He’s half of nerd rock duo Kirby Krackle, owns Comic Stop comic book stores and is the organizer of Emerald City Comic Con (March 13-14 in Seattle—tickets still available!) Say Zing! Pow! To technogreek!
trixie360: What’s the story behind your gamertag?
photo by Dan Bates
technogreek: I'm totally a geek and love technology, but I'm Greek, so at some point in the past I thought of using making it 'technogreek' instead of 'technogeek', I use it for e-mail, twitter, etc. so it was natural for my gamertag. trixie360: Where do you live? technogreek: I live just north of Seattle in Mountlake Terrace. trixie360: What do you do for a living? technogreek: I'm the organizer of the Emerald City ComiCon, part of the nerd rock band duo Kirby Krackle and also the co-owner of the largest chain of comic book stores in Washington called The Comic Stop.
trixie360: You have pretty much all the cool jobs in the world! What’s the worst or weirdest job you’ve ever had? technogreek: Growing up, my parents were restaurateurs, so I’ve done pretty much every job you can imagine inside a restaurant. The worst was dishwasher, this was over a decade ago and I left work every day feeling super grimy. The weirdest job is not really weird, but looking back on it I find odd, which was handing out flyers at a mall for on-the-spot chiropractor services. I just feel you might want to do a bit more research before you let some random guy in the mall pop your spine… trixie360: How long have you been on Xbox LIVE? technogreek: I think I’ve been on for about two years now. trixie360: Do you have an arch enemy on Xbox LIVE, and if so, who? technogreek: I’d have to say mechachrome, he’s a buddy of mine who is basically awesome at every game he plays. I have suffered more head-related ballistic impacts thanks to him than I can count. trixie360: What’s your Xbox set-up like?
technogreek: I have a 52" Sony TV, an older one so it’s got the big built-in speakers on the bottom – rear projection, so it’s about a foot deep and like 5’ tall. I have a stand-up cabinet next to it with all the electronics, DVD player, etc, and the Xbox is next to it hardwired in to the router so there's no lag on LIVE! All that and a comfy couch and it’s game on!
trixie360: What’s the best feature of Xbox LIVE? technogreek: I'm down with the Marketplace, getting games like Mega Man 9, Peggle and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 at a touch is pretty sweet. trixie360: What is your favorite multiplayer Xbox game? technogreek: Right now, it’s Left 4 Dead (the first one), though I've dipped my toe in to MW2 and it's pretty awesome. trixie360: What is your favorite single player Xbox game? technogreek: I love and still play Fallout 3, the expansions really kept it fresh and I still like walking around the wastelands and still finding new random stuff. My Kirby Krackle band-mate Kyle and I love the game so much we actually have a whole song dedicated to it on our new album. trixie360: I think “Vault 101” is my favorite song from the new album E for Everyone. That, or “Teabagged.” It makes me want to simultaneously vacation in the Caribbean and ‘pop a victory squat’. What’s your favorite Xbox LIVE Arcade game?
technogreek: It’s tough. I’d probably go with Ticket to Ride, I really enjoy playing it with my girlfriend, there’s something simple and addictive about it. Reminds me of hours and hours spent playing Railroad Tycoon back in the day. trixie360: What do you think is the best game of all time? technogreek: I’d have to say Mega Man 2. That game is still hard as hell but still fun as well. It developed a life-long love for the blue bomber, and though there were some games that weren’t so great along the way, that one stands the test of time and I’m thrilled that Mega Man 9 was so good. trixie360: What do you think is the best film of all time? technogreek: Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. trixie360: What do you think is the best album of all time? technogreek: Abbey Road by the Beatles. trixie360: Best comic of all time? technogreek: Daredevil: The Man Without Fear. Written by Frank Miller (Sin City, 300) with art by John Romita Jr., it was a comic I read over and over, plus it still holds up now. What’s even more amazing about that book is that you never even see Matt Murdock in the DD outfit until the very end of the comic, only on the covers. trixie360: Frank Miller is god-like. Best film based on a comic? technogreek: Tough choice. I’d have to say Iron Man, not just because it was the most recent, but of all the great comic movies (X-Men 2, Spider-Man 2, even Blade 1), this one seemed the truest to the character and got a great balance of action and comedy just right. trixie360: Rock Band or Guitar Hero? technogreek: I’m a Rock Band guy, mostly because I enjoy the party aspect. trixie360: What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever heard on Xbox LIVE? technogreek: “I don’t care what color your characters eyes are, they’ll be black when I punch you in the face.” Ridiculous. trixie360: What is your greatest Xbox LIVE moment? technogreek: Playing Street Fighter IV online and actually winning a match. The competition out there is really tough and being up against someone who has a great win percentage and