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allhailkingrooker51 · 6 years ago

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Sooo, I got Rookered again...

Soooo, I got Rookered again. This time at Geek’d Con in Shreveport, La. And just like the 1st time I saw Rooker, this time was just as amazing. I went up to see him several times each day resulting in some pretty epic Rooker moments, and I'm gonna try my hardest to remember every detail. So, without further ado, here’s the story of my 2nd adventure with the Rooker.

A little intro before I get to the good stuff.

First off, y’all have no idea how stoked I was that Rooker was coming to Shreveport! I was afraid I wasn’t gonna get to see him this year. He wasn’t coming to a con anywhere near me, and it’s an act of Congress for me to take off work to be able to travel to him. Geek’d Con was pretty much my last chance.

I had been watching Geek’d Con’s Facebook like a hawk hoping there might be a slim chance they would announce Rooker. Then they started hinting and dropping clues for about a month that they had their biggest guest so far coming this year. And every hint pointed directly to Rooker. I knew it had to be him.

One night, Geek’d Con posted on their Facebook page the last clue and that they would be announcing the guest at 8 am the next morning. I hardly slept a wink that night. I was too excited and failing miserably at trying not to get my hopes up. Geek’d Con is not a big con, and even though Rooker likes Shreveport, I was afraid that it might be too small of a con for him to come to.

Morning finally came, and I was awake way before my alarm. I decided to get up and go into work early to wait for the announcement. It’s not like I was sleeping anyways. This next part might be a little too much info and a little weird, but I’m gonna tell it anyway. While using my body wash in the shower that morning, a little bubble came out of the bottle and floated up in front of my face. I blew on it a couple of times, just playing around, and watched the bubble drift higher in the air. Then I followed it as it came back down again in front of my face, made a quick turn to my left, went around to my side, and landed smack dab on the cheek of my Rooker Skillset portrait tattoo on my left arm. That bubble was like a Rooker heat-seeking missile, making a bee-line straight for him. I took that as a sign. It had to be Rooker.

I finished getting ready for work and at 8 am on the dot, I checked Facebook. No announcement yet. I kept refreshing Geek’d Con’s page over and over again like a lunatic. I swear it felt like an eternity. Then at 8:03, I refreshed the page once again, and I saw Yondu. My heart flipped, and I damn near dropped my phone. Rooker was coming to Geek’d Con!

I immediately took a screenshot, and with my hands shaking like crazy, told the Rooker Hookers first. Then I texted my sister, my mom, my best friend, hell anyone that I could that Rooker was coming to Shreveport. I couldn’t stop smiling. For once, I was actually excited going to work.

When I got to work, I showed my boss, who is also one of my best friends and who has to put up with my Rooker obsession more than anyone. He was excited for me, and I convinced him to come meet him, too.

So for the next 4 months, I waited and waited and waited for Geek’d Con to get here. I ordered Rooker’s gifts, designed a special shirt to wear that Saturday, printed out some goofy Rooker pictures for him to sign, even had Rooker socks made. When August 16th, finally arrived, I was ready.

Friday, August 16th, 2019

Geek’d Con was only open from 6 pm to 9 pm that Friday, but I had been told that Rooker would be there all 3 days, which meant I would be there all 3 days. So I took off work early and drove the almost 2 hours to my parent’s house, who live just outside of Shreveport. I had been a nervous wreck all week. I guess I was a little nervous about seeing Rooker again, but mostly I was nervous about getting all the gifts I had planned on giving him through security.

I had to get into town early because I had a few errands to run before I picked up my friend, who had also gone with me to see Rooker in Houston last year. One of the errands was picking up some dark chocolate-covered pretzels that I had ordered just for Rooker at a local chocolate store in town. I hadn’t planned on bringing him pretzels since he gets those at cons all the time, but these were dark chocolate which I knew he liked the best. And, boy, am I glad I decided to get them!

I picked my friend up a little later, and we headed up to the convention center. I wore one of my Rowdy Burns shirts and one of the pairs of socks I had made with Rooker’s face all over them (I had 4 pair, and I mixed and matched them each day, and of course, forgot to show Rooker any of them...AARRGH.) That line getting in couldn’t go fast enough. I was so excited to see him again!

Again, my only worry was getting through security with Rooker's gift. I’ll get to what the gift was a little later on, but the closer we got to bag check, the more anxious I got. Luckily, we made it through without any problems.

