Geek-Culture News
About
What is Nerd Reactor? It’s THE place nerds dream about. A dream that takes them to a far away place where Indiana Jones and Darth Vader give nerds a happy ending. It’s a place where Princess Leia and Princess Peach make passionate love after getting piss drunk. It’s also a place where nerds wet their pants after witnessing the birth of Stan Lee.
Each NR writer had to be tested for endurance by being locked up in a room for 40 days straight while watching M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender. We do all this for you.
The Nerd Reactor Team
_________________________________________________________________
John “Spartan” Nguyen
Editor-in-Chief/Videographer
Since he was a kid, John loved drawing. His love for movies had him working as a projectionist at the local AMC theater, splicing inappropriate scenes like Tyler Durden in “Fight Club”. John graduated as a graphic designer and illustrator and now works as a designer. He loves video games, movies, and super heroes wearing tight spandex.
Favorite Comic Artists: Jim Lee, Michael Turner, J. Scott Campbell
Favorite Movies: Lord of the Rings, Back to the Future, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Pixar movies
Favorite Video Games: Heavy Rain, Metal Gear Solid series, Mass Effect trilogy, Ocarina of Time, Uncharted series, Red Dead Redemption, Far Cry 3, Silent Hill 1 & 2, Telltale’s Walking Dead, Assassin’s Creed series
Favorite Anime: Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Escaflowne, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Princess Mononoke, Berserk
Favorite TV Shows: Game of Thrones, Spartacus, Battlestar Galactica, Band of Brothers, Animaniacs, Batman: The Animated Series
Favorite Musicians: Yoko Kanno, Asian Kung-Fu Generation, System of a Down, Rage Against the Machine, Belanova, Daft Punk, Alan Menken
_________________________________________________________________
Mike Villarreal
Community Manager/Editor
Mike Villarreal has lived all over Southern California. When he was young, the first script he ever wrote was “JAWS vs GODZILLA”. Encouraged by his aunt, he wrote a letter to Steven Spielberg to pitch his script. In High School, Mike played football freshman year until he decided to make the jump to the “Nerd Side” and joined the “RUNNING WITH SPEAKERS” AV Club. Mike was part of RWS for three years and for two of those years, he served as Vice President. Mike Villarreal has worked on two independent films and even has a profile on IMDB. In his spare time, Mike likes to play Modern Warfare 2 and mess around with Photoshop.
Favorite Movies: Memento, Snatched, City of God, Finding Nemo, Life is Beautiful, Pulp Fiction
Favorite Video Games: Mike Tyson’s PUNCH-OUT, ROAD RASH, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout, Shadow of the Colossus, and GTA: San Andreas.
Favorite Bands: Dir en grey, Metallica, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Sublime, and The Clash.
Email l Twitter l Deviantart l Xbox Live: Reservoired Dog
_________________________________________________________________
Chris Del Castillo
Senior Editor
Being an Anime and Game fan, Chris really enjoys JRPGS and moonlight strolls on the beach. He enjoys talking about anime and games to his friends. He’s also down for random activities, like teaching someone to cook. He is just mysterious that way, maybe too mysterious to the point where random isn’t so random anymore.
Favorite Movie: Clerks
Favorite Game: Xenogears
Music: Alternative, Rock and J rock
Favorite Anime: Great Teacher Onizuka….Yoroshiku !!
_________________________________________________________________
Narvin Seegoolam
Writer
Narvin has been an avid gamer since the original Castlevania. FPS is his favorite genre, with Racing second and everything else third. He can be quite competitive as he has competed in many LAN Tournaments as well as Game Battles with Halo 2 & 3, America’s Army, Rainbow Six Vegas and Modern Warfare. Along with games, Narvin is a huge movie buff, music lover and anime fan too. He is a Halo and Star Wars fanatic and is fairly proficient in both universes. Narvin is currently in the process of completing his bachelors degree in Networking Administration.