to win (especially after losing roughly fourteen million times in a row) was a big deal for me. trixie360: What’s your favorite TV show? technogreek: Again, tough choice. I’d have to say Fringe keeps me coming back week to week, they reveal enough and yet stay tantalizingly vague on other things, that the show is always interesting. I have to give props to Castle, 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory, which encompasses most of my TV watching period. trixie360: Who is your inner rock star? technogreek: Sting. From vocals to bass to his songwriting, he’s the man. trixie360: If they made a movie about your life, who should play you? technogreek: Jon Lovitz or Jack Black. trixie360: What’s your karaoke song? technogreek: “Roxanne” by The Police (see above :), plus I have a wicked falsetto. trixie360: Favorite cartoon character? technogreek: Technically, it’s two, but Chip & Dale. I loved those cartoons growing up, especially the ones featuring Donald Duck. trixie360: What super power would you like to have? technogreek: Teleportation. I love to travel, so being able to just teleport places would be really ideal, especially if it includes bringing other people and luggage along. trixie360: If you could trade places with anyone for one day, who would it be? technogreek: Kanye West. I feel like that would be one hell of a day. trixie360: What celebrity would be the worst roommate? technogreek: Lindsay Lohan. I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to celebs, but it seems like living with Lindsay would be a disaster from head to toe. trixie360: I think being in her zip code is bad news. How many people are on your Friends List? technogreek: Around 30 or so. trixie360: Who's your favorite Superhero? technogreek: The Thing from the Fantastic Four. I always thought his plight was really interesting, being both the most powerful figure in that group and yet, because of his outward appearance, the one who is emotionally most affected by their change in to heroes. To that, there’s also his ability to overcome these obstacles as well. A close second is Green Lantern, who is just cool. trixie360: I’m not impressed by someone who can be defeated by a color. Especially a wuss color like yellow. Who is your favorite comics artist? technogreek: Just one? I could go on for hours. I’d have to say I love everything Steve McNiven and Jim Cheung touch though, they’re amazing draftsmen and also really great storytellers. I feel so neglectful, there’s so many great artists out there… trixie360: Who is your favorite comics writer? technogreek: Currently, I can’t get enough of Geoff Johns, from Green Lantern to Flash to Blackest Night, plus all the stuff outside of comics as well (Robot Chicken, Titan Maximum, Smallville), he’s an awesome writer. trixie360: Hot celeb you’d like to be stranded on a desert island with? technogreek: Anne Hathaway. She’s both attractive, smart and funny, someone I’d be happy to have as company. trixie360: If you could be any video game character, who would it be? technogreek: Luigi. Everyone knows that Mario is the glory hound, but Luigi does all the work and I feel like gets to live a more peaceful life while Mario gets hounded by paparazzi. trixie360: What’s the worst food you’ve ever eaten? technogreek: When I was in Australia, I was coerced in trying vegemite. That was a mistake. trixie360: What’s the first video game you ever played?
technogreek: Asteroids, in an arcade at the Boys & Girls Club, I spent hours on that thing. trixie360: What’s the last book you read? technogreek: Badass! A Relentless Onslaught of the Toughest Warlords, Vikings, Samurai, Pirates, Gunfighters, and Military Commanders to Ever Live by Ben Thompson trixie360: I definitely need to check that out…. Sample downloaded to Kindle. :) Complete this sentence: “People of Earth, ….” technogreek: “oops, wrong number.“ trixie360: If you could go on tour with any band, which would it be? technogreek: The Foo Fighters seem like the kind of band that has a lot of fun, puts a ton of energy on the stage, and leaves the fans satisfied every single time. trixie360: What do you predict will be the 'next big thing' in gaming? technogreek: A combination of the Natal and 3D TVs will likely bring immersive gaming to the next level. I’m not too sold on 3D TV, and I’m not saying this because this is an Xbox interview, but seriously, the stuff I’ve seen from Natal is next level awesome. trixie360: Thanks. It was totally my idea… shhhh. What do you think is the best thing about the Xbox 360? technogreek: I really like the connectivity, whether it's playing with friends or LIVE Marketplace, being able to connect with friends is a snap and probably my favorite part of the 360. trixie360: What would you like to be doing in ten years? technogreek: I’d like to be working less and playing more. I’d still like if my work revolved around all the fun things that I love, like art and comic books, and was able to continue to make music with my band. Everything else is a mystery and I look forward to seeing where the next decade will bring me.
hey i thought posting a comment might get me some friends because i need some i'm 12 and fairly new to xbox live.
OMG VEGEMITE! Why does that stuff exist? It's horrible!