We headed inside and walked towards the back and found Rooker’s table. He wasn’t out yet. No biggie. The doors had only been open about 30 minutes or so. We walked around a little, and then found a table near Rooker’s booth. We decided to just sit and wait until he came out. Seven o’clock came. No Rooker. Eight o’clock came. Still no Rooker. At 8:40, they announced there were 20 minutes left before closing. We headed out after that. I admit I was bummed that he wasn’t there, but that just meant I’d have to go see him extra the next day.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Saturday morning, I was up and at ‘em early again. My racing brain wouldn’t let me sleep. But, I had to be up early anyway to go pick up the rest of Rooker’s gift for that day before the con opened at 10 am.

I had decided a while back that on the Saturday morning of the con, I was going to bring him a bunch of snacks, some from local places around town. The pretzels and a bag of Zapp's Voodoo chips were a part of that, but I still had two more things to get.

I picked up my friend again and headed to a bakery that I swear makes the best cakes in the world and picked up the little, mini red velvet cake I had ordered for him. We left there and drove alllll the way across town to get Rooker some donuts from Southern Maid (if you ever get the chance, definitely get donuts from there - they're not fancy but seriously they’re the best ever).

When we got to the convention center, I put all of his snacks in a gift bag (with the no outside food/drink rule, I figured there was a better chance getting it all through security if it looked like an actual gift). And it worked! The snacks and the other gift made it through! My nerves instantly calmed, and I was home free to finally see the Rooker.

We immediately went towards the back to his booth, but he wasn’t out yet. There were a good many people already waiting for him, but I didn’t want to get in line just yet. I was hoping the crowd would kind of lessen just a little first so I would have some time to explain all the stuff I brought him. We sat down at the same table as the night before and waited. About 30 minutes later, there he was!

Omg, I was so excited to see him! He was wearing black jeans, a black shirt, and his Atlanta Metro Studios cap. And no shades! Which is very important when one of your favorite things about Rooker is those damn eyes of his.

We waited about 10 more minutes, but the line never got smaller. I decided it was now or never and went to get in line.

While we were waiting in line, there was a person in an inflatable T-Rex costume nearby that had a sign for “Free Hugs". You probably already know what happened when Rooker saw it. He escaped from his table and hugged that T-Rex so hard his cap fell off.

When we finally got to his helper, she noticed the shirt I was wearing and busted out laughing and took a picture of it. I was hoping Rooker would have the same reaction.

The person in front of me finally got through, and it..was..my..turn. Surprisingly, I was still very calm. I walked up to Rooker and said, “Hey, Rooker, you remember me?” He said, “I do!” I put the gift bag of snacks and his other gift on the table in front of him and he busted out laughing.

“What is all this?!”

“I brought you a bunch of snacks in case they don't feed you good here.”

I started to tell him what was in the bag and that's when he noticed my shirt. Awhile back when Rooker had first started growing his hair out again, Sean Gunn had posted a picture of Rooker with his hair all crazy and called him an “international sex symbol” in the caption. So, naturally, I had that same picture printed on a shirt with the same caption. He laughed when he saw it and said, “Ya' know, not many men can pull off that look.” He took his cap off and started pulling his hair in all directions. His curls were a little wild. I said, “I know, but you pull it off really well.” He was still playing with his curls and I wanted to touch his hair so bad. So I went for it. I said, “Can I touch ‘em, I gotta touch ‘em, Rooker.” He leaned over and I grabbed a handful of his hair. It's so soft, y'all!

After the hair touching moment, we went back to discussing his snacks. I said, “I brought you some of the best donuts in the world and…” That’s when he saw a fork in the bag and asked what it was for. “For this.” I pulled out the little mini cake and told him it was red velvet (which I had read a long time ago was his favorite). Y'all he smiled and laughed the whole time.

He immediately came around the table and gave me a huge hug and said I was too sweet always bringing him stuff. Then it just kind of slipped out of my mouth. I didn’t even realize I had said it ‘til it was too late. As he's still hugging me and telling me how nice I am and that I don't have to bring him stuff, I said “Well, I love you, Rooker. You’re my favorite person in the world.” Good God, I told Michael Rooker I loved him to his face. And I don’t really say that to anybody. Looking back now, though, I'm glad I did. That man makes my world go round, and I want him to know that.

After he hugged me and still laughing, he walked over to my friend, grabbed her face in his hands, and said “She always like this? Bringing presents and stuff?” She said yes and Rooker laughed again.

I went over to the bag and pulled out the little box of chocolate covered pretzels. I said,” Look, Rooker, I wasn’t gonna bring you pretzels ‘cause I know you get them all the time, but these are dark chocolate ones I had made especially for you."

He grabbed the box, opened it, held it out for the people in line to see and said, “Aww, look everyone.” That's when one of the best things that's ever happened to me happened.

Rooker took one of the pretzels and held it up to my mouth for me to take a bite. Unfortunately, I had just gotten a piece of mint gum from my friend not 10 minutes earlier.

I said, “Ew, Rooker, no I have gum.”