Favorite Movies: Anything Guy Ritchie (minus Madonna), Star Wars, The Boondock Saints, The Three Musketeers (the one with Kiefer Sutherland), Dark Knight, Batman Begins….there are too many to name…
Favorite Video Games: Halo series, God of War series, Bad Company 1 and 2, Modern Warfare 1 and 2, Forza series, Mass Effect series, Arkham Asylum…this is just a few
Favorite Animes: Gundam Wing, Last Exile, Gun X Sword, Ninja Scroll, Karas
Favorite Bands: Deftones, Static X, Rage Against the Machine, Linkin Park, System of a Down, U2, Anberlin, Chevelle, Pearl Jam, Sevendust
_________________________________________________________________
Laura Sirikulvadhana
Writer
Trekkie. Jedi. Whovian. Sherlockian. Hobbit. Sanrio. Comics. I am Spartacus. Warrior Princess. Superhero. Nerd.
Favorite Movies: Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Star Wars 4-6 ONLY, The Dark Knight, Star Trek (all + the new one), Dead Poets Society
Favorite TV Shows: Star Trek: The Next Generation, LOST, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, How I Met Your Mother, Veronica Mars, Face Off, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Flight of the Concords, The Colbert Report, Conan
Favorite Animes: Sailormoon, Rurouni Kenshin, Pokemon
_________________________________________________________________
Mark Pacis
Writer
Mark is a passionate moviegoer ever since he was a kid. He’s also into comic books, video games, and Daft Punk. He calls himself the Human IMDb because he can name films with just a few hints. When he’s not watching movies, reading comics, playing video games, or listening to Get Lucky or One More Time for the millionth time, he works as a web designer full-time. He’s also an avid LA Laker and Philly Eagles fan.
Favorite Movies: Marvel Studios movies, Seven Samurai, Big Trouble in Little China, The Thing, Dumb and Dumber, The Rock, Indiana Jones trilogy, Star Wars original trilogy, Back to the Future trilogy, J.J. Abrams Star Trek, Ghostbusters, Argo, The Dark Knight, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog
Favorite Video Games: Final Fantasy VII, Uncharted trilogy, Street Fighter, God of War, Halo, Gears of War, Assassin’s Creed
Favorite TV Shows: How I Met Your Mother, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Top Gear UK, Breaking Bad, Big Bang Theory, Arrested Development, Cowboy Bebop, Disney Afternoon shows, Firefly, Modern Family
Favorite Superheroes: Iron Man, War Machine, Wolverine, Nova, Batman, Hulk, Captain America, Deadpool, Cable, Thor, Superman, Green Lantern
Favorite Music: Daft Punk, Linkin Park, Swedish House Mafia, Daft Punk, Alesso, Knife Party, Jay-Z, EMINEM, Daft Punk, Michael Jackson, did I mention Daft Punk?
_________________________________________________________________
Holly Amos
Writer
Holly is a massive cinephile and a lifelong Trekkie. She also enjoys and appreciates anything Sherlock Holmes, Lord of the Rings, Marvel, and DC. When she is not geeking out or cosplaying her favorite characters, she works as a product development coordinator and professional organizer.
Favorite Movies: Any and all Star Trek films, The Lord of the Rings series, The Hobbit, The Fifth Element, Reservoir Dogs, Shaun of the Dead, The Big Lebowski, Ritchie!verse Sherlock Holmes series, The Darjeeling Limited, Religulous.
Favorite TV Shows: Any and all Star Trek series, BBC’s Sherlock, Elementary, The Big Bang Theory, Seinfeld, House, Arrested Development.
Favorite Books: The Lord of the Rings series, The Hobbit, Catcher in the Rye, Sherlock Holmes adventures, Nerd Do Well.
Favorite Musicians/Bands: The Used, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Dredg, Brand New, Justin Timberlake.
_________________________________________________________________
Genevieve LeBlanc
Writer
Genevieve LeBlanc is one of those exotic creatures known as a “Canadian.” Raised on a steady diet of Dragonball Z, Genevieve is currently a full-time psychology student and even fuller-time nerd. She lives in Ontario with her many pets and cosplays, playing video games and remaining a constant figure in her city’s geek scene. Genevieve runs a bimonthly radio segment on Live 88.5′s Morning Start-Up titled “Gen LeBlanc’s Geek Girl Game Guide” where she previews up and coming video games and discusses relevant topics.
