestants.  I hope you might laugh at them as much as I did.

With business now handled, it is time to let the festivities begin.  Submit your bracket for a chance to win a Cobra iRadar (and guaranteed fun) today!

Almost There...

Ladies and gentlemen, after some tough deliberation by myself and the selection committee, the seeding of the contestants in this year's Geek Tournament is nearly complete.  Within the next day or two, the bracket should be completed and posted and your chance to win a Cobra iRadar will become available.  In addition, I plan to post an explanation for the seeding decisions so that before I get a nasty email, you can at least read where we were coming from when we dissed your favorite obsession.

I just wanted to alert you all to this and create the sort of swirling vortex of anticipation to which the Geek Tournament could not possibly live up.  So tell everyone you know that the 2012 Transformer Generation Dad Geek Tournament is about to begin.  Then prepare to compete for one hell of a grand prize.