I shoulda known Rooker wasn’t gonna take ‘no' for an answer.

He grinned and pushed the pretzel further towards my mouth, "Take a bite.”

So I did.

As soon as my mouth touched that pretzel, he leaned in and took a bite out of the other side at the same time. We ‘Lady and the Tramp'd’ that pretzel. His mouth was like inches away from mine. Gotta admit, I was a little shocked, but I laughed, he laughed, hell his whole line was laughing. I'm sure my face was redder than a tomato.

As I’m still chewing the now disgusting combination of chocolate pretzel and mint gum growing into an oddly textured rubbery substance in my mouth, he says “Here, lemme have it" and he holds his hand out for me to..spit..my..gum..out..in..his..hand.

I said, “Ew, Rooker, I'm not gonna do that …it’s ok, I'll suffer.” He laughed again.

Still trying to recover from that moment, I realized I still hadn’t shown him his other gift. We walked closer to the table, and he said, “What is this?” I said, “You remember last year I gave you the shot glass?” He said yes. I opened the box and said, “Well, I got you these to kind of go with it.” This time I had gotten him two whiskey glasses made with .45 caliber bullets molded into the side (hence the reason I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get them through security). On one glass, I had “I'm Mary Poppins, Y'all!” etched, and the other with an ‘R' and ‘Rooker’. He loved them. He said they were beautiful and took each one out and showed it to everybody. He looked at me and said, “At least they’re .45s. That's the only thing that'll stop a Jack and Coke.” He made himself giggle. It was great.

He ended up giving me like a gazillion hugs the whole time and then told me that I got to pick out a picture for him to sign.

I laughed and said, “No, it's ok, Rooker. I don't bring you stuff to get free autographs. I have some stuff for you to sign in my bag anyway so I'll be back in a little while. You know you gotta put up with me all weekend.”

He laughed again and before I walked away, I lifted up my sleeve and asked him if he remembered my “Sexy Thanos" tattoo as he called it last time. He said, “Yeah, I remember and that ain’t sexy Thanos, that's sexy Rooker.”

I don’t think I could have smiled any bigger than I was when I walked away from his table.

A little while later was photo ops. I had bought one for Saturday and Sunday. His line stretched almost the entire length of the convention center. You could definitely tell that Rooker was the star of Geek'd Con.

The whole time we were waiting in line, Rooker would periodically stick his head out of the curtain and pull the curtain up tight around his face to where his face was all that was showing. I tried to get a picture cause it was adorable as hell, but as soon as I would get my phone out, he would disappear behind the curtain again.

When it was my turn to take the picture, I went up to Rooker and he put his arm around me and I did the same to him. Here's where it gets really good.

Usually, photo ops go by insanely fast. Like seconds fast. But for some reason, there was a delay between my photo and the one before. Rooker's event manager was talking to the photographer about something so that left me and Rooker to ourselves for a moment.

If y'all don't know yet, Rooker in a backwards baseball cap is THE sexiest thing on the planet to me. Last year, he wore one of his Penman hats so I didn’t get to ask him this. This year, I said ‘fuck it’ and went for it.

With him standing right next to me with his arm still around me, I leaned over and said, “Rooker, will you do me a favor?”

He turned towards me, his face inches away from mine, and looked right in my eyes and said, “What's that baby?”

I..could..have..died..right..then..and..there. The feeling of Rooker that close to you. His eyes staring right into your soul. Lawd help me.

I said, “Will you turn your hat around backwards?”

He gave me a slow grin and said, “Yeah, baby.” He turned his cap around but kind of looked a little confused.

I said, “I like it better that way. It's hotter like that.” Yeah, I still can’t believe I said that, too. But I felt I needed to explain why I asked him.

He laughed and grabbed me in a big bear hug, the kind that almost knocked both of us over. He said,” Oh, that gets you all hot, huh?” I said, “Uh, yeaaah." Fuck it. I was being honest. He busted out laughing again, but it was time to take the photo. So we straightened up and I said, “Now you gonna have me blushing.” He grinned and said, “I know, it's great.”

We took the photo and he hugged me again and then held my hand and said ‘thank you, baby’. His event manager asked if he had seen my shirt. He laughed and said yes, and held my hand ‘til I really had to walk away.

We immediately got back in his line so I could get my first autograph. This time, I had him sign one of his old headshots which was him as Zeedo from The Replacement Killers.

Time for a little backstory. A couple of years ago, I got a new dog and named him Rooker. Last year I showed Rooker a meme I had made with him and my dog. He got a kick out of it. Well, almost two months ago, I rescued another dog that had been living in horrendous conditions at a puppy mill in south Louisiana. From the first time I saw this dog, I knew he was supposed to be mine. I got approved for his adoption, named him Zeedo, and he became one of my pack.