Favorite Comic Artists: Jack Kirby, Dave McKean, Neal Adams
Favorite Movies: The Princess Bride, Shaun of the Dead, The Big Lebowski
Favorite Video Games: Silent Hill 2, Resident Evil (2002), Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly, Heavy Rain
Favorite Animes: Higurashi no naku Koro ni, Black Lagoon, Berserk, Fate/Stay Night
Favorite TV Shows: Game of Thrones, Hung, Friends, Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Favorite Musicians: Muse, Daft Punk
_________________________________________________________________
Ryan Southard
Writer
Ryan was a nerd from the start. You know that picture of a fetus holding a game controller? Yeah, that’s him. He began in the nerd world with video games and continued entrenching himself in it by picking up the ability to enjoy anime, manga, sci-fi, and other nerdy things. He loves pieces of media that make him think in different ways about the world. He is a self-titled video game connoisseur and can be very particular about his vidya’ games.
Favorite Video Games: Super Mario World 1&2, Super Metroid, Metroid: Zero Mission, Shining Force 1 & 2, any non-nes Castlevanias, SMGalaxy 1&2, Fallout 3, The Elder Scrolls series, Uncharted series, Mass Effect series, Mega Man series, Warcraft 3, Zelda series, and the Dead Space series
Favorite Movies: Matrix, Good Fellas, Gattaca, Braveheart, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Princess Mononoke, and just about anything good in the Sci-Fi genre
Favorite TV Shows: Seinfeld, Frasier, Law and Order: SVU (yeah, yeah, don’t give me too much grief), Star Trek: The Next Generation
Favorite Animes: Kino’s Journey, Escaflowne
Favorite Mangas/Comics: Battle Angel, Batman
Favorite Musicians/Bands: Tokyo Jihen, Shiina Ringo, Capsule, Red Hot Chile Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins, RATM, 311, U2, Aikawa Nanase, Asian Kung fu Generation
_________________________________________________________________
Michael Revis
Writer
A gamer at heart, Michael has been a part of the nerd culture since he was but a wee lad. While figuring out just what the hell he should do after college, he decided that if he was going to be spending the majority of his time playing video games, he might as well make a career out of it. After discovering his second love of writing, being a gaming journalist seemed to make perfect sense, and he went on to graduate with a BA in Journalism. He still has his backup plans for world domination in case things don’t go the way he wants them to, but, for the moment at least, he’s content with spending his days staring at a television screen instead of forcing minions to build him a doomsday device.
Favorite Movies: Kung-fu Hustle, Ace Ventura, Who Framed Roger Rabbit,
Favorite Video Games: Guilty Gear, Megaman X, Final Fantasy IX, Legend of Zelda series, Lost Odyssey, way too many others to list.
Favorite Anime: Cromartie High School, Berserk, Cowboy Bebop, Detroit Metal City, Fist of the North Star, Golden Boy
Favorite Bands: Nightwish, Dropkick Murphys, Dir en Grey
_________________________________________________________________
James Martinez
Writer
James likes racing games, puzzle games, and building computers. By day he works as a systems administrator, by night he is a writer. He likes to be comical and open to new ideas and technology.
Favorite Movies: The Dark Knight Trilogy, Fight club, Grandma’s Boy, The Matrix, Super Troopers, Kick-Ass
Favorite Video Games: Burnout (3, Burnout and Paradise), Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, NFS: Most Wanted 2012, God of War trilogy, Ratchet and Clank series
_________________________________________________________________
Jose “BoodaLuvr” Gutierrez III
Writer
Born in the Philippines and went to America when he was 8, Jose got into anime and such through friends and family. He was given his first computer at age 15. From taking apart that computer, he took that and turned it into a living. He is currently working as an IT Consultant/Tech. Even though he is a nerd, geek and dork, he really loves sports.
Favorite Movies: Lord of the Rings series, Matrix Trilogy, Aliens, Marvel movies, Boondock Saints 1 & 2, Star Wars
Favorite Comics/Characters: Spawn, X-Men, Y The Last Man, Deadpool, Hulk
Favorite TV: IT Crowd, Simpsons, True Blood, Game of Thrones, Iron Chef, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservation, Hell’s Kitchen
Favorite Anime/Manga: Berserk, Hajime no Ippo, Fairy Tail, Naruto, Worst, One Piece
_________________________________________________________________
Adam Kharakov
Tech Writer
Coming Soon. Playing league.
Favorite Games: League of Legends, World of Warcraft, Skyrim, Mass Effect
Favorite TV Shows: House, BR, Workaholics, Adventure time
Favorite Anime: Hentai
_________________________________________________________________
Alger Alama
Writer
This sexy Filipino of Nerd Reactor calls himself the “Jack-of-all-trades” kind of nerd/geek. Whatever you name, he’s probably had some sort of exposure to it.
