If you're in the Washington, DC area this weekend, you're in luck, because there's a massive Lego fair organized just for AFOLs like you. (That's Adult Fans of Lego, to the uninformed.) Children are allowed, but only if they're in the company of adults.
Brickfair is actually not affiliated with the LEGO company, but is organized by Wamalug, the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area Lego Users Group. (This town has an acronym for everything.)
Let's not play into stereotype: Nerds can be hot! And if they're out at Comic-Con for the weekend, they deserve to meet other like-minded folk and create a connection that goes beyond a mutual admiration of "Torchwood" or "Afro Samurai."
If you're reading this from your iPhone, air up at these hot spots and we'll see you at a midnight showing of "The Spirit" in December.
Baja Betty's :: Gorge yourself at the all-you-can-eat Mexican buffet on Saturdays or drink on the patio with a hottie at the self-styled "only gay Mexican restaurant with over 100 tequilas." 1421 University Ave.
Nunu's Cocktail Lounge :: The cheesy '60s rumpus-room decor is more than made up for by the extra-strong drinks and beautiful chatty women. 3537 5th Ave.
We're not fooled by your out-of-the-office message about your trip "to California": We know you're as excited about the prospect of bumping into Kevin Smith or Stan Lee at this year's edition of Comic-Con as we are. Don't miss our picks for each day this weekend:
Today: DC Nation Many a day have we walked past DC Comics' headquarters in New York and hoped Batman would walk out. Come and stump DC Senior VP Dan DiDio with your Justice League questions. 6 pm
Friday: "The Spirit," with Frank Miller, Eva Mendes and Samuel L. Jackson All the fanboys will be in the scrum for the "Watchmen" panel, and while the teaser before "The Dark Knight" looked cool, we're more into this Christmas release based on the classic Will Eisner superhero in a suit. 2:30 pm
Sunday: "Hamlet 2" Panel Preview this offbeat summer comedy, a Sundance favorite, in which a wacky drama teacher (Steve Coogan) decides to write a sequel to a seemingly un-sequel-able Shakespeare play to save the theater. Amy Poehler and Catherine Keener assist. 11:30 am
Next time you're in Manila and need a gaming fix, the obvious choice is FriiSpirit, a Wii-focused hangout in Quezon City. Fully stocked with projection screens, beanbag chairs and cheap eats, it's an always-busy student hangout, says PSFK.
After hours things get even more interesting. Friday nights, one of the owners whips up fancy food to serve alongside movies (recent picks included "I'm Not There," "The Godfather" and "Dirty Dancing"), pancake suppers happen every Thursday night and other evenings friends stop in for Rock Band competitions.
Still have some leg warmers and neon parachute pants laying around from middle school? Don't head to the consignment store just yet, the Download Festival starts this Saturday in San Francisco, then brings the nerdiest music and tech festival in the country down to LA and over to Philly later this summer.
The West coast headliners are epic shoegazing band The Jesus and Mary Chain; sorry Philly, you have to deal with The Killers as the big show. Other acts include RJD2, M83, Natalie Portman's Shaved Head (above), Datarock and Yeasayer.
The noddy, thick-glasses crowd will also be able to check out the hottest and most innovative gadgets and tech toys on the market. Prepare yourselves for excessive swag on the "do our marketing for us" tip.
The Bay Area show takes place at Shoreline Amphitheater which would be a great place to spend the day even if you were being eaten alive by caustic acid. All it takes to get in is $20, but if you want to score with the ladies, a calculator watch is recommended.
If, like us, you missed the cosmic event that is Manhattanhenge earlier this year, you'll have another chance at it tonight. At 8:24 pm, the sun will set in perfect alignment with the east-west streets of the city, resulting in killer scenes like this one.
The "official" date is actually tomorrow, when you'll want to look west one minute later for a similar vista.
For the best viewing, make sure you're on a street with clear views all the way to New Jersey. (We'd suggest 14th, 34th, 42nd or 57th.) The American Museum of Natural History, which promotes Manhattanhenge, reminds us that you'll have particularly awesome views on 34th and 42nd thanks to the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building, respectively.
Tired of bland snapshots? Let your inner geek run wild with a Google Image Search template. Just print it out, cut out the little windows and you're ready to go.
The person who thought this up--as far as we can tell--did a series in Stockholm, but our buddies at Geekadelphia turned us on to the idea with a similar template for their hometown. Download it and tweak it to fit your destination in just a couple minutes with Photoshop or another image editor.
Once you've got your geektastic photos, won't you drop 'em in the Jaunted Flickr Pool?
Nah, not really. The scientists at the massive European physics lab CERN say when they switch on the Large Hadron Collider this August nothing more than groundbreaking research will result.
But some of the nerds at Wikipedia say the LHC could create "micro black holes, strangelets, vacuum bubbles and magnetic monopoles," none of which we understand--but all of which sound terrifying!
If you don't fear science and like wearing hardhats on tours, you can actually go visit CERN. Make reservations at least three months ahead of time by filing out this form.