Now back to Rooker. When it was my turn, I went up to him and gave him the Zeedo headshot to sign. I pulled out my phone and said, “Rooker, you remember last year I showed you my dog, Rooker? Well, I adopted another dog last month and named him Zeedo.” I showed him a picture of him.

He said, “Aww.” He looked back down at the headshot and said, “Zeedo frommm?” He couldn’t think of the name of the movie. I said,” The Replacement Killers.”

He laughed,” Yes! The Replacement Killers! You know when I grow a goatee like that now, it’s definitely not that color anymore.”

He then noticed the packet of headshots and other pictures I was holding in my hand. He grabbed them and started flipping through them saying he was gonna sign another. I said, “No, you signed all those last time.” He said, “I'm not gonna sign all of them, just my favorite one.” He pulled out the hot young headshot and signed it again and then said something about his resume on the back. And I still forgot to ask him about clown training! I’m so mad at myself!

Another backstory - I need to mention that earlier one of my mom's old co-workers had found us at Geek'd Con. She knew I loved Rooker and had been messaging me about him a couple of months before Geek'd Con. She stood with us in line during the Zeedo headshot signing. Before we got to Rooker, we were talking about going to his panel which was in a couple of hours. She had never met Rooker before or been to one of his panels. I told her how Rooker doesn’t play by the rules, and there was no way he was gonna sit at the table on the stage. I don’t think the Geek'd Con folks really had any idea what they were getting themselves into with Rooker, and I was super curious to see how his panel would be.

While Rooker was signing his old headshot, my mom’s co-worker asked him how old he was in that photo. He figured he was in his early to mid-20s. That original 1991 press photo I have of Rooker with his soda and popcorn at a movie premiere was also in the stack of headshots. He saw it and I said, “Aww, lookit that baby.” He laughed, “Yeah, that young, hot baby.” I said, “Oh, Rooker, you’re still hot.”

He gave me a tight, squishy sideways hug and we said our goodbyes for the moment.

We snuck in late to the panel before his to try to get a good seat. My boss had also texted me in the meantime that he and his wife were on their way. They weren’t sure they would be able to come that particular day, but they ended up making it just in time for his panel.

Rooker’s panel was full of typical Rooker shenanigans. And just as I had expected, Rooker never sat down at the table and lasted about 7 minutes pacing on the stage before he jumped off and ran out into the audience taking questions.

After his panel, we rushed back to Rooker’s booth one last time before he left for the day. I couldn’t wait for my boss to meet Rooker. You know how Rooker and James Gunn are together? Best friends who are constantly bullshitting one another? That’s exactly how me and my boss are. And for the longest time, I’ve been telling my boss every time he fucks with me that someday I would get Rooker to beat him up. Now, they would both be in the same room, and I could finally get Rooker to ‘beat him up’.

I had Rooker sign that goofy picture of him behind the scenes of “Super”. He said, “Hey, it’s Super! I was just talking about Super! Lookit that expression!”, talking about the silly face he was making. After he signed the picture, I pointed to my boss and said, “Rooker, I need you to beat him up for me.”

“Whhhhy?”

“Because he’s my boss and he’s mean to me and I always tell him that I’m gonna get you to beat him up.”

Rooker told my boss to give him his hand. My boss thought he was asking to shake his hand, but instead, Rooker takes my boss’s hand and starts smacking the back of it while saying ‘Bad! Bad! Bad!’ like he was scolding a little kid.

We said goodbye after that and I told him that I’d be back tomorrow to see him again. I also said, “I have some more things to give you.” He misheard me and said, “WHAT? You have more things to do?!” like he was upset or sad I wasn’t coming to see him. I busted out laughing and said, “Noooo, more things to give you.” He smiled really big and said “Ohhh..omg more stuff?" and called me a doll and said I was too sweet. And that was the end of the epic first day.

Sunday, August 18th, 2019

My friend couldn’t come with me to Geek'd Con on Sunday due to work so I drug my 10-year-old niece along. She didn’t mind though. She loves superhero movies and she knows who Rooker is because of me. Plus, I bribed her by telling her I would buy her something while we were there.

We got to the convention center right when the doors opened at 11 that morning, and after going through security, went straight to Rooker’s booth. He was already out and there weren’t that many people in line at that time, so I decided to go ahead and go see him. I had my Bud Melks poster for him to sign and another gift to give him.

As soon as we got to Rooker, someone brought him another cup of coffee. I had to wait for him to pour his new coffee into his old cup, laughing and watching him almost spill coffee all over the place. When he was done, he asked, “Whatcha got?” talking about the poster I had in my hand. I unrolled my Bud poster out in front of him and said, “You remember I have your Bud coveralls? I’m gonna frame this to hang up, too.”