Comic books? Check. Anime? Check. Video Games? Check. Dungeons & Dragons? Check. Bronies? In progress…
He’s very open-minded about everything and is usually willing to try anything new, as long as it isn’t self destructive. Alger has experience in acting and has been an extra in Chuck, Heroes, the movie Hancock. He also has a voice of an R&B singer and can probably out-dance you on the club floor. In spite of all this talent, he’s very modest and humble when you meet him. Always willing to make you laugh, we’d probably label him as the “New Age Nerd” or “Neo-Geek” (Alger made me type all of this at gunpoint).
Favorite Movies: Too many.
Favorite Video Games: Too many.
Favorite Music: All of them.
Favorite Comic Characters: The Incredible Hulk, Juggernaut, Colossus, Thor, …see a theme here?
_________________________________________________________________
Robert Walker
Writer
Rob Walker grew up in a small Colorado town surrounded by storytellers. When he was a child he wanted to be the Wolfman or Indiana Jones. These days he spends his time producing the monthly web series Victorian Cut-out Theatre (released by Cinevore Studios) and writing short stories, scripts and articles. He’s thrilled to be a part of the NR team.
Favorite Books: Sherlock Holmes, Michael Chabon, Neil Gaiman, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King
Favorite Movies: Indiana Jones, Blade Runner, The Thing, Romero Zombie movies
Favorite Comics: American Vampire, Jonah Hex, Planetary, Hellboy, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Flash
Favorite Games: Portal, Lucas Arts adventure games, Skyrim, BioShock
_________________________________________________________________
Robert Galvan
Writer
For as long as he can remember, Robert asked the questions that others wouldn’t about love, life, and death which brought about his interest in the human psyche and moral compass resulting in an infatuation with comics, zombies, and movies resulting in a long standing relationship with his imagination.
Favorite Movies: LOTR/Hobbit, Saving Private Ryan, Batman:Under the Red Hood, Anything Judd Apatow, Red Dawn, Army of Darkness, Marvel Movies!
Favorite Video Games: Halo, Gears of War, Devil May Cry, BioShock, Red Dead Redemption
Favorite Comic Series: Old Man Logan, Y The Last Man, The New 52, Avengers, Spider-Man, Captain America.
Favorite Music: Thrice, Underoath, All Time Low, The Game
_________________________________________________________________
Hokan “Kansta” Lo
Writer
At a young age of 6, Hokan “Kansta” Lo received Math Blaster for Christmas. From then on now, he would be doomed to embark on the journey of Geekdom for the rest of his life. You’d never imagine he was born in the state of North Carolina, where he lived out most of his early years. Emigrated to California in 2006, Hokan was flabbergasted at the sight of slant-eye black-hair people talking to him in a strange language. He is an avid player of 2D fighting games, but is completely terrible at them.
Favorite Foods: Fried Chicken, Korean BBQ, Southern Sweet Tea, Pho
Favorite Sports Teams: (NFL) Carolina Panthers, (FA) Arsenal F.C., (NBA) New Orleans Hornets
Favorite Musicians: Perfume, m-flo, nujabes, Sigur Rós, Röyksopp, Yoko Kanno
_________________________________________________________________
Steve Nguyen
Writer
Being a jock all his life, he was denying himself of who he really was, an undercover nerd. Now he has the space balls to finally come out of the closet and let everyone know that he loves comic books, video games, anime and action figures (They are not just dolls)!
Favorite Movie: 300, Taken, Resident Evil 1 & 2, Finding Nemo, The Matrix trilogy, Space Balls
Favorite Anime: Devil May Cry, Golden Boy, Ninja Scroll, Samurai X, Wicked City, SpongeBob SquarePants
Favorite Comics: Spawn, Batman & Spawn, Batman vs Predator
Favorite Games: Gear of War, God of War, COD, X-Men, Batman: Arkham Asylum, games that make me go, “BOOM! Head shoot!”
_________________________________________________________________
JR Cajigas
Tech Writer
If you can somehow catch JR during the off times at the hospital, you will find that he is a lifelong gamer and Anime nut. He has been attending Anime Expo for the last 15 years and is now starting that history with Comic-Con. He has not fully embraced the NERD within, but suffice to say, the transformation is well underway with his continual involvement with NerdReactor.com. In the meantime, he is likely to be found at your local steakhouse enjoying his favorite, the ever-so-juicy rare-cooked bone-in ribeye steak, and don’t forget the fries dipped in ranch. His contributions to NerdReactor.com are as a photographer and technology columnist.