“Yes, you do. Oooh, this looks nice.” He held the poster up for everyone to see, and then asked everyone in line if they had seen Belko. I don’t think anyone said yes. He laughed and joked, “Well don’t, it’s terrible!” The line had gotten somewhat longer behind me so I decided to give him his gift a little while later so I wouldn’t take up any more time.

My niece and I walked around some, and I made good on my promise of buying her something. When we came back around, there were only like 2 or 3 people in Rooker’s line so I went up to give him a gift. This one needed a little explaining.

I went up to Rooker and gave him one of those Yondu car air fresheners I had posted to my tumblr and Rooker Facebook pages awhile back. He said, “Aww, what is this?” I told him how I had found these Yondu air fresheners a couple of months ago and that I had posted them to FB and IG. I almost didn’t want to tell him that I had a Rooker FB page, but I kinda had to. I said, “I have a Rooker FB page called All Hail King Rooker.”

He said, “All hail what?”

“King Rooker.”

He busted out laughing. “Ahh, King Rooker. Okay.”

“Ok, so, I posted these on my Rooker FB, and Kim (who runs the Rookerholics FB page) commented on the picture saying that you needed some for your Airstream. So, I was like ‘yesss, he needs some for his Airstream!’ So, I go to buy you some, but they were sold out. And they’ve been sold out ever since. Soooooo, I’m giving you my extra one.”

He loved it and said, “Awww. Thank you, baby.” He took it out of the package and put it together.

I then told him that I had taken out the air freshener thingy ‘cause it was shit and never worked but the little Yondu still looks cool.

We talked a little more and he came around the table to give me another hug. He then asked my niece her name and held out his hand for her to shake it. He teased her a little bit about not shaking his hand hard enough so he taught her how to shake hands properly but not too hard that it would break his hand. I explained to him that she was my niece and that I didn’t have any adult supervision anymore. He laughed and told my niece not to let me get in any trouble. I told him, “You know the only trouble I’d be getting into is over here with you, Rooker.” He laughed again and gave me another hug, telling me how sweet how I was. And I did it again, y’all. While he still had his arms around me, I said, “I love you, Rooker. And, I’ll be back later to give you more stuff.” He said, “Dammit, woman!” as he pulled away and I left his line again smiling like an idiot.

I had another photo op a little later, but not much happened during that one. I mean other than the fact that I got to stand close to him again with his arm around me and he held my hand as I walked away, but...

It was nearing the end of the afternoon and Rooker had another round of photo ops at 3 pm. The con closed at 5 and I was afraid he might be leaving after his photo ops. I decided to go get in his line one last time and do the thing I had been dreading all weekend, saying goodbye.

I had him sign a couple more pictures, one being a photo of him from Thief, which he filmed in Shreveport. He was like ‘Oooh, Thief.” I said, “Yep, you signed my Super (which was also filmed in Shreveport) pic yesterday and Thief today.” He told me he still has the suspenders he wore in that photo. I asked if he remembered me telling him that my stepdad was a cop and that he had been working on the set of Thief and met Rooker years ago. He said yeah, and I explained to him that my stepdad had just retired from the force after like 30 years or so and that his retirement party was in a couple of weeks and it was being held at the same place that he filmed his last scene in Thief. (The place is actually an event hall and my sister works there now.) He thought that was pretty cool. I also had him sign the crazy-haired “International Sex Symbol” picture, too.

His line started to get really long and I felt like I needed to hurry, so I gave him the last few things I had for him, a Shreveport Police Dept. patch, a Shreveport Fire Dept. patch, and a Matchbox car of a Shreveport Police cruiser. I explained the stuff really quick and said, “This is it, Rooker. I gotta go. This is all I got. I won’t be coming back anymore.” He grabbed me up in another tight hug that nearly knocked us off balance, and said, “Me neither!” I said, “Noooo, Rooker, you have to come back. Please!” He laughed and said he would. He then pointed to my niece and said that she’d be full-grown next year when he’s here. I told him goodbye and walked away one last time.

I swear it was like instant depression walking away from his table knowing that I wouldn’t be seeing him again. And I know he calls a lot of people ‘baby’ or ‘sexy’ or any of his other pet names and gives hugs to everybody, but damn if he doesn’t make you feel special. It’s like no one else exists but the two of you when he’s talking to you. He makes me forget, if just for a moment, all the negative thoughts that I have about myself, the depression, the way I’ll never be good enough for anyone. He makes me truly..happy, and no one else on earth makes me feel the way that he does. And I hope that he knows that. Walking away from him is seriously one of the hardest things to do.

So, again, that’s it. That’s my second adventure with the Rooker, the most beautiful person inside and out in the entire world. I’m not sure when I’ll get to see him next, but if it’s up to me and written in the stars, there will be a next time. I already have some more gift ideas (gotta keep up my sugar mama ways) and another pretty epic shirt design that I think he’ll get a kick out of. So, until next time, farewell y’all! :)

#michael rooker #rooker #geekd con #I love this man so much #like soooo fucking much

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dageek28 · 3 years ago

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Cultura Geek

¿Los GEEKS? un termino que hemos escuchado por lo menos una vez en la vida, pero que la gran mayoría de personas desconocen su significado, su origen, y a que hace referencia, es por esto que hoy, viajaremos al extraño y fascinante mundo de los mal llamados "frikis".

Cultura Geek

Suele afirmarse que el surgimiento de los geeks, en la década de 1980, está vinculado al desarrollo del mercado de las computadoras personales. Con el transcurso del tiempo, los geeks crecieron en popularidad y, actualmente, se los considera una tribu urbana o subcultura, es decir, un grupo con prácticas, valores y hábitos propios, que los diferencia del resto de la cultura dominante a la que pertenecen.

La cultura geek se distingue por el acentuado interés que sus miembros manifiestan por la tecnología, en particular, la vinculada a la informática, los videojuegos, y la ciencia ficción y la fantasía. En general, los geeks se perciben a sí mismos como gente creativa, que utiliza internet y las redes sociales como canales de interacción social y de intercambio de conocimientos.

Un dato curioso y de gran importancia es que como muchas profesiones o días especiales en el año, tienen su propia fecha en el calendario, el 25 de Mayo, es también conocido como el “Dia del orgullo Geek”

El origen del Día del Orgullo Geek (Friki) surgió en España gracias a Germán Martínez, conocido popularmente en las redes sociales como el Señor Buebo. Germán fue el creador en 2006 de la página oficial del orgullo friki y realizó la primera declaración sobre la celebración de este día en el blog de “El Lado Oscuro” (termino proveniente de la saga de películas “Star Wars” o “Guerra de las Galaxias” en Latinoamérica).

La fecha del 25 de mayo no fue escogida al azar: en 1977, ese mismo día se estrenó Star Wars: Una nueva esperanza. Esta película, creada por George Lucas, se considera como uno de los mayores exponentes de la comunidad friki.

Sin embargo, hay que diferenciar el estreno de la primera entrega de Star Wars con el día en el que se conmemora la saga. Esta fecha es el 4 de mayo por motivos políticos a raíz de una publicación el 4 de mayo de 1979 en el London Evening News. Esta publicación era una nota en la que los miembros del Partido Conservador del Reino Unido se dirigían a Margaret Thatcher para felicitarla por haber sido escogida como primera ministra del país.

¿Qué es un geek?

El término geek no forma parte del diccionario de la Real Academia Española (RAE). De todos modos el concepto, procedente de la lengua inglesa, se utiliza en nuestro idioma para aludir al individuo que siente fascinación e interés por la informática y por las cuestiones vinculadas a la tecnología.

El geek suele ser un especialista en estos asuntos. Aunque no hay una definición precisa del concepto, sus connotaciones han cambiado con el correr de los años. Tiempo atrás, se nombraba como geek a la persona que solamente se interesaba por las computadoras (ordenadores) y los aparatos tecnológicos, y por lo tanto carecía de vida social: no tenía pareja, amigos, etc. Con el avance de la historia y el lugar cada vez más preponderante que ocupa la tecnología en la vida cotidiana, el geek pasó a ser alguien valorado gracias a sus conocimientos.

Los geeks se concentran en sus aficiones, que suelen ser de carácter tecnológico o, al menos, técnico. Muchas veces apelan a su imaginación y su capacidad, creando objetos de su autoría donde muestran sus saberes sobre estos temas.

Los juegos online, las redes sociales, los teléfonos inteligentes (smartphones) y los gadgets en general forman parte de la vida de un geek. Muchas veces también se sienten atraídos por las historietas (cómics) y por la ciencia ficción: por eso se puede vincular a los geeks con los frikis.

Características de un geek

De las personas geek comúnmente se espera un conjunto de rasgos de personalidad, aficiones y talentos que tienen que ver estrechamente con el mundo de la tecnología y de la innovación. Algunas características que suelen atribuir a los geeks son:

Gran conocimiento sobre informática y tecnología.

Interés por los últimos adelantos tecnológicos, lo cual, en ocasiones, los lleva a convertirse en consumidores compulsivos de los dispositivos más novedosos (smartphones, computadoras y, en general, gadgets de tecnología).

Presencia habitual en redes sociales, utilizadas como principal (pero no exclusivo) medio de intercambio social, a través de las cuales comparten conocimientos con otros geeks.