_________________________________________________________________
Joey Rassool
The CosCast Producer/Host
Joey is a cosplayer and has been ever since his days working for Warner Bros. and Universal. Since then, he has produced an array of successful internet videos, as well as worked in and out of the film industry. Joey conducts most professional meetings via “Halo: Reach” and produces “The CosCast” every week.
_________________________________________________________________
Tara Strand
The CosCast Host
Tara considers herself a dilettante nerd. Still, as far back as she can remember if she’s had at least a passing interest in a thing odds are it was on the geeky tip. She was that gothy girl in the t-shirt from Disney’s Hunchback with the Xena poster on her wall who was busy hunting the web for Dragon Ball Z fansubs with Batman: The Animated Series on in the background and a half-finished renaissance faire costume in the corner sitting on top of her Marx Brothers biography next to her drum kit and juggling balls. As co-founder of the Batman group Gotham Public Works she’s best known for her cosplay as Harley Quinn, and continues to work on related photo and video projects. Tara works in visual communications and is an actress and live performer who’s proud to belt out an intensely annoying rendition of the Doctor Who theme song when the mood strikes.
_________________________________________________________________
Jordan Brown
The CosCast Host
Photo by Gengphoto.com
Jordan Brown is an avid gamer and cosplayer. He has dabbled in the art of Special Effects production for films such as Batman: Death Wish and the short film Obscurita and has acted in a few short films around the web. He brings with him his sporadic energy and his tactful wit that he uses in earnest on “The CosCast”.
_________________________________________________________________
Matthew Lewis
The CosCast Host
Photo by Keneden.com
Matthew Lewis is an avid cosplayer, gamer, artist, and all-around American Jack-of-all-hobbies! With a love of anime, comics, costuming, and video games, Matt has been cosplaying since 2006 and has been across the country and back attending conventions, entering masquerades, hosting events, and bringing the party with him!!!
_________________________________________________________________
David “Hoangster” Hoang
Videographer/Video Editor
5’9. Exotic Asian (Vietnamese). Born with a joystick in one hand and a video camera in the other. I have the same effect on women when I stand next to them as I do when film and edit; I make them look G-Uh-ood! I do the typical things as a nerd; Play a lot of fighter games, I’m a movie buff (especially for cult classics), I watch and read anime, I train dolphins, make many pop culture references, care for orphans, and Cosplay.
Favorite Games: Marvel Vs. Capcom series, Street Fighter series, Mortal Kombat series, Golden Eye 64, Mass Effect Series, Battle Field Bad Company series, Mega Man series, Final Fantasy series not including the crappy online ones or X-2 or 13 and 13-2 those sucked.
Favorite Movies: Top Gun, Starship Troopers, Serendipity, She’s all that, 10 Things I Hate About You.
Email l Twitter l Facebook l Xbox Live: xIvIaverickx
_________________________________________________________________
Ken “Slik” Khamphiphone
NR Host
Born Kenneth Khamphiphone, this opponent is a worthy adversary with highly commendable attributes. His attacks can inflict high levels of HP damage but equally leveled out with slow regenerating MP. His skills are mainly developed in dancing. His social skills are better than average but can easily be accommodated and defeated by self-absorbed people. His greatest strength is pretending he is “cool”. His greatest weakness is attractive girls with strong self-concepts and a great personality. This Nerd is very unassuming because he blends in well into standard society. Trademark: Beanie.
Favorite Movies: Sin City, Gladiator, Lilo and Stitch, Matrix, Watchmen, Leon: The Professional and many many more…
Favorite TV shows: The Office, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Hunger Team Aqua Force, Invader Zim, The Big Bang Theory…
Favorite Animes: Vampire Hunter D, Battle Angel Alita, Fatal Fury Series, Naruto, Dragon Ball Z…
Favorite Musicians: Kina Grannis, Yellowcard, Starting Line, Something Corporate, Justin Bieber, Michael Jackson, 3 6 Mafia, B.O.B., outcast, Taylor Swift, Paramore, Cartel, Postal Service…