Afición por los libros y películas de fantasy y de ciencia ficción, y los videojuegos (sobre todo, los juegos de rol).

Empleo de una jerga, relacionada con las áreas de su interés, en la que abundan los términos anglosajones.

A menudo, se señala que los geeks tienen poco interés o pocos talentos para el trato social convencional. Sin embargo, esto es un estereotipo, y el llamado “mundo geek” es mucho más amplio y diverso de lo que a simple vista pareciera.

Tipos de geek

Aunque no existe una tipología oficial, se tiende a distinguir entre tres vertientes o variantes principales de persona geek:

Hackers.

Lo primer de todo es saber a qué nos referimos cuando hablamos de un hacker. Se trata de una persona que dispone de los conocimientos informáticos suficientes como para acceder a un determinado sistema o dispositivo y realizar cambios y modificaciones desde dentro.

Estos individuos tienen como función conocer el funcionamiento de los sistemas informáticos, el software, el hardware y encontrar los errores más comunes. Esta persona debe superar los sistemas de seguridad impuestos y buscar una mejora en los mismos. Por lo tanto, como podemos ver, no siempre hay fines ilícitos en este cometido. No obstante, sí existen hackers que utilizan sus técnicas con algún fin ilegal, aunque el objetivo principal es totalmente lo contrario.

Fanboys y Fangirls.

Se conoce como Fanboy o Fangril alos fans obsesos de una marca de tecnología, de una saga de libros, comics, videojuegos, películas o grupos musicales dispuestos a defender el objeto de sus afectos hasta más allá de lo que es racional y muy dado a interactuar en comunidad con los otros fanboys o fangirls de su subcultura.

Antes, todo era pequeño en el mundo fanboy y así lo reflejaban sus prefijos: subcultura, infraexposición, microgrupos de fanáticos que pasaban mucho tiempo solos porque, sencillamente, no había mucha gente como ellos y no existía internet para interconectarlos. La imagen del fanboy quedó frefijada en cientos de películas para adolescentes y en canciones como In the Garage, de Weezer (1994), sobre un nerd que se sienta solo en su garaje, con sus muñeos y sus VHS de Star Trek como único consuelo.

Es sabido que todo esto cambió durante la década pasada, cuando las filias propias de los fanboys pasaron a ocupar un lugar central en la cultura, empezando por El Señor de los Anillos y continuando con el regreso de los superhéroes, en su variante dark. En ningún lugar queda más claro ese cambio que en la Comic Con, la convención que se celebra cada año a principios de verano en San Diego. Lo que nació hace 40 años, y permaneció durante mucho tiempo, como una feria de intercambio de tebeos usados se ha convertido en algo así como el Cannes de las Megafranquicias, el lugar al que acuden las estrellas en peregrinación y donde se estrenan (a veces lo que se estrena es poco más que una preview de unos segundos) las películas y series que mandan en el circuito comercial. La industria audiovisual ya aprendió hace tiempo que el gusto del fanboy, antes marginal, ahora es mainstream.

Gamers.

Es importante marcar las diferencias entre un aficionado a los videojuegos y un gamer. Los dos juegan, pero en condiciones completamente distintas. Desde el punto de vista de oficio, un gamer profesional es el que ingresa dinero por jugar a los videojuegos, mientras que un aficionado juega por pura diversión.

Aunque la diversión y los ingresos económicos no están reñidos, percibir dinero por jugar es lo que distingue a un gamer de un usuario. ¿Qué hacen los gamers para ganar dinero jugando a los videojuegos? La participación en eventos, torneos o pruebas con el claro objetivo de salir vencedores y ganar premios y la retransmisión en distintas plataformas y redes sociales de sus horas de juego (conocido popularmente como stremear) son algunos de los factores fundamentales para comprenderlo.

El nivel, la forma en la que se juega (profesional) y cómo se lleva a cabo esta práctica también ayudan a distinguir entre un gamer profesional y un aficionado a los videojuegos. Por ello, un grupo muy limitado de jugadores se consideran gamers pese a existir una gran cantidad de usuarios en los juegos virtuales.

Diferencia entre geek, nerd, otaku y friki

Las líneas divisorias entre geek, nerd, otaku y friki suelen ser un poco difusas, ya que se trata de categorías informales, aplicadas a menudo sin un criterio definido, y que con frecuencia se superponen unas con otras. Sin embargo, se pueden establecer algunas diferencias notorias entre ellas:

Nerds

El nerd es un término inglés, el cual se emplea comúnmente para designar el prototipo, de la persona que presenta un alto coeficiente intelectual. Asignándole igualmente características que lo diferencian de otras personas, ya que suelen ser muy estudiosas, pero presentando deficiencias en las habilidades para asociarse con otras personas.

Pese a que este término es empleado comúnmente de manera despectiva, en la actualidad, ha pasado a ser parte de un sinónimo para referirse a una identidad grupal y orgullo. Entre los rasgos característicos de los nerds se pueden visualizar su dedicación absoluta al estudio, una curiosidad insaciable, además, de su necesidad constante de seguir ampliando sus conocimientos en el ámbito científico y tecnológico.

Geeks

Tienen un estilo de vida enfocado en la tecnología y en ciertas aficiones específicas, pero no necesariamente carecen de una vida social, ni tienen una inteligencia superior al resto. Disfrutan de aspectos de la cultura pop, como la ciencia ficción y la música tecno.

Otakus.

¿Te preguntas qué es un otaku? Pues bien, la cultura japonesa ha llegado a occidente de una forma muy potente, por ello, son muchas las personas que se han visto enganchadas a las historias y dibujos que han traído desde oriente de la mano del manga y el anime, principalmente. En rasgos generales, la palabra "otaku" se ha extendido como término que se usa con los fans que viven las historias mangas y animes de una forma muy intensa, llegando a conocer los diálogos de memoria e incluso a disfrazarse de sus personajes favoritos en convenciones que se hacen todos los años, como el "Salón del Ocio y la Fantasía (SOFA) o la Comic Com", ambas convenciones se celebran en Corferias, en este tipo de eventos, los denominados "otakus" se disfrazan de sus personajes favoritos, se juntan con amigos y acuden a conferencias y festivales temáticos sobre sus historias y sus cómics favoritos.

Empleando un término más popular, los otakus serían los "frikis" de la cultura japonesa. Algo que hace algunos años podría haber sido un insulto, sin embargo, gracias a la globalización, se ha visto cada vez más extendido y normalizado. Así pues, una de las características por las que se definen los otakus es que, fuera de sus reuniones y gustos, en su vida cotidiana no muestran ningún rasgo especial en su ropa, peinado o estilo. No obstante, están actualizados siempre con las ��ltimas tendencias en manga y anime, focalizan la mayor parte de su tiempo libre y ocio en ello.

Qué es ser otaku de manga y anime realmente

¿Quieres saber que es ser otaku en Colombia y en el resto del mundo? Pues bien, a pesar de que en occidente este término ya está generalizado y aceptado por buena parte de las personas, en Japón tiene un significado mucho más fuerte y es conveniente saberlo. Debes saber que la sociedad japonesa es muy trabajadora y no concibe que la gente no se dedique de lleno a ser productiva. Siguiendo esta concepción, ser otaku en Japón está bastante mal visto y el término se considera más bien como un insulto o una forma peyorativa, ya que describe a una persona que está tan obsesionada con este tipo de historias que no piensa en nada más. Se le llega a considerar como "vago".

En Japón, de donde es originario el manga y el anime, son miles las personas que leen y ven este tipo de historias y creaciones. Sin embargo, llaman con el término de "otaku" a la gente que va un paso más allá y, según ellos, empiezan a vivir "en otro mundo". Por ello, otaku en Japón es un término bastante mal sonado y, si estás en la isla nipona, no será de buen modo cuando lo escuches. Sin embargo, es cierto que con el paso del tiempo la cultura manga y anime han cruzado con más fuerza el charco, por ello, este tipo de fanáticos han comenzado a ser vistos de una manera mucho más suave en su país natal, aun así, no es algo que genere admiración.

Frikis

En español, el concepto de friki se ha convertido en un estereotipo social para referirse a los individuos que presentan comportamientos o actitudes que se salen de lo convencional, y lo reflejan en una forma de vestir a veces inusual o pintoresca.

Los frikis, por lo general, se caracterizan por tener gustos e intereses sobre temas relativos a la imaginación, la creatividad y la inteligencia, que muchas veces resultan extraños para la sociedad donde se desenvuelven. Son personas introvertidas, pero con una gran necesidad de relacionarse con aquellos con quienes comparten aficiones e intereses.

Los frikis, por ejemplo, son amantes de los videojuegos, los cómics, la manga, el anime, la literatura, el cine y la televisión, particularmente cuando son de tema fantástico o de ciencia ficción, y debido a esto muchas veces son considerados personas infantiles o inmaduras. No obstante, en ocasiones, desarrollan tal nivel de conocimiento sobre sus temas de interés que se convierten en auténticos expertos en la materia.

A continuación y para finalizar este post, les dejo un video donde podemos profundizar mucho más acerca de todo el tema referente a la cultura geek.

youtube

#geek #culturageek #superheroe #friki #otaku #hacker #nerd #gamer

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